Anyone drive a HIAB looking to do a course soon and drive one.
Anything that you found really difficult/challenging delivering or collecting pallets, bags etc?
Have a look at a recent thread I made about my foray into this…
Summary - it’s a lot harder than it looks. The good HIAB men are a lot more skilled than you give them credit for. The course wont prepare you at all for the real world. People will expect you to use the crane to get things into impossible places. If you are going to use the same crane after the course it might be not too bad - if you are agency expect to get to the crane and the controls to be like nothing you have ever seen before.
Just my honest opinions.
The biggest problem you will face is peoples lack of understanding of their limitations and the fact that they are all far from equal.
For example if you are moving a empty 20’ container a 20t/m will just about do the job if you can get pretty close to it on firm and level ground, however once the ground is a bit soft, or there is something in the way or there is “only a bit of light stuff in it” suddenly that crane is going to struggle. Turn up to do the job with a bigger crane and it will get easier, but then people will leave more stuff in them, more stuff in the way etc so the problem continues.
Weight and distance will also be a major factor, with your 20t crane you’ll be able to pick up 4t at 5m radius from the centre of rotation. That 4t object is going to be of a certain size so getting the 5m from centre of crane to centre of object means that you are going to be right alongside it.
Hiab’s will sometimes get booked for site lift jobs where really a mobile crane would be a better option but obviously they are doing it on the cheap, so you can end end struggling and if not careful get in a right old muddle.
Experience is your best friend with this work, you’ll get to know he limitations of what can and can’t be achieved.
I’ve been doing Hiab for 12 years and whilst there are jobs that are a right nightmare there are some good interesting ones too. I’ve used it to assemble an industrial oven inside a factory which was possibly the hardest job I’ve ever done lifting over the cab full stretch to place the top part on whilst working with limited clear visibility and not putting the crane through the roof or kill anyone working in the factory. Every year I collect a load of 25’ Christmas trees and install then in Brentwood town centre. I’ve delivered bricks, blocks, timber, containers, small plant, scaffolding etc in tight and awkward spots.
It is a very varied job and can be enjoyable, just remember that the job never stops trying to kill you!
I used one for a few years a while back. In country areas especially look for power lines.
“Just squeeze it between the hedge and the wires can you?”
“No. I’m sure it’s not live. But don’t touch it, just in case.”
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