Always used to strap my grab down when i was on brick and block work. it takes 2min to do it! Its just pure lazyness if you ask me. I liked to drive along 99.9% sure it wouldnt move if i hit a big pot hole or had to swerve in an incident. luckily im out of that dirty work now thank god.
The chances of it swinging out are pretty slim, i admit that. but its happened before to people so no point taking chances.
bigfoot:
Always used to strap my grab down when i was on brick and block work. it takes 2min to do it! Its just pure lazyness if you ask me. I liked to drive along 99.9% sure it wouldnt move if i hit a big pot hole or had to swerve in an incident. luckily im out of that dirty work now thank god.The chances of it swinging out are pretty slim, i admit that. but its happened before to people so no point taking chances.
Bigfoot you are indeed correct in your assertion re humming. Having spent the last few minutes with my index fingers inserted into my nostrils I can indeed confirm that I couldn’t manage to hum, the best I could do was a kind of muffled and strangulated sound from the back of my throat which I’m sure we’ll all agree aint humming! So well done, good man. 
Did 17 years on brick cranes, always strapped artic trailer roll-loader type whether Atlas or Hiab. If on an eight wheeler with caged sides didn’t find it necessary, but they do go walkabout if not strapped.
kemaro:
If you know how to use it properly you will know how to put it down & lock its position …
Lock its position ? are you thinking of a JCB 3CX ? ive never ever seen a brickcrane with a slew lock, the only lorry mounted crane with a slew lock would be a large machinery mover crane with a rotary base.Straping a crane down is part of the Almi test although its 11 years since i did cpcs i cant remember covering it then.
grab clamped on a pack of bricks/blocks and netted tight , ok , empty , two slots cut in the steel headboard, put end of clamp through nip up , ain’t going anywhere
Suedehead:
Saaamon:
Aslong as the grab is open wide and grab is turned so the bits the grab the brick (cant remember the exact term) are running parallel it doesnt move unless you drive like a proper idiot.“Is it law to strap a brick grab when empty ?”
I dont know where the law stands but everything on a lorry must be secured, which of course everyone does 
. I was advised to strap it when i did my test but i was also told not to crane over cars, not to grab bags and always make sure you had both legs down. The way i see it, is if you’ve got a dropside or its round a pack of bricks etc you dont need to strap but if you’ve got an empty flat sensibleible to chuck a rope over the top of the grab.
I think locking the legs in is more of a priority,iv’e never seen a crane over the side,but have seen a leg come sliding out.our firm told us to strap crane down after an incident where a driver left the PTO in gear,left the factory and the crane went over the side with a pack of blocks in the grab but i dont think a strap would have stopped it…
how does leaving the pto in make the crane slew itself 
did a bird land on the lever perhaps 
Saaamon:
Suedehead:
Saaamon:
Aslong as the grab is open wide and grab is turned so the bits the grab the brick (cant remember the exact term) are running parallel it doesnt move unless you drive like a proper idiot.“Is it law to strap a brick grab when empty ?”
I dont know where the law stands but everything on a lorry must be secured, which of course everyone does
All very well being told not to crane over cars ,dont grab bags but in the real world . . . .nobody has lifted goods over a fence,within 3m of a power line,off hard standing road.
Kerbside delivery . . my ringpiece
d4c24a:
how does leaving the pto in make the crane slew itself
I dont think it was a bird,maybe when he gave it full revs it couldnt handle all the oil pressure in the valve block so it forced one of the levers ,i dont know im just a driver, not an ornithologist,…
If the legs aren’t locked in place you can done for it, so why not same for the grab. They’ll do you for insecure load if you’ve gotta loose strap or the loads moved slightly these days.
Suedehead:
All very well being told not to crane over cars ,dont grab bags but in the real world . . . .
I’m happy to grab bags . . . sometimes . . . But even in this mythical “real world” no one should be lifting anything over cars.
There’s no need for it & as the operator YOU are 100% responsible & one day an insurance company will go after you for what they’ve had to pay out.
An agency driver covering for one of my holidays dropped 10x bricks from a loose pack onto the roof of a 6mth old Audi Q5, I’m told that a puncture to the roof panel cannot be repaired to insurance standards & such damage requires a new bodyshell.
Suedehead:
All very well being told not to crane over cars ,dont grab bags but in the real world . . . .nobody has lifted goods over a fence,within 3m of a power line,off hard standing road.
