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Nice observations. There is an old VW place up here that I have went to and ended up going to a guy's house to pull one off of his VW truck because they were out of stock. I feel like we have ran across each other., maybe twice. Once outside of Truckee and one other time in Beverly Hills with a 550 where a card had failed and wasn't giving any overload feedback. You still doing cranes, or did you retire?

we had a high rise going up near me and I could watch him from my apartment 5 the story window one day after he climbed down I asked what radio frequency he used from him to his spotter he gave it to me and I put it in a old scanner I had and I could hear him work it was fun.

@@donalderickson-si8ww It would be so much better and easier today. More clamps. Better quality. Cheaper cameras. My DSLT at the time couldn't do long videos (older Sony problems) and I just had the one Go Pro. I could have set up "b roll" and other things to make these quite a bit better. Bah... days gone by. But I agree whole heartedly.

Typically you want to rig for a crane first. Most operators that never see it from the other side aren't empathic and they are garbage as operators. They'll be 20 years in and everyone below them is just surviving the ordeal. I've been under several hundred different operators because I was a tower crane erector. And within minutes I know what kind of operator I'm dealing with. Having had a variety of experiences allows me to adjust to personalities too. To that end, I'm highly recommending a couple of years below a hook. You could learn how to signal and rig in a couple of weeks. But you want to be proficient. The second step is training hours. I think NCCCO has hour requirements and passing a written test to take the practical. Certain cities and states also have stricter standards. Like in Washington you need 500 hours being trained by an operator. To put that in perspective, you can get a helicopter pilots license in 40. Let's be clear, that's union protectionism at play. So you'll need to check with your state rules. Some schools do trainings too. It's expensive. But it's a pretty good job if sitting in a box in the sky separated from everyone is for you. I loved it. I'm social, but also cool with not connecting with anyone. You'll have to gauge that aspect for yourself. I say it here specifically tying it in with the cost considerations of a school. It's the best choice to go through a union and get paid to learn if that's an option in your market. Contact crane companies, tower crane companies, unions... You just pick up the phone and cold call. Most of us that were there are happy to take the call and let you know what we know about who is, or will be looking. It can feel like you are turned away because of you. It's really just what the market is doing the dictates it. Texas through the Carolinas is pretty busy right now. West Coast is a bit grim. Lots of Canada is doing well. Best of luck.

This rigger and I were dialed in together. He would cover the trolley radius and I would handle the swing. This includes corrections for swing and radius for my corrections that have to go with it. This is how we were efficient. The practice of a signal person dealing with the swing is just moronic when a crane operator is sitting in line with the load and the crane boom. I've met a solid 5 carpenters that know how to signal a crane in 24 years. Maybe you would be number 6? The vast majority of your trade has zero business signaling a crane. But if I hear the signals given with confidence and competence, I'll happily do exactly what's called. And I'll know in ten seconds what your quality is as a signal person. Hell, if you never look up, I already know. But if the hook or load is coming down like it was flushed down a toilet, I'm taking over for safety, accuracy and speed. If you want to hear what it should sound like, go check out the "Hanging Iron" video. If that's not what you sound like, and you don't understand what's going on, realize that operators have been saving you for years. And if that's what you sound like, I'll give it to you exactly like I do in that video. If you don't sound like that, you should thank the operators that have kept you safe to this point.

@@rotyag, I get what you’re putting down. And I’ll say I’ve probably been saved by a few operators in my 20 something years , but I’ve also been put in bad spots by them doing something they thought I needed when I didn’t . I’m definitely dam good signal man when it comes to signaling and a dam good rigger . I can tell you know what you’re doing . I was just saying how carpenters feel from our perspective. It’s different cause you can see everything, I’m using to working with lattice boom Crawlers and hydro cranes.

