Cranes, the overhead type

[woolleyworm]

Thought I'd share some work pics, dirty work but it pays the bills.

[woolleyworm]

The first two pics are of a turbine deck crane at a power plant.

Third pic is a 100 Ton crane in a boiler shop.

Last pic is the install of a new 15T crane.

Here's a couple of a billet crane in El Paso, that's me in the orange hat.

[mjp28]

Brings back memories, I've climbed a LOT of cranes over two decades.

In the USSteel Open Hearth three our pit cranes had 225 Ton main, 65 ton second and 15 ton third hoists. An empty steel ladle weighed 65 tons. Plus those old cranes were 2x overrated Morgans and Alliance cranes, they could pull until the cables broke!
We had one 275 ton pit crane when they experimented with heavier loads.

The pouring floor had 4 cranes that mainly poured iron into the furnaces

In the USSteel rolling mills I had 39 EOT cranes (mainly about 15 ton lift) with cranemen, electricans and a substation to deal with, lot of climbing.

Later in a railroad tank car we had maybe 6 EOT cranes in my plant 3 (of 3) to carry around the parts to assemble a tankcar. (But in the fab Plant 2 they had a 3,000 ton two story head press that punched out the ends of the railcar from a red hot piece of plate....scary!)

Fun times....for a younger man.

[mjp28]

Hey woolley,

I see those cranes are in good ol' HOT Texas, ever do any outside northern crane work?

All of my big crane work was in Ohio but I did have 7 repair shops in Texas to oversee from the main office, and ocassional Texas trips.
mjp

[jack404]

ready made bungee towers!! cool!!

[sub-moa]

Not me ...Like dust on my shoes

[mjp28]

Originally Posted by jack404

ready made bungee towers!! cool!!

Oh yeah but that's not your first thought when you're up there in a stiff wind.

[jack404]

wanna bet ?

if i can jump of it and live , i'm in .. even now days if i can afford it ( parachutings bloody expencive outta planes ) have a T-10 rig but with a acro australia chute ( rectangular dual layer ) will travel

but i'm told i'm strange that way

[mjp28]

Originally Posted by jack404

wanna bet ?

if i can jump of it and live , i'm in .. even now days if i can afford it ( parachutings bloody expencive outta planes ) have a T-10 rig but with a acro australia chute ( rectangular dual layer ) will travel

but i'm told i'm strange that way

Somehow I don't doubt that a bit!

I used to hate in the dead of winter, maybe -10 and high winds and the outdoor cranes would blow down the rails. We had to first unfreeze another crane, drive it over to the wayward crane, climb over the sides and climb down in the cab and repark it....near an access ladder.

In the OH, if a crane broke down same deal but you were looking down on molten steel in ladles, shuff blowing straight up in your face and nose, hell with the lid off, unreal.

But when you're 18-34 it's exciting!!

[jack404]

http://youtu.be/B2lPIs6xoAQ

[permafrost]

Originally Posted by jack404

ready made bungee towers!! cool!!

Only you would think of that, Jack! You ain't as young as you once were.

[jack404]

true , i still do crazy stuff on occasion , just takes longer time pretending your all ok after , and getting longer every year eh .. over Christmas i'm hoping to do a couple jumps at wilton again , a chute sport centre inland from me

id love a job as a rigger or crane chaser or dogman , just no insurance would touch me ..

[JUNKKING]

Originally Posted by mjp28

Hey woolley,

I see those cranes are in good ol' HOT Texas, ever do any outside northern crane work?

All of my big crane work was in Ohio but I did have 7 repair shops in Texas to oversee from the main office, and ocassional Texas trips.
mjp

High Hot and Dirty!! Our power plants here always have the turbines on the 2nd 3rd floor of the building. It wasnt until I went to San Onofre in CA that I seen my first outside turbine.

MJP I know where youre coming from abut the cold and being high. I am an insulator by trade and have done tons of work high in the air. In 1987 I fell 92 feet and only had a broken collar bone and a broken arm. I hot pipes on the way down which sort of broke my fall. Years later I developed back problems as a cronic onset from the fall. After that I was a little leary of climbing but heights didnt bother me. Back in those days safety wasnt what it has become over the past 10 years and a harness was unheard of. They gave you a safety belt wear it if you like. They never fit me so I didnt. After that anything over 10 feet was one hand for me one hand for the company. Even at 10 feet I could feel myself curling my toes like as to be holding on with my feet like a bird would. Just glad to be alive!

[woolleyworm]

Originally Posted by mjp28

Brings back memories, I've climbed a LOT of cranes over two decades.