Kerbside delivery . . my ringpiece
Exactly, needs must and when you’ve got a ■■■■■■ off builder on your back sometimes its easier to just crack on, i’d do one or two lifts over a car but not ten packs of bricks lol.
I’m not sure if strapping a crane down is law or if its seen as an insecure load but a few years back a little boy was killed localy by a hiab from a builders merchants lorry ,somehow it left the bed off the truck and took the lad clean out he was walking home from school with his mum, now I don’t use a hiab but if I was the chances off the crane moving is massively minimal,the chances that the crane moving and hiting someone is even more minimal and I would imagine I’d have more chance off winning big on the lotto then killing a child the way that driver did, but for the sake off spending 2 minutes strapping the thing down its got to be worth making the chance off that happening even slimmer surely?
Spoke to Mr Vosa today & cleared a few things up. VOSA are now self-funding & have very high targets to meet. If they pull you over and the crane is not secured down with a strap then they WILL prosecute & fine you for having an insecure load, whether or not the vehicle is loaded or empty. 
Also many company policies threaten the boot if you get prosecuted for having an insecure load as you can put the companies’ O Licence at risk. Especially as most people have been put on these DCPC training courses telling them all about it & then ignore any of the requirements!!!
Driv3r:
Spoke to Mr Vosa today & cleared a few things up. VOSA are now self-funding & have very high targets to meet. If they pull you over and the crane is not secured down with a strap then they WILL prosecute & fine you for having an insecure load, whether or not the vehicle is loaded or empty.
Testicles.
I will be driving around tomorow morning till 12noon with my brick grab happily unsecured. If the VOSA mob (who monitor this forum) are happy to identify themselve’s to me, then I’m happy to arrange a mutually convenient place to meet & be prosecuted.
Driv3r:
Also many company policies threaten the boot if you get prosecuted for having an insecure load as you can put the companies’ O Licence at risk. Especially as most people have been put on these DCPC training courses telling them all about it & then ignore any of the requirements!!!
Many companies that utilise HIAB type equipment have a rule that you strap it down, the Co’ that I work for must be one of the biggest & yet no one has ever mentioned such a rule to me.
Is an unstrapped brick grab an unsecured load? Can you be successfully prosecuted if yours isn’t strapped down?
If any VOSA bod cares to rise to the challenge then I’m happy to help create the precedent in law.
Chas:
Driv3r:
Spoke to Mr Vosa today & cleared a few things up. VOSA are now self-funding & have very high targets to meet. If they pull you over and the crane is not secured down with a strap then they WILL prosecute & fine you for having an insecure load, whether or not the vehicle is loaded or empty.Testicles.
I will be driving around tomorow morning till 12noon with my brick grab happily unsecured. If the VOSA mob (who monitor this forum) are happy to identify themselve’s to me, then I’m happy to arrange a mutually convenient place to meet & be prosecuted.
Driv3r:
Also many company policies threaten the boot if you get prosecuted for having an insecure load as you can put the companies’ O Licence at risk. Especially as most people have been put on these DCPC training courses telling them all about it & then ignore any of the requirements!!!Many companies that utilise HIAB type equipment have a rule that you strap it down, the Co’ that I work for must be one of the biggest & yet no one has ever mentioned such a rule to me.
Is an unstrapped brick grab an unsecured load? Can you be successfully prosecuted if yours isn’t strapped down?
If any VOSA bod cares to rise to the challenge then I’m happy to help create the precedent in law.
ask geebee he’s a member of the dark side
On a Travis CPC course, you must strap it down, however you’re not allowed on the bed or allowed to throw straps over .
MADBAZ:
On a Travis CPC course, you must strap it down, however you’re not allowed on the bed or allowed to throw straps over
With some Co’s it is an instantly dismissible offence to be caught stood on the bed with no fall arrest system in place !
I’d like a 10mins chat with whoever dream’t that one up.
Chas:
MADBAZ:
On a Travis CPC course, you must strap it down, however you’re not allowed on the bed or allowed to throw straps overWith some Co’s it is an instantly dismissible offence to be caught stood on the bed with no fall arrest system in place !
I’d like a 10mins chat with whoever dream’t that one up.
So if you cant grab bulk bags,how the ■■■■ do you hook them up if your not allowed on the back of the wagon 
Would have to be a good shot with the crane to get it through the loops