This depends on where you will work. In the US, the most common way to get license is through a third party like NCCCO. There used to be others as well. Some cities have their own license. NYC. Maybe Chicago and Philadelphia too. But mostly the NCCCO is the most recognized license in the US. In Canada each Province has their own standards, and I believe certifications. I've never looked deeply at it. I hear the term "Red Seal" used as if it should mean something to me. But I think it's reviewed in each area. If you are asking with no experience, I think it's best to be a rigger and signalperson first. Once you understand that side of the hook well, you can start to put the puzzle together from the top side too. It's best to get in in a state that doesn't have strong laws yet. Say Texas or Florida. Washington for example would require 500 hours of training with an operator overseeing you. That makes it very expensive for a company to want to invest in you. Places like Colorado use a lot of self-erecting cranes due to the terrain. If you were going the non-union path, that could be a good way to get an understanding of the cranes and then get a crane seat say after a year of doing that. The problem there is it's hard to know what is "good". When that hook hits your hand, it shouldn't have much more than a small dance going on at the chains. If it's swinging more than a foot, there is work to be done. Cheers

I agree on the exhaustion. As a whole, I agree on the IW's being the best. The biggest challenge is they are cocksure confident (makes sense for the trade) and they make mistakes that show up working in the blind. If you can get one that dials it back 5% to be sure they are calling every signal off, It's a good day. This guy in the video is Owen. He and I went through the Ironworkers apprenticeship at the same time. He was always on it.

@@rotyag I was an ironworker before becoming an ironworker, so they will always be my favorite to work with. Hanging iron can be a lot of fun with a good crew. I will always dial it back a bit in the blind. Too much can go wrong.

지진이 발생했습니다. 매우 강했습니다. 크레인은 구조물 위에 놓여 있었습니다. 거기에 고정된 부품 중 일부가 흔들리면서 콘크리트 연결에 실패한 것 같아요. 이것은 모두 수년 전의 기억에서 나온 것입니다.

Very true. Each crane takes some time. I spent a lot of time filling in for operators while I was a crane inspector. I found that after a few years of being tossed into seats that my brain got faster and faster at learning. Completely unconsciously. Play for an hour and it absorbs naturally. But that takes that exposure to many new rigs. Best of luck!

@@rotyag thanks mate

This older crane had free-swing. It would probably go past 180 degrees from full tilt if you let it coast out.

Hi. I am no longer operating cranes. I don't have a new way to show you these days. Best of luck on operating cranes.

If the kink is in the hoist rope, it's done for. If it's a trolley, it would have to be severe for me to get worried. Those are subjective opinions. You'll find it can get people worked up. Trolley ropes are often not under much stress relative to how strong they are.

Hoist ropes need lube. You have three layers to the rope when they are rotation resistant, or non-rotating. It should be a good lube like ship to shore, or Monolec. Don't use open gear lube or stuff you find at a auto store. They are for 6x19 ropes, and even then, I wouldn't use it. They don't soak in and block the view of the condition of the rope. If it's a trolley rope, I would tell you to not lubricate it. I just found it to be a mess when people would do it to the cranes I owned. I would rather spend $150 to swap out the dry rope every 5 or 6 years and not have sticky nasty ropes to handle at each job. Most of the small ones have a fiber core. The larger ones are often galvanized. They don't rub or rotate much so it's not important.

I have to say that I'm more comfortable doing it versus watching someone do it. I'm entirely comfortable doing it. But those videos of people hanging from cranes makes my palms sweat. I've totally done that from as high as 660', but with a harness on.

Brake locked. Gear box failure. Or slewing hearing failure.

By the way thanks for the videos! They are helpful. Any jobs in Austin? :😜

Hey Christopher. I'm no longer running cranes. I went on to own them. I don't even have a license anymore. I only get to pull levers at the yard in a small mobile anymore. I have seen angles changed and chased it for coming up on a load, or as I go over an edge into the blind. But at some point, it has to be left to the person in the blind. Either they are qualified, or someone needs to removed them until they are. I've always found success in bringing those folks up into visible areas then spending five minutes showing the concept of catching the hook, then having them mirror a qualified signal person for a half day. Then they can start to work on it when it's visible to the operator for a while. Eventually they'll get the concept and be able to safely perform it. The challenge might be in getting support from a job to bring everyone up to speed. I can snapshot the big picture of what the hook is doing and chase it in all three dimensions. The biggest question is knowing the crane so my brain just does it. I'm not consciously thinking do this, or that. I can. But it's all pretty fluid after I'm used to a crane. I don't recall how long that took. 6 months... year? But I also had a solid understanding and sat behind very good operators to grasp the picture before I started. A jumpstart if you will. A person can function as an operator if this never comes as an ability. It's just a question of how good they will be. Not everyone wants to work at top speed. I've been guilty of making people uncomfortable. And the people on the ground have to perform similarly. So operators like me are not everyone's dream. There is a place for all of us. If I could give advice on this point, it would be that you don't want to push passed what you are safely capable of. You don't want to play that music. Moreover, great operators can sometimes be on that edge and have accidents. It's a very fine line between maximizing the crane, the operator, and calling 911. I don't want to call anyone out, but there are plenty of people that will tell you they are the best, but they've also seen more than a single ambulance on a job site due to their actions.

