How to Operate a Tower Crane: Swing operations 

Right on! You know that you are running hard when you have to have a foot on the crossbar at the glass to hole yourself stable in the seat.

Right on. If it's an HDT80, some seat time would be good to get the feel of the delay in the swing. They have a second or two delay from engagement to movement. Small quick bumps will become your friend both in catching and in tight areas. Those small detents in the controls are easy to miss and suddenly second step when you don't mean to. If it could say one thing, use that center stop button if you are out walking around. It's possible to accidentally engage a function when you don't intend to if something falls on the controller. Best of luck!

David Shanks how'd your test go?

^

How hard is the test??

and hows running?

Sure. It might take me a day or two to answer, but ask anything you'd like.

jormasaatana Very cool. When you get comfortable working at the top speed of a crane, the next level is adding as much load control as possible. We have to understand the tower torque in order to get there. I find the hard part is going from a crane you can fully control like this Liebherr to a crane that ramps down the stop itself. Then the torque concern goes away because i can't control or time for it. I just learb to be linear with the starts and stops to not have to chase the load as much. I find that the time lost in acceleration and deceleration pays me back with load control. If we don't have to stop for a correction we have immediately made up time. It seems to be a slower is faster approach on those cranes for me.

Yeah, I'm driving a 1999 Potain 285 with a 70m boom atm (not as big as it gets in the states I guess) and it was a pain in the ass to get steady at first because there's no counter torque and overall it's just really damn wobbly if you make the slightest fuckup. After a month or two it feels a lot easier, especially when you learn that when stopping the rotation you need to give small bumps at the very end to counter the tower torque.

nice

Best of luck. That's a great thing to hear about the new career path. Remember that having accuracy and being smooth will be more important than speed. It's much like riding a motorcycle. Get the basics into unconscious behaviors. Then keep adding speed until you think the crane is slow.

@@rotyag yeah I just hope I don’t get sent home for being too slow 🤦🏾‍♂️

@@Sirdonrattray It's a real fear to consider. Keep open communications. Ask for feedback. The more open the lines of communication are, the less likely it will happen. But here's the other side of it. I was an operations manager for 40 tower hands under me. I have had to tap a number of good operators on the shoulder because they weren't aggressive enough. If the communication was clearer, they could have adapted. These guys were fast enough for the 20 years prior to me climbing into the cabin, but this one crew needed more. Not everyone is going to like you. And that's OK. Sometimes in your career you'll be right, sometimes you won't, and sometimes it's just a difference. It's a critical role that the job needs to get the right person for. As you gain experience, as long as you have good communication you'll be able to adapt. One of the challenges in that is not taking things personally and relaxing through the pressure of the job. It leads to arrogance and that can be poisonous. I was all bound up on a job that had 21 different dogmen they'd send me around to. It was terrible. My arrogance was getting the better of me until I asked for a white board to draw concepts every day before work that the novice people signaling me could learn from. After a month, it was tolerable. Three months in, we got along fine. Keep searching for a solution and communicating so the pressure doesn't overwhelm you. Prepare to sweat for a few months in the seat. It'll become second nature over time. You got this.

@@rotyag really appreciate you taking the time out to write this. Thank you.

Cool Devon. Thanks.

coooool

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

When you lose power during crane operations in a tower crane, all of the brakes lock up immediately. It's quite violent. There is nothing you can do but wait for the energy to dissipate in the structure and the load. It's quite impressive when it happens. If the outage were long term you can have crane technicians mechanically lower the load if one is on the hook. The worst scenario I have seen was a small crane hitting a large power transmission line. All of the electronics were destroyed. I came out for the contractor and manually lowered the load and the hook and had guys on the ground cut the load line. I then cut it all free up top dropping the rope to the ground and just manually opened the swing brakes so the crane could weathervane safely in the wind. This isn't something an operator would be expected to, nor should they generally be doing. I was working in a different capacity then.

Best of luck on it. Get some practice in if you can. I failed my first run at it. I was so focused on being perfect that I didn't realize that I likely went over time (they didn't tell me why, but I didn't even touch a tennis ball). I came back for a second run at it. I set a timer and was under half off the time and still perfect. The point being, not losing the tennis balls won't be the only consideration.

