18.11.2009

Tree work fells another crane

A crane sliced through a house in Santa Rosa, California on Monday afternoon while attempting to remove the trunk of an oak tree from the rear of the house.

The crane, a five axle Grove GMK 5175 All Terrain, is owned by Petaluma, California based Reliable Crane & Rigging and was working with most of its boom plus swingaway extension. It does not appear to have been working with the maximum counterweight configuration available on this model?
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The upturned crane

The crane was attached to the tree which was then cut free and proved to be heavier than anticipated. Fortunately no one was injured in the incident and plans were made to
The company, sent in an investigation team along with a Cal-OSHA investigator.
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An alternative view

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The recovery begins

Vertikal Comment

Trees are notoriously challenging and are one of the few lifts that catch out even experienced operators. The problem is that the balance and the weight is something of an unknown until it is too late. There have been a large number of incidents this year where trees have got the better of the cranes that were attempting to remove them.

One solution to send in a crane grossly over sized for the job poses its own problems in getting to the job, not to mention the cost. In this case it looks like the crane, which was perfectly and professionally set up, may have benefited from some additional counterweight. Hindsight is a great thing!