@@rotyag good advice and thinking points. I appreciate you writing that up. And thanks again for the videos. Will keep watching some of your other ones and shadowing other operators

Hey Redacted. I'm selling my cranes and elevators now. The state has added a Lift Director requirement. This makes small jobs that can live without cranes find another way as it adds 50% to the crane budget. So we are back to packing materials in Washington. For Elevators, the State has moved back into requiring a license. This is being done illegally (temp hoists are excluded from the Elevator Departments regulations). I don't think they would allow my OGEI's. Then the rental markets are dog poop right now. In 2015 when I bought my first 5 ton crane rents were 11,000 a month for them. Now a 415 (20 ton) crane is going for $14,000. The payment would be around 12k for that crane. If you had 15 of them in operation, you might break even at those rates. Then there is the insurance requirements by a couple of local towns after our competitor killed some people jumped to 20 million which is unobtainable at any price for a small crane company. I have imported below the hook gear for the last 6 years. I'm going to focus on that and build some. I could be doing videos on those. But it will be more of the marketing sort of thing. Cashing in my chips for a slower life. Sorry man.

@@rotyag Damn, that's hard, after covid the market did go down to hell, but I am sure you can recover, just don't think too much about the bad stuff, try to focus on the solutions more. Plus, it doesn't matter what type of videos you do as long as they are helpful! and it's Ok if you can't make videos, don't go around potentially sacrificing valuable time just for RUclips.

Is this about the signalman? In this case, it was Owen. He and I went through the JIW apprenticeship at the same time.

@@rotyag yes it was, right on how long ago was that? i journeyed out back in 2018

@@dano9624 Owen and I were maybe 2000 or 2001? I swapped to the Operators while with NWTC. Currently about to cycle out of tower cranes entirely to build below the hook gear. I suspect that you'll start seeing it this next year. Looking for a shop now. Where you hanging iron?

@@rotyag did you ever work with Jason Anderson while at NWTC? I did a lil bit of everything never settled for one thing.

@@dano9624 Jason and I were at NWTC, Apex, and with General Construction on a Kimberly Clark project in Everett.

If the forklift is a telehandler and you have suspended items, the principles can be used to control the loads. More to stop the swinging because the unlevel ground will cause you grief anyway. Get the principles going in your head there and it will help you on your next career stop. Good luck.

@@rotyag thank you I appreciate it and yes a telehandler the biggest I ran was a magni 5.25 I work in a masonry company so I run the machine every day very neat machine that’s what gave me the more confidence to get more into that world

Hi Miguel. I believe my days of running tower cranes are over. I only sit in a couple of yard cranes I have now and then. My license is even lapsed. Even more, I own 16 cranes and hoists and I'm selling all of those to leave construction. I'm off to start a new venture as we complete the contracts I have between now and the end of next year.

A few angles to take. One option would be getting into a different union as a rigger. Sometimes they come from Carpenters, Laborers, or Ironworkers. But there is the hazard of not getting the work you want and being trapped, or at least feeling trapped. It can be like the military that way. Wanted to be a crane operator, but I push a broom all day. You can go to a school like Morrow's and get a license. That will up your value, but you are spending maybe 10k to make it happen. If you show up with a license, the union will have the choice to sign you up. or watch you go to a non-union competitor. Assuming many realities in life, you can also start with a non-union company and work towards your license. A mobile crane supplier is one way. Some general contractors hire their own operators and riggers. This would avoid the trap of another union. Once you are working non-union and you have a license, the union would fall over itself to get you under their agreement. I'm sure I'll get hate for the suggestion, but that's a reality based solution. They can't hope for loyalty until they agree to take care of you. Sorry it's not going the easy way for you.

@@rotyag thanks I appreciate the advice

If you are asking about the screen, I don't recall my preference. I want to say it was the third screen on the 2005 to 2015 generation. I'm not sure I've ran a crane newer than that. I've stopped operating. I own cranes and elevators now.

