Tips please. hiab and rear steer. urgent

NEW AND WANNABE DRIVERS (INTERACTIVE)
1

]Hi all

As stated in title, i need some advice on rear steer for a class 2. I have a HIAB licence but not used it since i got it…untill tomorrow. Just a few referesher tips on this ASAP please

HIAB:
What to look out for
Best positioning
Best way to sling wood and where about to position brick grab.
Do you always need all 4 stabilsers out or can u just use the side your unloading to?

Rear steer:
Do i need more room before i turn
How much does the back kick out
Is the rear linked to the front (might sound silly)
Disadvantages.

Many thanks
Ben

2

Out of Curiosity, Just exactly where is the pub ?

The pub where you bought your hi-ab. :wink:

3

I have hiab license and not used it now for 4 years and if I were ever to go back onto it I’d know exactly what to do. Dont cut corners and if your not bothered about your own safety then think about the safety of others around you.

If you are not sure, tell the gaffa!

4

Not got my Hiab but being in the building trade have seen lots unload
I’m presuming your working for a builders merchant.
Bricks normally grabbed at the bottom, have seen them lifted a foot up the pack but doesn’t look good, relying on wrapping and plastic straps to hold bricks.
Have seen wood loaded by the grab alone or by straps, just gotta find the middle. more often than not it’s handballed off
Don’t always drive straight onto sites as backing down is sometimes required and is better for getting out, and it’s better to ask
Look for manhole covers when using legs, and look out for overhead cables, easily missed.
Some lorries require both legs to be out before hiab will work.
hope this is useful

5

Thanks Foxtein thats helpful.

Yea it’ll be for a builders merchant. Did my HIAB and remote licence over a year ago now and never had to use it. No doubt ill pick it up again but just wanted a few pointers from people who have a little advice.

Thanks for your replies.

Ben

6

Be very careful with rear steer a colleague of mine told me he went down a narrow alleyway, but could not reverse out of it ,as the rear steer function, only worked in forward gears and not in reverse, bizarre ? he ended up being dragged out with a JCB.

I only used to put the leg fully out on the side i was lifting on, make sure you put a substantial pad under the leg, i used a block of wood 18 -20 inches square by 3-4 inches deep,be wary putting the leg on tarmac pavements i punched a hole in one in hull, it left a 3 ft crater about 9 inches deep. Get as close as you can to get maximum reach over walls and fences, but leave enough space to get the leg out, you may have to short leg it. When lifting a pack of bricks in the pouring rain cut the polythene around the area the grab gets hold of, if you don’t the pack may slip through, this happened to a couple of our lads, use slings if you don’t have the confidence. Do not lift over parked vehicles get the customer or neighbours to move them before hand, if they don’t take the load back. Always do a bounce/test lift before any lift. If lifting planks or decking make sure you find the centre of gravity and perfectly balanced or they will slip at either end. Do not back down customer driveways unless they sign a disclaimer. :wink:

Good luck you will have fun trust me. !! :laughing: :laughing: :wink: :wink:

7

just make sure even if you dont extend the far leg that you put it on a pad as if you pick up a pack of blocks/bricks from the far side of the truck the pack can swing away as the suspension flexes downwards taking the swing even further away. our clive tried to ■■■■■■ it back with the slew lever and burst the ram out of the head stock, this allowed pack to swing out uncontrolled until pack was on the floor the o/s of the truck was in the air and within 2 days the hydraulic oil spilt across the lawn had killed it. recovery, repairs, and £1000 clear up and new lawn, nightmare.

8

Another thing worth mentioning if lifting heavy pallets of cement, plaster or bags of gravel/sand it was always good practice for us to lock the hydraulic fluid off at the lever on the leg in use, as we found that going to full extension with heavier products the leg would retract whilst underload and when the truck leans over a few degrees its very un-nerving.

9

Thanks for the usefull advice roadrunner and hotelmagnum

I’ll be sure to put a pad of some sort under the foot of the leg. At least i’ve got some more things that are fresh in my mind now.

Many thanks.

