Using bucket as work platform.

[N80]

I know this is a frequent topic of discussion. I know the owner's manual says never to lift or support people in the bucket. I understand the risk is from hydraulic failure. And in general I don't use the bucket this way, but have, on occasion, done it; but very cautiously. I know that some folks do it all the time. I'm not really trying to restart the debate concerning the wisdom of doing it.

What I'm wondering is, is why this rule doesn't apply to things like cherry pickers, boom/bucket trucks, ladder trucks etc? Do they have some sort of back up or fail safe that prevents dropping if there is a sudden loss of hydraulic pressure. I used to work summers on a lin crew. Spent many hours in a bucket putting up phone line hardware, guy wires, etc. I don't recall seeing any special systems but doubt that I've have noticed anyway.

 

[knute_m]

A big difference between the FEL and things like scissor lifts, boom buckets, etc., is that they have a flat surface for good footing, they have high sides so it is difficult to fall out, and they don't have things that you can easily get caught in or on. The bottom lip on most tractor buckets I've seen also does not extend very far in front of the top, so there is no real safe area to stand on when the bucket is level.

 

[California]

used to work summers on a lin crew. Spent many hours in a bucket putting up phone line hardware, guy wires, etc.

I once got a carpenter job with a building demolition company. We sealed off the remaining half of a school after they removed an old wing from the main building.

They provided a manlift basket on a forklift for me to work at second-story level. After a while an old demolition employee came by and said get down, you will likely be fired for refusing to work in that bucket but it could save your life.

After completing one task I drove the forklift across the yard, and the forks/basket assembly fell to the ground.

The point where the lift chain attached to the forks had obviously been welded back on many times.

The old guy came back and said I told you so, that forklift had been a rental that was refused back by the rental company because the demolition contractor thrashed it ramming into things. Although it looked near-new everything was cracked and ready to break.

After that experience I quit using anything that wasn't designed as a manlift. On my own tractor now, some of the loader hoses are 25 years old and shabby. No way am I going to stand in that bucket, or stick my head into the engine compartment with the bucket raised.

 

[N80]

That is a good point, but often there is better footing on my bucket than there is with a ladder.

I had always heard the main issue was hydraulic failure. How do devices that are made to lift people different in that regard?

I personally hate working on a ladder. I used to do a lot of telephone pole and tree climbing (with hooks) but the more I did it the more I came to dislike heights in general. I'd still rather climb with linesman hooks than work up on a ladder.

 

[3RRL]

N80,
I'm guilty of it too. I sure don't recommend using the bucket as a platform but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. I used it recently to cut a branch threatening to crush one of my canopies. I used the ladder to get into the bucket and then work on the tree limb. I was able to move the bucket over the canopy to get a better shot at the limb, where I couldn't reach it with the ladder. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain ... very slippery and dangerous.
Here's a shot when I started.

 

[Youare]

I know this is a touchy subject with some, but I used my FEL this summer to work on the house. My son and I put a little roof extension over a couple of windows. The bucket was just about wide enough to span the distance we had to cover. Not having staging or ladders the FEL was just the ticket.

The picnic table was under the windows for the stuff close to the ground and the FEL was just over that for the higher up stuff, very adjustable too.
Working out of the bucket felt much more stable than working off a short step ladder on top of the picnic table.

There was never any problem with the bucket drifting down over a 12 hour period. The best thing was at the end of the day all the toold went in the bucket and the tractor went into the barn for the night. In the morning every thing was brought back to the job site in one trip.

Men are made for adventure. If one doesn't take a calculated risk once in a while where is the adventure. Besides I couldn't justify buying staging or renting it. I'm not trying to ruffle any one here.

Randy

 

[HomeBrew2]

Don't know about how manlifts handle the safety but, I believe your question has been addressed in the threads on TnT systems. The double piloted check valves lock the cylinder so no fluid can flow out if there is a failure in a hose.

 

[N80]

I suppose that check valves might be what makes manlifts safer. Still curious though.

 

[schmism]

guilty... (also trimming trees)

 

[EddieWalker]

I use mine when I have to. I'm terrified of heights and the higher up I am, the more trouble I have moving. Two stories just about freezes me up. LOL

I find I'm able to function allot better in the bucket than on a ladder. Scaffolding is better than a ladder too.

Two things that I know happened to others. One was a guy who was in a bucket trimming branches along his fenceline. He'd been at it several days, so he probably wasn't paying enough attention. He cut a branch and it broke off and came down on the bucket, then it hit the bucket and fliped around with enough force to knock him out of the bucket. He landed on his sholder and was pretty stiff and sore for several months.

The other thing is a contractor I know was loading some dirt into a dumptruck. Just as the bucket was over the dumptruck, the hydralics failed adn the bucket droped. It landed in such a way that the tractor was stuck on the side of the dump truck. They had to get another backhoe to lift it off of the dumptruck.

I always imagine that happening with me under or in the bucket. Kind of scarry, but if I get going, I can scare myself from just about anything. Lightning kills allot more people than loader buckets. LOL

Eddie