When DIY Goes Wrong - Homeowner Rents a Spider Lift 

The lift is in actually pretty good condition, its only 5 years old. That just how equipment looks in my area due to all the salt the state uses on roadways in the winter time. The owner told me it needed a new thermostat, so I replaced that for him and went to work...obviously the overheating issue lies deeper than just a thermostat. I could have tied it and dropped it, but I wanted to minimize cleanup and as you know, a dead ash explodes when it hits the ground, I didnt want to be picking tree shards up through my entire yard and wanted to keep it to the general area.

It certainly is a fine art...one that I have yet to master. Thanks for watching!

It did have a button that said “emergency power” but I had no idea what it did and I wasn’t willing to test it to see what happens while I was 60’ in the air incase it did something I didn’t like.

Always have a ground man

All lift units I have used had a "Safety Down" button or valve. Whether bucket or platform. They should have gone over all that when you rented the unit. Like what was said, always have a down person. I also recommend two-way radios like those family channel radios so you can call for help or talk to your ground person over the engine noise.

​@@EverythingElliott It should have had an auxillary electric pump to supply pressure to let you down. Those are pilot actuated cylinders so no movement without pressure input. It is possible to open the valves at the cylinder but would require someone at the cylinder with tools.

It was a tense 20 minutes or so, that’s for sure. Glad they were able to follow my direction yelling from the sky

It was touch and go for a second there

It sure does. It moves a lot more than I expected

The higher you go the more sway. I'm a lineman for a local power company. I drive a beafier bucket designed with a jib to lift up to 1 ton. It has some sway but not like that model. The sway never bothers me.

@johnclyne6350 Our 60 ft bucket truck fully penciled has quite the sway! Took me a good minute to get used to. Our old 55ft bucket truck has a super stout boom. Me moving around in the bucket could barley make it move

@@jonseim4030 I have a 50 foot Altec material handler at work. It’s very stout & has very little sway. Unless someone doesn’t feather the controls properly it can sway a lot! My employer has several larger buckets that go way higher. One we used was a 110’. They also have a 200’ Bronto. It has a large platform to work out of. Supposedly 6 people can ride in that? It’s not for hot line work though. I can’t tell you how much sway there is in those.

@@johnclyne6350 I won't be trying the 110 or 200 footers anytime soon!🤣

I’m cautious of heights. Wouldn’t say scared. But that unit turning off while I was up there was a new fear I unlocked.

I've had to shinny down more than once

Wouldn’t say I’m scared of heights, I’m certainly cautious of them though. But being stuck up there unlocked a new fear for me

Things were a little stressful up there. I was actually stuck in the air for about 20 min while my father in law tried to figure it out. Through the magic of editing it only seemed like a couple seconds.

It certainly is an uneasy feeling!

I find that you can be one, or the other...not both.

hopes, dreams, a little luck, and realizing my limits...

You can keep that. Once was enough for me!

What you needed was a helmet with a microphone like the pros have. They never tell & they communicate just fine

@johnclyne6350 We looked them up before, and last we checked, those helmet and comms combo were almost $ 2,000.00. Hopefully things have changed since then, but I don't think Elliot would've justified that purchase for a one time...

@@jonseim4030 There is a tree service local to me that uses those. They ironically are on YT as well & I follow them. The other option is a set of walkie talkies. We use them when we are pulling in wire at work. Those are always handy to have. Where ever the guy that rented that spider lift from? I’m almost positive there were other pieces of equipment he could have rented with it? Honestly I’m surprised that bucket had a plastic dialectic liner in it. Our buckets have those inside. They are tested with the boom to be sure they protect us in the unlikely event of a high voltage contact.

Made it back to early safely…this time!

Sounds like our Saturdays were very similar! Glad you made it out safely, and commend you for being brave enough to go near power lines

Don't be ascaid! It will hardly kill you is what an old chief I used to work for would say.

well, thats just ignorant on his part. Good on you to stick to your guns.

And it certainly was a day. That’s for sure, thanks for watching

Yeah it was very unnerving

It did have a button that said “emergency power” but I had no idea what it did and I wasn’t willing to test it to see what happens while I was 60’ in the air incase it did something I didn’t like.

@@EverythingElliott read the operators instructions..these prevent people from getting injured or worse…..

Not too sure why there isn’t a tether point…just isn’t.

@@EverythingElliott Looks like it does.... Near where the bucket attaches to the arm. See 7:07

That was not an ideal situation. Thanks for watching!

Owner said it needed a new thermostat, I put a new thermostat in, still overheated. Probably needs a coolant flush

At the time, being stuck in the air was not a laughing matter haha. I was actually Up there for about 20 minutes waiting for him to figure out how to disconnect the temp sensor.

Nothing in life is perfect. Just glad I had someone with me to give me a helping hand

Glad we can all laugh at my expense

You're not wrong, I was not wearing a harness.

I loved mine, until I snapped the handle clean off of it, the day after filming this video. Got it stuck in a tree and pulled on the handle, snapped it right off.

Don't buy cheap tools man

I’ll try anything once, and now that I’ve tried this. I’m good, and have no need to do it again. You should watch my follow up video on how I ended up getting it dowm

I hope you started it by handing your wife your beer and then go to work….

@@diywithjonandpebbles dang...I wish I would have thought of that.

@@EverythingElliott Still time to edit that in…. 😉

Not my trailer, but I did let the owner know.

