21.05.2009

Yankee Ingenuity

Spotted this week in Osterville, Massachusetts, USA a telehandler with what appears to be an extended pallet on the forks, being used as a work platform and incorporating a three sided home made wooden roofers guardrail.
Please register to see all images

Platforms at work on Osterville fire station

A regular boom lift is alongside – although the platform is empty in spite of it being elevated.

A closer look reveals that there is no platform on the forks, it is simply a wooden fork mounted guardrail. It seems that the roofers, working on the village’s new fire station, are working from planks fitted to brackets on the roof, possibly snow-dog brackets?

The telehandler is simply placing the guardrail around the workmen at the point where they are working, in order to help prevent them falling. An interesting piece of Yankee ingenuity.
Please register to see all images

A highly unusual device - a powered guardrail

It looks as though the aerial lift is being used to lift the men up to the planks, and then once they are in position the telehandler places the homemade guardrail around them, it would not take too much of course for the telehandler to clip the planks, tipping the men off the roof.