12.02.2024
Another tree incident
A crane overturned onto a car at a home in La Cañada - Flintridge, on the northern edge of Los Angeles, California last week.
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The crane was removing a tree section at the time, thankfully no one was injured in the incident which appears to have been related to poor outrigger set up. The crane, an Altec truck crane/big boom truck, was working with around 37 metres of main boom out when it went over, with the boom landing on the back of the family car.
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The tree company called in Pepe’s Towing Service to recover the crane, the job was extremely tricky due to limited space and the fact that the crane owner wanted to preserve as much of the crane as possible. The team from Pepe’s made a video of the entire recovery which provides some real insight into the challenges of such recovery jobs. Be warned it is almost two hours long, but very well done.
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Once the crane was upright the team faced a challenge of bringing the boom in - the owners wanted to start the engine and telescope it in having cut off the bent sections. That did not work so it was onto plan B.
The video says it all.
Red
When the recovery crew shows up with short pants, no hard hats, and equipment that is lacking in capacity and reach, one can surmise their performance will be less than professional.
Chief
First impressions and with all due respect to Pepe's Towing Service. No proper planning, wrong equipment and little regard for safety. Hopefully no serious injuries in the recovery which was probably more luck than anything else.
Surely it would have been easier and safer to use a mobile crane with decent reach. First remove the remaining boom tele section which is probably damaged anyway.
Positioned mobile in front of the Altec to lift it into upright position, with air bags below it to prevent flip over. Less damage and a lot safer.
Tow trucks don't have the reach for this sort of operation.
The video was well taken.