That doesn’t sound like a fun adventure

Did god till it stopped running!

I don’t disagree with the harness idea, however there’s no tether point to hook a harness to

Yeah, he told me it needed a new thermostat, so I replaced that and went to town. Seems the issue lies deeper than a thermostat. And I certainly don’t have a rope kit to repel out of the bucket!

I can't even imagine how much a tree company would have quoted me...

Me too, thanks for caring haha

Driving a car can also get you killed, we all do stuff that inherently dangerous, however we try to minimize risk. But sometimes, shit happens, and that’s what you witnessed. I try to keep things as real as possible and leave everything in the videos I make, because life isn’t perfect and there are too many people putting out videos trying to portray that their life is perfect. Just not me, I’m trying to keep it real so people can learn from my mistakes.

It said Professional on the guide bar. No worries.

Gave it the ole college try that’s for sure

Those logs are ready to burn that’s for sure

I probably could do that. Attaching the shed to the tractor to pull it out might make that shed crumble though

@@EverythingElliott Bracing. But if it crumbles, it would make good YT content!

If you’re supposed to wear a harness, I didn’t see anywhere it hooks in.

Well, the owner self diagnosed it as a bad thermostat, so I changed that prior to using it...Guess I should have diagnosed it myself before going up, because that obviously wasn't the issue. Radiator is clogged and isn't allowing coolant flow, so it needs a radiator flush, or replacement.

How are you making money at that price. You’d never be able to get a bucket truck to that tree…

@@EverythingElliott that's if ur in my town

Tree companies have thick plastic mats strong enough to drive on. They need about a dozen of them. They are the same size as a sheet of plywood. As the truck moves they move mats behind it to in front of it. It takes planning to pull it off.

What town are you in I am in Piedmont Alabama

No tether point

That woulda make the process a lot simpler!

The unit was operating at idle, it was 85 degrees out that day, fluids were plenty warm to be moving the machine at idle to unload it. The jack pads were taken off the unit by me prior to unloading because you need to remove them to swing out the legs, and I needed to swing them out to move the boom to prepare it to be worked on (I replaced a thermostat prior to using it, which obviously didnt solve the overheat issue) I took it on by myself because I am a 1 man show, I don't have help, I'm not a business with employees. OSHA applies to commercial operations, not residential DIY projects, osha would have an issue with the way you mow your lawn, I guarantee it. The kids were 200' away from the work area, when I actually started. There is no tether point on the bucket to tie off to. I am willing to try anything once to figure out what my limits are, this was my try, and you saw how I realized my limits and left it alone after that. How does one discover what they can or can't do without trying? You can check out my follow up video on how I got the tree removed. If I missed any of your questions, let me know.

I wasn’t trying to be critical in your approach. I was trying to point out that as soon as you thought to rent that piece of equipment that there weren’t any alarm bells going off in your head? I’m a lineman for the power company & I farmed out the painting of my house because I knew I didn’t have the time to do it myself. It would take me a year to paint each side of my house & I needed it just done. They were in & out in a week. As for the warm up, setting up & placement of the machine. As well as your children & other items? I was trying to convey that there was little thought as to how you were to attack the dead tree in your yard. Personally? I would have moved the shed out of the way. Then I would have dropped the tree. I know you were thinking which is easier? Remove the tree without moving the shed. Dropping a tree or taking it apart is a two man job. You need a ground man. That’s a big job. I wouldn’t do that myself & I know what I’m doing. Stick to the DYI jobs that you can bite off yourself that don’t put your personal life in peril. You were very lucky you had a neighbor come over to help & your wife was nearby. When you realized you were in over your head happened when the bucket broke down. It’s a scary feeling when that happens. I know it happened to me once. A hydraulic line broke when I hit the high speed switch in the bucket. I was by myself & I had the fore thought to have my cell phone on me to call for help. I’ll look up your other video to see how you removed that dead tree in your yard.

Way too much lean over the shed to make that happen

Didn't have mats...inevitable given how wet the yard was.

I'm just giving you a hard time man. But speaking from experience, even on a dry day with plywood customers complain about the grass being flat.

No tether point in the bucket

No tether point in the bucket

good thing it was from a buddy, and there was never any charge haha

Well, there's no tether point in the bucket, so no where to tie off to. And I'm not a tree service so I don't have to worry about getting tree service insurance. Same as if you were going to get an excavator, or bulldozer at your house to do site work, you wouldn't take out a million dollar liability policy on your self just to have an excavator for a weekend. There is always someone more experience than me at something I do, because its their day job and they have years and years of experience. Just like I am probably better than you at what my day job is. It shouldn't stop you from trying though. Thanks for watching

@@EverythingElliott I have seen many people lose their lives doing what you were doing. DIY’ers and people in the business. ANSI standards would show you how to be much safer. Advice from a local tree guy could help you tremendously. To watch people the way they handle a chainsaw for the first time… I ‘m saying DIY is great to an extent. Just get some real instruction first. Doing it to yourself is the risk. Sadly, I see it all the time. Don’t mean to sound negative towards freedom to do it yourself. More people should be self-sufficient. Just get prepared a little first. Dying ain’t much of a living.

“Renting” it from a buddy. He told me it overheated and self diagnosed it as a thermostat, I changed that for him, flew it from the ground around my yard and it didn’t overheat so I thought it was safe…I thought wrong

Also, not sure about the over ride, didn’t come with the owners manual haha

And that’s how you grow as a person.