A video on that would take some planning and opportunity. I'm afraid that I'm not generally running crane anymore. Might have to Saturday because my guys are all either working or not up for it. I've moved on to supplying operators, erecting cranes, own tower cranes, and material hoists. I have difficulty finding sleep. It varies by the crane you are running. A Pecco, old Liebherr or a Wolff will let you fight the wind with the motors. The reducer gears function off a fluid coupler that is like a transmission torque converter. If a guy were in a short jibbed crane that wasn't tall and say he's bucketing concrete without much wind surface on the load. In that case, if they were pushing the limit, you might come in and never set the brake unless you are down or up wind. Pick a point on the horizon. Send the bucket down and while looking straight out, hold the jib right there with the motor. feathering through the speeds to match the wind. This is smoother than bouncing off the brake. The hazard depends on the motor design. VFD's let the motor run cool. Do that all day if you like. Older cranes ran on just contactors and relays. They have a duty cycle and doing that for too long can damage the motors. You have to understand what you have and consider how long you abuse those motors. New cranes with fluid couplers will let you do the same. A lot of the new computers just limit the power you have given the jib length. The limit the amperage, which limits your torque. So when you hit the limit. That's just the limit. Many of them have redundant systems and PLC's so even if you were clever and learned how to get into the VFD to adjust it, you'll need to know the other fail safes and hope the cranes are connected to the manufacturer and throwing codes. Then there are the class of cranes down one bit. Potain, Linden, Saez, Comedil. They go a different path in the swing functions. Come out of the power and the brake will set. You can't do much about cleaning up the mess. For me, I like the older cranes. I set the horizon point in my memory when I set the load down. I'll chase it to keep everything as smooth as possible for the people below. Then when they are ready for a move, I just verify that I hit my same point as everything comes tight and is about to lift. It might be overkill, but that's how I prefer it. I'm self-critical. For deciding when to run away from the wind like it's a Python bit, you need to consider the structure of the crane, and the load. You have a 310 Potain, or a Pecco, the jibs are stout, squatty, wide. Think, strong. If you go to a flat top, they can't take as much. So if you are to take a large wind surface load to the tip and get caught in a gust, the crane might have to move, or it could fail. Consider the wind and that jib rigidity. I've seen pictures of jibs folded up in the wind. Many cranes have wind load charts. Potain comes to mind. They are right to do it. I've ran into the 50's with a short jibbed saddle jib crane when we were jumping tables. Small tables. There's no wind surface to speak of and they had an army of guys to never lose contact with it. But if it's a panel, 17 mph might be too much. Even if the crane can hold, if you pick up a 10 x 25' panel and the winds are in the teens, it's likely to want to move. So you have to consider the possibility of pinching someone. Teach your guys to stay up wind of the load. You don't want to sweep them off the building or between something solid. Your what could go wrong needs to be the mindset. How's that for a long youtube comment? We're out of Seattle with Local's 302 and 86.

You got me! My email alert shower me "not productive" and my mind got all defensive. Then I opened it and got a laugh. Thanks.

@@rotyag there are not many guys who have that mindset when running crane. I call it thinking 3 dimensional. How do I eliminate the airspace from my lifting spot to my landing spot as quickly and safely as possible. Sometimes swinging the long way around is faster. Sometimes making 3 quick picks instead of trying to "tree" 3 loads is wayyy faster. Walking along the ground with big form panels is harder for the operator, but safer and more efficient than trying to weasel it down between columns with tag lines. Lots of operators (and riggers) think I am speaking mandarin when I say stuff like that. We are a dying breed and it is sad.

@@ringer87derek7 my operator is a one motion at a time guy so christmas trees are the go aswell as linking lifts and dropping stuff near wher the next one is coming from

@@klikitzsmith8416 If you are thinking that way then good on you. Not many guys do. If your operator is a one function guy think about getting him out of the seat and you in. It will be more productive for everybody.

@@ringer87derek7 Lol, i like swinging chains though, let someone else climb the ladder and sit down all day

The critical list planning doesn't have to be for each lift. If it's a typical lift like concrete buckets, you just document the process once, you just have to repeat it the same way each time.

+UnfittingCarbon PCC Market and apartments off 71st.