In the USSteel Open Hearth three our pit cranes had 225 Ton main, 65 ton second and 15 ton third hoists. An empty steel ladle weighed 65 tons. Plus those old cranes were 2x overrated Morgans and Alliance cranes, they could pull until the cables broke!
We had one 275 ton pit crane when they experimented with heavier loads.

The pouring floor had 4 cranes that mainly poured iron into the furnaces

In the USSteel rolling mills I had 39 EOT cranes (mainly about 15 ton lift) with cranemen, electricans and a substation to deal with, lot of climbing.

Later in a railroad tank car we had maybe 6 EOT cranes in my plant 3 (of 3) to carry around the parts to assemble a tankcar. (But in the fab Plant 2 they had a 3,000 ton two story head press that punched out the ends of the railcar from a red hot piece of plate....scary!)

Fun times....for a younger man.

I have worked on cranes as far north as Barrow , Alaska. the company I work for has its US headquarters in Springfield Ohio, so I've spent sometime around that area also. gotta love those class E rated cranes, true workhorse machinery

[jack404]

dumb question but when they tear a building down , i notice folks grab the cranes

do they sell ok ??

[woolleyworm]

Originally Posted by jack404

dumb question but when they tear a building down , i notice folks grab the cranes

do they sell ok ??

They usually will; even if just stripped for components, there is decent money in used cranes.

[68c15]

Originally Posted by jack404

dumb question but when they tear a building down , i notice folks grab the cranes

do they sell ok ??

your question scares me. I can only imagine what you have in mind

[wolfdog]

Company I work for bought a 3 ton overhead at a local auction about 10 years ago. There where 9 overhead cranes up for grabs and all but one were bought by the same person. He let us get the one we got dirt cheap, then got the bid to install when we got the building built. We loove the darn thing.

[aa1911]

nice dive Jack! watch those low turns!

I hate everytime I have to fly commercial and don't have my chute, seems dumb. In that small chance the plane starts going down, it would save your life. Even at extreme altitude you would easily survive with a chute if you could get out of the plane clean.

seems like a base rig would be nice to have up there on those cranes, would be a short dive though.

[mjp28]

Originally Posted by woolleyworm

I have worked on cranes as far north as Barrow , Alaska. the company I work for has its US headquarters in Springfield Ohio, so I've spent sometime around that area also. gotta love those class E rated cranes, true workhorse machinery

Oh wow, nothing like gear grease or gear tac as thick as cow s*it in the morning!

Nothing like climbing cranes or in Jack's case anything too high for normal people to think about. Either you can do it or not!

I used to love to work with the Bull Gang, basically riggers only they were also electricans, millwrights, burners all doing the BIG, high, hot stuff. Sick fun!!!

Maybe because as a kid we had a barn with a hay loft, ladder straight up....we built our fort up there. Better than a child psychologist to straighten you out!

[jack404]

yeah i started similar swung a rope from the loft to a gum tree and built a cubby house up in it , about 40 foot up , ended up making a rope bridge across before the branch gave way , dive from the loft into straw ( and get in strife for doing so )

good way to grow up

[woolleyworm]

Originally Posted by mjp28

Oh wow, nothing like gear grease or gear tac as thick as cow s*it in the morning!

Nothing like climbing cranes or in Jack's case anything too high for normal people to think about. Either you can do it or not!

I used to love to work with the Bull Gang, basically riggers only they were also electricans, millwrights, burners all doing the BIG, high, hot stuff. Sick fun!!!

Maybe because as a kid we had a barn with a hay loft, ladder straight up....we built our fort up there. Better than a child psychologist to straighten you out!

You too? We grew up swinging off the rope swing from 25' up the hay pile. I grew up hiking the mountains and had many narrow trails alongside cliff edges; just remember, it's not the fall that will kill ya, it's the sudden stop.

[mjp28]

Originally Posted by woolleyworm

They usually will; even if just stripped for components, there is decent money in used cranes.

Oh yes! Even the older well built ones.

After my dad retired from USSteel, yeah same plant I started at, he got a job as Maint. Super. at a huge scrap yard outfit, they got the USS contract to scrap it out.

They already had 9 EOTs he bought 2 more of the good ones, sold the rest off, whole or parts.

[mjp28]

Originally Posted by woolleyworm

You too? We grew up swinging off the rope swing from 25' up the hay pile. I grew up hiking the mountains and had many narrow trails alongside cliff edges; just remember, it's not the fall that will kill ya, it's the sudden stop.

Oh God that does explain a lot!

Yeah I broke my left arm twice, once (bad) on a bike, one on a tarzan swing over a small ravine.

My poor mother, 0 girls, 5 boys, 6 broken arms....said she felt like she was living at the YMCA.

[BETH]

wow would not catch me up there u must like your job