Ben

10

roadrunner. Do all HIAB support legs have a valve to shut the hydraulic oil off? I see what you mean though, definatly will be bearing that in mind :exclamation: :smiley:

Thanks

Ben

11

bigfoot:
roadrunner. Do all HIAB support legs have a valve to shut the hydraulic oil off? I see what you mean though, definatly will be bearing that in mind :exclamation: :smiley:

Thanks

Ben

The volvo FL i drove did it was a terex system (basically atlas copy or built under license),the other lads had much older trucks with palfinger systems fitted and they had them too so i would imagine so as it will help the techies doing the servicing on them , or stop the pipes from bursting under excessive pressure. Just check the truck on your daily walkround to see if they are there.

12

bigfoot:
roadrunner. Do all HIAB support legs have a valve to shut the hydraulic oil off? I see what you mean though, definatly will be bearing that in mind :exclamation: :smiley:

Thanks

Ben

Every crane I’ve used or seen has had one, I don’t bother using mine even when lifting at full reach. That said it the valve holds and it doesn’t lean over.

You are supposed to get all of the legs out, all of the way but that is not always practical to do so. I’d suggest that get the unload side out as far as possible and get the other side down if you can’t get it extended out. As it’s on a merchant’s wagon I’d guess that it will have a grab and be permanently out, however if it a hook only and normally lives folded up the following is worth noting.

When you unfold the crane do not stand underneath it, use the opposite side. They collect water quite well and will give you an unexpected shower.

When you stow the crane after use, stand underneath it so you can see that it is in the correct stowed position and doesn’t damage the tank, pump or levers etc.

As for rear steer, see if the rear axle actually steers when you turn the wheel. If so it will track nicely forwards and back and will reverse through the same arc. If it is a non actively steered axle it will follow and will only help you when going forwards. Our trailer has a trailing steered third axle which will get you round nicely but if you need to reverse you have to lock it straight or it will work against you.

13

Best advice would be to find another driver or supervisor and ask them to give you a quick induction of sorts and point out any odd features etc.

14

Thanks for that 8wheels

Nice load of information there that i Will definatly be noting down, especially the legs part. Im fully aware how vital they are but tips like that are very useful so thanks very much.

Ben

15

I find that getting into a routine helps keeping everything right. In my job I carry loads of various, chains, hooks and various bits and pieces once I’ve finished using something I’ll put it in it’s place so that I don’t forget to pick it up.

I’ve got a proper set of pads for the crane legs but they are the sort of thing that are easily left behind (that’s where some have come from) so as soon as the leg is lifted the pad is stowed so I don’t leave it behind. If I lose them I’ll not get more unless I find them so I keep my eyes peeled on roundabout exits and the like. Last week I spotted a matching pair of crane pads that had obviously slid off a wagon that had taken a roundabout at speed. 1/4 mile up the road is a layby so I stopped and recovered them and also found a third pad that had been there a little longer :sunglasses: Once I’d got back my arms were dragging by my sides but I couldn’t leave them behind.

16

When you grab bricks, grab them at the short side not the long side as otherwise they could break and then the whole stack collapses.

Always check your delivery notes to make sure you’re delivering the right product to the right premises :open_mouth: :blush: :blush: :blush: :unamused:

When you are setting up and stowing away always check that nothing is going to foul the operation of the hydraulics as they move. Once dented a dropside panel as it swung in the wind when the leg caught it on it’s retraction. I was tired and just wanted to finish :unamused: :imp:

Most legs, when you have stowed them have safety systems so you can lock them in place. I have had a leg slide out on it’s own when the hydraulics werent in and I was on a slight downward slope.

Be careful when manouvering with rear steer. They can be incredibly helpful for getting onto sites and into tight places but you need to be aware of them when leaving as they completely [zb] up any ‘usual’ manouvers!

Be prepared to take your time to get it right and accept that mistakes will happen as you’ll learn and you’ll be branded as slow :frowning:

Don’t forget to strap down your load and secure it and check with the bosses; some want you to strap the boom down as well or at least into the yard.

In the summer months, or at least when it’s warmer take a 2 litre bottle of water. Collapsing from dehydration is not a good plan. You need to look after yourself and not just run around like a blue [zb] fly!

Some of the worst HIABs I have used have actually been HIAB and those require both legs each side extended, often only have a tiny strobe on top and are painted black. Great (not!) for unloading on main roads in the dark.

If you think safety and common sense are compromised, don’t do the drop, or at least you can handball some loads :smiley:

Most builders merchants work 7am to 6pm and take the office number in case you need to call in. Some companies give you mobiles but most won’t. There are mixed answers if you ask about using your own mobile to call companies but that’s your choice.