You have to read all of the crane reference manual and be familiar with the new OSHA standards. If you are at a point where the vocabulary is difficult, I would say the test would be tough. Given the expense, I would take my time and read a lot. Read that NCCCO manual 3 or 4 times slowly. Besides the test, over the years you'll be faced with tough questions about what is legal and have to make decisions about whether or not you can keep operating for different reasons. You'll really want to know the answer. Employers will expect that you do and that's fair. You will be the captain of the ship. Good luck with your training and studies.

The cable length has a lot to do with the speeds and how much swing you get out of it. On a 100 meter tall crane, a lot of your movemements are delayed by 4 seconds. So you have to plan that far ahead.

When starting the crane when it has been left in the off position, do you just pull out stop and press start, or is there something else you need to do first.

Video monitors are nice for getting lined up and close to a pick in those places where you can't see what is below. We call that, "Working in the blind". I'm not sure that I would tolerate glasses along with all of the visual cues I take in when I am operating. Even with a video monitor, I don't think that I've spent more than a second or two looking at one during operations. To be fair, I've never had one on a highrise. But if glasses were on my face, I'd want to be able to tell them what kinds of information I want displayed sense we all have different wants. I can imagine load, radius and so forth would be great if I didn't have to actually look away. The glasses would have to be very comfortable and stay on your face very well. I have Oakley glasses that I can run in and they rarely move. Since you'd be looking down a lot, you need that. But I'm not sure they'd be comfortable for 13 hours at a time. Another thing to figure out is glasses for vision and how they would interface. Many operators where glasses for distance. I wear them, or have contacts for reading. So how does you display work with that? It's just a hurdle to figure out. Many operators are experienced guys in construction (read that as middle aged) so the glasses are common. Best of luck with your idea.

Really terrific feedback. Thanks a lot. One more question, would smart glasses even be allowed given OSHA regulations or basic safety protocols of a job site? I sense that the cabin is designed to minimize visibility obstructions at the center. Is this a relevant risk?

I'm fairly well versed in the laws regarding crane operation. I was on the committee that re-wrote the Construction Crane Bill of 2010 in Washington State, wrote the test for tower crane inspectors, and was also licensed as a Crane Surveyor in California. I can't think of anything that would prevent you from using a secondary aid. You can't modify the crane in a way the manufacturer doesn't allow, but the glasses would be a third party add-on that doesn't detract from the manufacturer's specification. There are many aftermarket add-ons to cranes and operations. Even as basic as a two way radio would be an example.

Once again great feedback. The main issue I was concerned with was the fact that the smart glasses presents the video in the center of view as opposed to peripheral. But thanks again, seriously great details.

Ricardo Rodriguez, It's possible that smart glasses may aid the operator in spotting something that the spotter on the ground can't see, but I wouldn't rely on it by itself to do a pick.

It's best that you do. It varies by area. In my area you just need 500 hours of training and to pass a test. If you are comfortable stating where you are, you may want to add that to your comment and hopefully someone will eventually see it.

Understood. I'm in the UK.

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

::)

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.

Dave hawkins If everything is set up properly on a modern tower crane, no. The motors don't get full power on anything as soon as you hit the control. There are relays that have time delays to protect the crane and the newest computer controlled ones ramp up and down on everything in terms of power. You know, where it really gets uncomfortable is when you lose power supply. All of the brakes lock up immediately. You'll be swinging full speed with a heavy load and if you lose power, it's 100% braking immediately. It's violent. The closest I have come to seeing a crane coming down was a defect. A new bearing (where the center of the crane spins around) was put on a crane. We were erecting the crane and apparently no one tested it. We hang the back portion of it where the motors are. On the old ones we would then swing the crane around with a drill motor and put the jib on. Well the drill motor would turn it. So we wired it up. An hour later we have the operator hit the power to swing it. Groaning motor, no movement. Then my boss got stupid. Next step (more power). Next step (in third for those reading at home) and it breaks free. It broke free so violently that all of us freaked out. The operator stopped and the crane came to a stop like I have never seen. We bounced back and forth for 15 minutes while the boss consulted with a couple of technicians across the country. We eventually tore the crane back down and shipped out the part to be replaced for god knows how much money. In order to take down a crane with the controls, something has to terribly go wrong or it wasn't set up correctly to begin with.

rotyag Many thanks for the resonse, and many thanks for the info. you've done a great job in educating me, and filling in a few of those blank spaces i have in my head. I look forward to your future videos.