Yes. In the crane in this video, I was hit. It's loud. The crane is grounded so the electricity has an easy path out. The metal transfers the energy more easily than it does through us. To that end, we are safe. One of my cranes had a zoning system failure that we struggled to replicate. It got hit by 26 kv a few times before the grid shutdown. There was relatively little damage. Few hours of panel work, then replacing ropes. The grounding had to be rebuilt. But the operator was safe despite that level of energy hitting multiple times.

Speaking for crane owners everywhere, please don't lubricate it every month. Most crane manuals say to lubricate every 200 operating hours. You'll want to document an inspection that notes it's condition. Notes like these are just how manufacturer's protect themselves. Spraying it every 200 hours will build up on the rope and in the sheaves. You'll no longer be able to see the rope structure and you won't be able to effectively inspect it. It's really dangerous. Another danger is in that sheave build up. I've had a rope find a way to jump a sheave and get damaged due to build up. It will vary by location, but with good modern rope lubricants like Monolec 2001, Ship2Shore, or others designed to soak into the ropes, you'll find 4-6 months is when ropes are going dry and needing lubrication. And don't use "rope and open gear lube" on ropes. It does nothing for rotation resistant ropes. It's for 6x19 type ropes. For cranes I own, the only lubricant I leave on the cranes are ring gear sprays. Everything else, most operators will abusively over lubricate out of ignorance. On our cranes, we come out every three months and lubricate it. Bearings are sealed these days, so even the turntable bearing just needs to be lubricated to fight evaporation. Some operators will try to squeeze a tube of NLGI2 in there every month and it blows out the seals which introduces contaminants. Even when I explain it, the person I explain it to will not be there the next time we show up and we are left with a mess. So we stopped leaving lubricants behind. Or they will lubricate my trolley lines that don't even rub. It becomes a greasy mess to lengthen the life of a rope that costs $100 and last 5 years if ran dry. Good wire rope lubricants in the US are commonly 25 US Dollars a can. But then you only need one can every 3-4 months.

@@rotyag Sorry for the late response.. some crane oprators tell my differently. Some say i need to request some used motor oil to lubricate the hoist and others say that i should just use spray... quite having a problem with that as a starting crane operator...

@@RomanVideos1 You'll get advice from different people that doesn't quite apply correctly for your whole career. Motor oil is not good for a complex rope like a rotation resistant one. They are so dense that it will never get in. And in some locations, it will wash off in a month. The quality sprays will soak in and hold on the rope for 3-5 months at a time. Environmentally speaking, it won't be dripping as it gets hot too. Oil could work well for say a trolley rope of 6x19 construction. But it's not honestly necessary for a trolley rope. Some would disagree, including the manuals. But they don't rub and lube isn't going to lengthen the life of the rope when bending modulus is what kills them. And they are cheap. For the rope lubes, check out the rope manufacturers. Bridon, Python, Diepa. Diepa used to have really good instructions. The crane manufacturers are thinking about liabilities more than good rope performance. The really good way to lube a rope is under pressure that also cleans it, but it's cost prohibitive unless you own a large fleet with similar rope sizes. But toss the operators and my opinion aside. Go to the rope manufactures for accurate validation.

@@rotyag Thanks for the quick reply! By the way what do you think about WD40 sprays? Or they don't have anything to do with lubrication?

@@RomanVideos1 Sorry for the wait. WD is really just for pushing out water. It works decent as a very short term lubricant. I'm a fan of heavier lubes like PB Blaster. It has some holding power. I use a lot of dry graphite on bolt threads. Molykote is awesome. The price is about triple what it used to be. Comedil got me hooked on it after seeing it recommended for their bolts.

This is one of those funny things that varies trade by trade. And Region by region. I fell into the hoist and trolley crowd. But you can almost tell what trade a person is from by how they signal. Line?! Sliver pickers. You can hardly find an ironworker that can bring themselves to say anything but "boom" up or down. I remember on my first job the "rod busters" were immigrant Hispanic guys and they just said, "Moving the car to me." I suppose it all works as long as we agree on the language.

@@rotyag Hahaha so true :], Rigger from texas here, working in the refineries.

@@sagelife4206 stay safe and learn everything you can. The better you are, the easier the job is. And if you become good at the signaling side, figuring out the mechanical side is pretty easy if you decide to take a seat one day.