Good Luck :wink:

17

i’ve been doing hiab work for quite a while on agencys

driving rear wheel steers - easy reversing/backing them in … well awkward getting them out …lol
especially when doing hiab work in tight spots/driveways. They do swing out atlot more… just use your mirrors and make sure you allow for that. watch out for fences , low line railings and brick walls when pulling away. eventually you’ll get a feel for it.

i’m currently driving 8 legger tankers with front wheel steer their brilliant getting in/out of sites , but more of a pain reversing around sites,

as for using hiab/brick grab heres a few pointers

always tell the customer were he can have em , dont listen to some of them with their dodgy requests .i.e i did one drop of 40 6 metre long timbers and the knob head wanted me to drop em in his garage …lol… yeh right … kerbside only for that bellend.

look out for overhead cables when operating crane and setting up, always extend ya legs out fully , i usually just drop the legs down on the side that i’m off loading to …as most instances i’m off loading in narrow streets and tight spots where i cant retract both out.

always put pads down under your legs feet, bewary of sinking tarmac drives especially when craning with full boom extended with heavy loads.

its up to you if you squash the bulk bags or hook em on the grabs ( some companys insist on the bags being hooked on, others dont ), personally i squash em midway with the grabs near the bottom and drop em quick , i used to hook em on before… till i had one bag split from the seams while trying to lift it off the bed and making one hell of a mess on the back of the wagon ( some yardie at the builders merchant decided to throw 30 bricks in the bag and three 25kg bags of cement on top into the bulk bag already containing 1 tonne of shingles , without telling me).

always grabs the bricks at the bottom from the short side and make sure the grabs are square-on on each side.

moving slabs/paving stones/toplite light weight building blocks usually come on small pallets ,if possible grab from the pallet if their sturdy enough with full length wooden battens that run all along the pallet.if not sling em off , dont squash the paving/slabs with the grabs as they will crack em or damage em which the customer wont appreciate. make sure their properly wrapped , no loose slabs lying on top of packs, if their are shrink wrap em on before moving them around.

Most important of all ----- try not to fall of the back of the wagon whilst trying to feed slings thru a pallet and hooking em on to the grabs, in the wet with the sides down— it does hurt .

plasterboard pallets make sure their loaded , with a gap so u can sling em, as most of the time the forkies just push em together on the bed , with gypsum boards i always sling em off, as most of them always come on crappy pallets that will fall to bits once you’ve attempted to pick them with the grabs

p.s always strap down your load … blocks , pallets , everything as they do move around .

18

Thanks for your usefull information ukthugz + Dented

So its always best to lift from the shortest sides of the bricks, I.E not from the side a FLT Would use if on a pallet. I suppose there is more strength in them that way.

Is it the same With breeze blocks, lift from shortest side?

Thanks for your replies.

Ben

19

You only need one leg out on the side your craning off, but it will rock about a lot if your not smooth, if your not comfortable put the other one straight down. Don’t take any of the weight off of the wheels with the legs, just fill the gap. You can grab bags of sand etc but make sure they havnt got a hole in them, grab bricks in the middle, sling timber in the middle obviously, can’t really grab timber very well.

Rear steer, works going forward and in reverse if it doesn’t its broken. Not much to say about it other than it turns very tight if you want it too. You do have to be careful because it does kick out if you lock it round hard. When pulling out of driveways etc you have to turn late otherwise you’ll take the gate post out lol.

You don’t need to strap bricks, packs of blocks, bags etc unless you double stack.

20

I would strap down blocks , simply because it only takes one idiot to pull out in front of ya ’ for ya whole load to shift forward , when your forced to slam on the brakes.Block banding ain’t indestructible and will snap, also vosa wud take a dim view if you get tugged…travelling with an. unsecured load… why risk it just to save 5 minutes

Imagine if a block fell off the wagon and hit someone and they get hurt seriously … could you live with that ’ I know I couldn’t.

alot of company’s insist that the load is strapped and also covered with cargo netting/webbing.

As for lifting packs from the small side … the reason I do it cuz you can clearly see that the grabs are square/level and fully locked on the load. If you lift the load level… its easier to place down in theory. mind you its vary rare you do drop off on level grounds.