Congratulations. You should be nervous and embrace it for a while. There is a lot to watch for and learn from. No one can teach you everything. I remember just sweating every day for a long time, and that was after years of crane erecting and other fairly technical work. Make sure that you are watching everything that is going on. For example, when you hoist up on a load, if the block shoots off one way or the other unexpectedly, you either aren't centered over the load, or you have fouled up rigging. A correction will be needed. It's those types of little details that make the difference between being safe and being that guy that blames someone else when something goes wrong. Be patient with people. Tower Crane operators can get the reputation of being difficult people. Speak up with you need to, but do so with calm and authoritative energy. You are the captain of the chip. if the captain is unstable and freaking out. it's hard for the ship's mates to look at you as a leader and with respect. If you get your signal persons respect, the rest of it will fall into place and you'll help each other succeed. Work on load control and accuracy before you start adding speed. It's far quicker to get the load to the right spot and under control the first time at a reasonable speed as opposed to getting it there at 100% speed, but the load is swinging all over the place, or you have to stop and adjust the swing, and the trolley, then once again you have to adjust it and get control. After you get the control and your brain understands the timing of the crane you are working with, then you add speed bit by bit. As a new operator, try not to make big judgement calls. Just do what you are told for a while. Eventually as you get better and that trust is earned, you will have the tools to make judgement calls. Use the sun and shadows. remember that the angle of the sun changes all day. But shadows really help in knowing that you are 100% clear of obstacles or how close you are to the ground. The hazard I have found with this is I was running an old crane and loads we were pulling up at 8 AM had one shadow to tell me when I was clear of hoisting and I could start my swing. At noon, that angle had changed and I had a load that was a bit too low as I started my swing. By the time I realized that I wasn't clear, I could barely get the hoist started, and I impacted a 2x4 on a wall form. Stuff like that is embarrassing. You'll make mistakes. Be honest with yourself and your assessment. You'll keep making them if you aren't . Best of luck. It's a decent career if you are good with being up in the box and away from folks.

just go up to some collegues and learn learn

Raymond Hermogenes it's easier when you have a load

I want to say that it was 134 feet/ 40 meters

Bottles for urine. If you don't have a set schedule for #2, this isn't the job for those folks. Some guys with that issue or women take up camping toilets. But you need a good sized cabin for that.

shiting down :)

Liebherr 550 HC from 1992 with 80 meters of jib.

Great crane. Old Liebherr like this was my first permanent crane and it was really good))

Good luck man. Prepare to sweat and feel the pressure for a while. Once you get the feel of the crane, what the goal is and all, it really becomes second nature. Then you just push yourself to be the best you can be at it. Get the control as your first goal, then push for speed after you find that you are accurate and in control.

rotyag thanks, for the tips and quick response. The last few days this guy and the rest of the crane ops made stuff look like a breeze. Soon as i sat in the seat i knew i was in for a ride. Definitely no where near what you're driving but for someone green like me I feel like I'm a spaz now lol.

lol

KranWien - Tower Crane well, it didn't wirk out. An hour into my hands on training I opted to go to the shop floor. Now I'm working as much OT as allowed, 84hrs total a week. It would've taken me 3mnths to get proficient enuff to be even considered for ot in the crane spot

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

Edwin A. The answer varies. In the Seattle area most operators will end up in the 100k range. Varies from about 90 to 125 depending on overtime. The taller the building, the more overtime there will be. NYC will often see 200. A non-union locality like parts of Texas might only see 50k.

+rotyag how to catch the load and by that I mean when you have a sei serious left to right swing and you need to bring it under control.

+rotyag from my experience towers are unlike smaller mobile when catching the load sure to the fact it takes much longer to swing over the load. how do you remedy this?

