Crane_vs_House: Crane Wins!

BX2230Dude · Nov 17, 2009

This will be old news to you Sonoma County TBN'ers but check this out from todays newspaper:

Crews working to lift boom from wrecked house | PressDemocrat.com | The Press Democrat | Santa Rosa, CA

This crane was helping remove an 150 year old oak from someone's backyard when a large section of the trunk snapped off putting a "shockload" on the crane cable. That was enough to tip the crane on its rear supports and send the boom right through the house. Nice pics.

Thomas · Nov 17, 2009

Dang..think someones slide ruler was tad off.

Treemonkey1000 · Nov 17, 2009

Now that would be a drag to have happen.

I have been tempted to hire crane's for some of the tree work in the past. From the angle of the boom it appears they reached over too far versus the amount of weight. I am not an expert in those kinds of lifts at all though.

FlaDon · Nov 17, 2009

Cranes like to work with steady loads. Shock loads are what get you into trouble. Which way the crane goes over depends on if the cable snaps or the load drops suddenly. The latter looks to be the case here.

Scooby074 · Nov 17, 2009

Reliable Crane and Rigging was the company in question.

I can think of at least 2 things wrong with that name

Glad nobody was hurt.

RadarTech · Nov 17, 2009

I just had a co-worker get a tree removed in this same kind of situation...

They chose not to use the crane...
I sent this to him...

Will be interesting to hear his response...

Jim

mjncad · Nov 18, 2009

A little caulk and paint, and the house will be as good as new.

Seriously though, it's a good thing no one was hurt.

powerstroke444e · Nov 18, 2009

Bet he didnt price that in the bid.
In late 90's a local crane company dropped one on a house while setting a fiberglass pool in the backyard of home. It was a new crane and had wrong software in the computer which told Operator that he was safe. Long gone are the days of a slide ruler.

JoelD · Nov 18, 2009

Funny how people react, home owner said he expects to get a brand new house out of the deal from the ground up. OK maybe the piece they crushed, but the entire house??

I get it that accidents happen and someone could've been hurt, glad no one was.

But an entire new house. With that sort of mentality no one will perform any work anywhere near anyone's house for fear and cost of being brought to court.

I can't imagine a tree that size being anywhere heavy enough to give a 175 ton crane a hard time.

They just over extended the boom at a low angle. I wounder how much weight it would take to tip the crane back like that with a fully extended boom at a low angle, I'm thinking not a bunch.

Joel

Treemonkey1000 · Nov 18, 2009

Some where in the post or news article it was mentioned a piece broke off which bounced the crane. So that would have contributed. For the piece to break off was an error in how it was hooked up. Either take off a smaller piece if it looked rotted or damaged. Or sling it from a section that was not questionable. I wondered at what appears to be a pretty low lift angle also. That would be a lot of leverage on the base of the crane.
I don't think Joe Homeowner is entitled to a new house though. He is entitled to a repair that is as good as the original "section". That looks like a little ole rambler house so I doubt if there is much damage other than some wiring, wood and sheetrock. Heck some of the guys on here would have that repaired in 2 days..
FYI: Make sure who ever you have do that kind of work is licensed and bonded. Have them show you that stuff. Some of the services out there say they are licensed and bonded when they aren't.