It's been one of THOSE kind of days....

[Stanley Steamer]

We took down the large Christmas tree today.....finally......it was 20 degrees when we started with 10-20mph winds....we had a bucket truck on one side and the pull behind lift on the other side of the tree....the guy in the bucket truck got about 15' off the ground when the bucket froze in position.....the fluid was a little low, they added more but the pump still wasn't working.....they had to call the guys from Fleet Mngt. to come take it off to be fixed.....

On my side of the tree with the Biljax lift, I started up in it and the speed button froze in the up position and wouldn't stop lifting until I hit the emergency kill switch....turns out, all the push button controls in the lift side had ice behind them....I got one of my co-workers to set me back down from the ground controls and I called the Boss to tell her to have the Electricians send over their 30' bucket van(even it was slow until the fluid warmed up a little).....I finished plucking the ornaments off the tree with the van lift while the guys on the ground took shifts catching the ornaments and seperating them into their bins.....half of the crew and inmates would warm up in the trucks, while the other half helped me....one of the electricians went and bought coffee and doughnuts for the ground guys while I de-nuded the tree.....

We were going to borrow another lift truck from traffic engineering, but decided to just cut the tree down as we took the lights off of it(1,200 ft of them).....I was like a rabbit in a briar patch and was warm and toasty.....the guys on the ground were miserable....I guess it's just that Mountain Man in me that makes me like this cold weather....the air seems much cleaner and easier to breath when it's cold.....

We finally got it cut down and cleaned up....just 350 something days until we do it all over again.....

So, Daniel.....make sure you have a competent ground person who knows how to operate the ground controls in case something goes wrong with the hydraulics.....and try to avoid using your new truck in extreme temps!!....

[Normandog]

So did ya have to clean yur britches ?  I mean after the lift kept going up when it wasn't supposed to.
Sounds like you did some quick thinking Stanley. 

[Stanley Steamer]

So did ya have to clean yur britches ?  I mean after the lift kept going up when it wasn't supposed to.
Sounds like you did some quick thinking Stanley. 

  .....No, my britches were dry...nothing to get too excited about.....these electronic control boards on Biljax lifts have 4 different speeds...I was at the 3rd level....and because it was cold, it wasn't going as fast at it normally does....the kill switch is easy to get to...no sweat there....

Later on in the evening, one of my Groundskeepers was hit in the head when a big gust of wind blew over a 10' aluminum step ladder and hit him a glancing blow to the head....he was wearing a tobaggan and a hooded jacket at the time.....those cushioned the blow a little, but it still knocked him to his knees..... ....I tried to get him to sit down for a while and I reported it to my Boss after I checked up on him....he was stubborn and kept on working.....hope he doesn't have any other problems tonight....

[Gryphon Rider]

....he was wearing a tobaggan and a hooded jacket at the time.....those cushioned the blow a little, but it still knocked him to his knees.....

He was wearing a toboggan?  You mean one of these things?



Or do you mean a tuque, like these guys are wearing on their heads?

[fudgie]

20 degrees is extreme temps?  I haven't even gotten my long underwear out yet! 

[Stanley Steamer]

....he was wearing a tobaggan and a hooded jacket at the time.....those cushioned the blow a little, but it still knocked him to his knees.....

He was wearing a toboggan?  You mean one of these things?



Or do you mean a tuque, like these guys are wearing on their heads?

You obviously have never been to the South in the winter.....


 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toboggan

[Stanley Steamer]

20 degrees is extreme temps?  I haven't even gotten my long underwear out yet! 

I guess old Sponge Bob boxers are good down into the teens for you Yankees?.....

[fudgie]

20 degrees is extreme temps?  I haven't even gotten my long underwear out yet! 

I guess old Sponge Bob boxers are good down into the teens for you Yankees?.....

Goes great with my Stewie pajama pants! 

[Daniel Meyer]

So, Daniel.....make sure you have a competent ground person who knows how to operate the ground controls in case something goes wrong with the hydraulics.....

Ground controls....yeah....might be nice if those worked  (the "transfer control" valve is frozen in place...it's on my list to tinker on)

and try to avoid using your new truck in extreme temps!!....

I don't think that will be an issue...

Heh...as a born and raised Texan...I'm pretty sure my blood will sieze up and stop moving long before the hydraulic fluid would...I can't imagine pondering the possibility of even considering thinking about jacking myself 40 feet in the air in 20 degree temps and 30 mph winds.

[Stanley Steamer]

So, Daniel.....make sure you have a competent ground person who knows how to operate the ground controls in case something goes wrong with the hydraulics.....

Ground controls....yeah....might be nice if those worked  (the "transfer control" valve is frozen in place...it's on my list to tinker on)

and try to avoid using your new truck in extreme temps!!....

I don't think that will be an issue...

Heh...as a born and raised Texan...I'm pretty sure my blood will sieze up and stop moving long before the hydraulic fluid would...I can't imagine pondering the possibility of even considering thinking about jacking myself 40 feet in the air in 20 degree temps and 30 mph winds.

I can tell you from experience, I've had to use the ground controls a few times in the last 14 yrs to get ppl back into the cradle when something went wrong in the bucket....one guy got a limb caught in the control knobs about 30ft off the ground one time(one of the older type trucks)...and he was glad I was there to get him out of trouble....I'd probably put getting that problem fixed at the TOP of the list.....

I can also tell you it gets interesting when the winds get up to 30mph when you are 50-60ft in the air.....and especially when it's dark....since I don't particularly like heights, I actually think not seeing the ground was a good thing....but alas, it's all a part of my job.....the 18-20 degree tenmps are pretty unusual for us even at this time of year.....thankfully the shouldn't last much longer.....