+max hyppolite you have to be thinking ahead of the movement. If I'm coming into an area and I'm say 15 degrees out, I'll slow down my swing to cause the load to drift out ahead of the boom. Depending on the crane, I usually let it drift (neutral energy) until I am nearing being centered over the load then I slow down again to keep from putting too much energy (speed) into the load again. If you miss your timing or it's just windy, I find that you have to be moving the crane earlier than the load moves. Once that load hits the end of it's pendulum and starts swing back, I already have to be starting my swing to where I think it will stop swinging based on the energy stored in the load. Sometimes it takes a few times to really get it settled. The thing with being new to the game is getting load control first, then adding speed as you get comfortable. Sometimes guys feel the need for speed first, but you have to let your mind sync up with the timing of the crane. It's safer and eventually you'll have all three functions going at any given time and that's where you really save time. If you are too rough with the loads and don't have load control, the riggers have to fight the load as you come down and you lose time. In a perfect world you wouldn't need to stop at all until the rigging is slack and the rigger might only need to spin the load for you. That's the goal. And it's all about seeing the energy. Putting it in with deliberate control and dissipating it with deliberate control. Even as an experienced operator it takes me a day to really sub-consciously figure out the timing of a crane to max out it's potential to get 16 or 17 picks an hour.

+Gaytor Rasmussen Just stopping by to say thank you for your advice and I plan on putting it into action as soo as possible. I just received my NCCCO in the mail and I should be on a tower in a few weeks, I'm just looking forward to getting rid of that nervousness I know I'll have when sitting in the cab by myself for the first time. Anyways thanks for the videos and in depth explanations it helps allot for guys me who learn better by seeing and doing. keep em coming!

I am sorry to hear that. I hope that you have gotten the support you need after the incident.

+lliambunter 80 meters of jib. If you slew with full power without working up to it and out of it, the jib is going to snake along and virtually never settle down. The load will drift around as if it were flushed down a toilet. It doesn't need to be difficult. It's just rhythmic and your brain adapts to what the crane needs. Same is true if you are on tall cranes. Your advice is fine for 45 meters of jib 45 meters tall. The last two weekends I filled in for one of our operators on a crane that is 445' tall. Your advice would lead to nothing but regret. If you take off full power you'll have a 4 second lead on a the wrecking ball below and the 1000 Kilos of load line will never let that block come to a stop. You have to de-energize it. If you take that from the big cranes to the smaller cranes, you'll get a lot of respect and actually gain speed in your cycle times. This way of doing it isn't slow. It is maybe more work than necessary for the smaller cranes. That could be a fair criticism. But once you step up you'll need this knowledge.

+rotyag Absolute bollocks Just because you move the joystick striaght over to the left/right it will only pick up speed as it desires,it 's not going to take off at 40 miles per hour, I drove tower cranes for 18 years mainly recod as they were known in the UK (potain ) now owned as yoy know by mannitowic? again I 'm not out to sestry your co0mments but I don't think you understand the workings of it.

+rotyag i've never heard of the hoist block being refered to as a 'wrecking ball' that's not the right terminology is it?

+rotyag It 's the same as braking from full slew, onthe older models you had to 'back knotch' to stop it, the last one I operated was an electro magnetis brake ,as you reduced the joystick angle the power reduced and slowed it down, but it didn't in any was shape deflect the jib if it did that as you suggest surely it would screw up the tower! the resistence insn't there whether braking or going into full slew try it and make a short video of it .

+lliambunter No. It's a sheave block. Calling it a wrecking ball indicates that it's out of control. We all have opinions. But here's the deal. I have 21 operators that work for me. I own cranes, I erect them, I'm a licensed tower crane inspector that was part of a two person team the wrote the crane inspector test in my state as well as was a member of the stakeholders team that re-wrote the construction crane rules in Washington State in 2010. The notion that I don't know what I'm doing would get a guffaw from just about everyone in my industry here. It's just a question of style. You may want to ask your technicians if they want you hammering on the controls or easing the power out of it. You can run a car up to a stop sign from 100k stopping it in 40 meters. It doesn't mean that it's driving well or good for the car.

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.

1110'... Nice! that's higher than I have ever been. What tower are you building? Climbing can become relaxed. You'd be surprised what the cranes will take. Guys up here had an incident a couple of years back. The operator kicked open the brake while they were opened up with a PECCO 280. Assured death is what that is supposed to be. But they got it back in line with out it all going wrong. I've been caught in 35+ winds in climbs. I think the average Texan would find that number normal from what I hear. But it's totally unnatural. After five years I got to the point where I would catch a nap between sections when I was a crane erector. 1110'... wowza.