I may be doing some part-time holiday cover brick and block deliveries for a local haulier soon.
Never done this kind of work before. Any handy tips, good advice or things to watch out for would be welcome pls 
. HIAB ticket sorted.
Rob K:
PPL are at work unlike some,hence why no replyâs as yet. 
Just the normal with regards to site work. Donât go off of a made up road - regardless of what they say!! If the forklift driver is an arse then make sure you leave the bricks with the holes for the forks all pointing into one another so they have to handball the paks rather then lifting them with forks when they need to use them If you are del. blocks and you get an arsey FL driver then with a hiab you can usually stack the bloks about 15 ft high, this is a real pain for them to get down if you only use a pallet on the bottom pack And the same tricks can be applied if you end up del. roofing tiles (Not that I have ever done any of the above you understand)
smcaul:
Just the normal with regards to site work. Donât go off of a made up road - regardless of what they say!! If the forklift driver is an arse then make sure you leave the bricks with the holes for the forks all pointing into one another so they have to handball the paks rather then lifting them with forks when they need to use them
Excellent tips!
What about the pulley-out bits, are they called out-riggers perhaps 
. Do you have to use those as I rarely see them being used by others doing block and brick deliveries . Can you get away without them most of the time or what .
Having driven skips and tippers, I agree with smcaul.
Park outside and walk in to have a look at the job first, youâd be surprised how easily a lorry gets stuck on soft ground and how much damage a JCB and chain can do.
Rob K:
What about the pulley-out bits, are they called out-riggers perhaps
Depends, Some are fixed and you dont need to pull them out, If they do pull out then I would suggest you use them exteneded, at least until you get to know the wagon, I have had a couple of less then delightful moments when things have started to go a bit pear shaped due to me being lazy and not pulling out the legs!!!
smcaul:
Rob K:
What about the pulley-out bits, are they called out-riggers perhaps
Depends, Some are fixed and you dont need to pull them out, If they do pull out then I would suggest you use them exteneded, at least until you get to know the wagon, I have had a couple of less then delightful moments when things have started to go a bit pear shaped due to me being lazy and not pulling out the legs!!!
Tie a rag round the grab open and close lever then you canât mistake it.
If your lifting packs that are covered in bags beware of them slipping when wet.
Only put the legs down on tarmac designed for vehicles. They will crack flags and dent footpath grade tarmac.
Get your load close to the ground as soon as you can. If your only a foot off the floor your not going to tip the wagon if the leg sinks.
If running the crane on the pto keep the revs low till you get used to it.
Using 2 or 3 levers at a time makes the whole thing more smooth as the oil is divided between the rams
word of caution, beware packs of dense blocks which often weigh 1.5t, boarder line for a brick grab so make sure youâve got a good hold of em before you swing em off the wagon. other than that make sure theres a pair lifting slings on the wagon for the inevitable broken pallet you canât get hold of and try not to work the crane to max reach or it may lock up and leave you looking a bit silly.
sweep all the [zb] that gets left on the bed onto the site, I got a windscreen full of bits of concrete block today following a block wagon and drag down the M77.
marlow:
Tie a rag round the grab open and close lever then you canât mistake it.If your lifting packs that are covered in bags beware of them slipping when wet.
Only put the legs down on tarmac designed for vehicles. They will crack flags and dent footpath grade tarmac.
Get your load close to the ground as soon as you can. If your only a foot off the floor your not going to tip the wagon if the leg sinks.
If running the crane on the pto keep the revs low till you get used to it.
Using 2 or 3 levers at a time makes the whole thing more smooth as the oil is divided between the rams
Thanks Graham, some good tips there .
paul b:
word of caution, beware packs of dense blocks which often weigh 1.5t, boarder line for a brick grab so make sure youâve got a good hold of em before you swing em off the wagon. other than that make sure theres a pair lifting slings on the wagon for the inevitable broken pallet you canât get hold of and try not to work the crane to max reach or it may lock up and leave you looking a bit silly.
Are the brick and block packs not strapped to the pallets then? Do you have to grab the pallet and lift that or can you grab anywhere on the lift, taking whatever itâs attached to (ie. the pallet) with it?
Rob K:
Are the brick and block packs not strapped to the pallets then? Do you have to grab the pallet and lift that or can you grab anywhere on the lift, taking whatever itâs attached to (ie. the pallet) with it?
Not generally no. Depending on who/what you are carrying they may not even be on pallets, you may have to put them on pallets at the site. And never trust the strapping round blocks and bricks, it breaks very easily and picking up 700 bricks by hand is knackering!!!
I was in a block works on saturday, most of the trucks just load the blocks without a pallet, if the site want them palleted they provide their own, or can ask for them to come on pallets. I would have thought it would be easier to unload them with a brick crane if they werenât on pallets!
so with all this mention of brick graps anyone mention the correct licence to use one
Beware of overhead cables
and manhole covers when putting ya jack legs down.
hitch:
so with all this mention of brick graps anyone mention the correct licence to use one
Rob K:
HIAB ticket sorted
mentioned in the first post 
Rob K:
Are the brick and block packs not strapped to the pallets then? Do you have to grab the pallet and lift that or can you grab anywhere on the lift, taking whatever itâs attached to (ie. the pallet) with it?
brick n block will very rarely be strapped to a pallet but many customers will want them on pallets simply so they can move them around site once the packs been opened, decorative paving on the other hand will always be on pallets which you have to grab so as not to damage the flags and can be a real pain in the arse especially the 4ft long packs is youâve only got a 3ft grab rail. a lot depends on what type of work and what type of crane, doing deliveries for a builders merchants is vastly different to working out of a brick yard! all i can say is be very carefull till your used to the crane, theyâre not toys and can do some real damage in the wrong hands itâs down to you to make sure itâs safe so donât be talked into doing something your not happy with by a site foreman just so he gets his load five yards nearer the job.
good luck
Donât put outriggers down on pavements. The surface is nowhere near as firm at the roadway and you could end up with a bill to replace sewers, water pipes, telephone cables etc etc. If you really have to put a leg down on the pavement put plenty of timber down under it to spread the weight first.
Keep a good eye on overhead power lines.
Make your own mind up about whether you can get the vehicle to where they ask you and stick to it. Donât be pressurised by the âweâve had bigger ones than that over thereâ remarks.
If the stuff is shrunk wrapped take a knife with you so you can cut the packaging away to grip the block. Especially handy when raining.
OK, thanks for all the replies and good advice. Sadly the job isnât happening now though . But the info will be useful for the future. Perhaps Ken can archive it for us to refer back to should the question come up again .