Ed Horan Wrote:
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> I'm curious. Is the gear box the guy in the photo
> is turning the cable for the boom angle? The one I
> used had a 2 to 1 reduction on each drum, one for
> lift, the other boom angle You could reel in or
> out direct by moving the crank to the drum and the
> shaft right behind each drum was the little gear
> for the reduction. We always placed the crane so
> we didn't have raise or lower the boom while
> working with it. Lifting loads using the reduction
> gear and having the cable doubled up using a
> snatch block made for easy lifting. The Fairmont
> brake for the lift cable was something I
> considered sketchy, and I liked to use the crank
> to lower any load. I suppose the brake may have
> been there for when someone was running cable out
> under no load and the drum ratchet was off, but I
> think that would make a snarly mess of the cable
> if given a slight chance. We picked up a lot of
> scrap rail and frogs with it that were never too
> far away from the track.
>
> Those rail clamps, if adjusted right, will hold
> more than the boom is capable of lifting. Of
> course, we had the advantage of wider and slightly
> heavier track, so erring to side of caution by
> tying off to a tree seems prudent.
Hi Ed,
Ichabod has no powered turning of the boom so we set the boom at a good working height and use the hook as much as possible.
Once the load is secure we turn it by hand. As noted, rail, switch stands and frogs are a common load.
There are two crank positions for the cable, just like the Fairmont crane you described. I use the lower reduction most often.
The rail clamps and out riggers do a good job securing the rig except when there is a large load and we set
cables over to a large tree for safety.
Stewart
