So last Thursday I drove my first crane!
Crane No 30, at the MShed Bristol. One of the fantastically restored Dockside Level Luffing Cranes by Stothert and Pitt.
I was working with the fantastic Dave, who showed me the range of movement and speeds that Crane 30 (and 31) can operate at, and what they are looking at whilst operating the cranes.
One of the main surprises was how carefully you had to be to minimise the swing of the hook, and how the final slewing/ luffing speed was defined by this, and the wind conditions.
For the Geeks out there, here are a few short (terribly filmed) videos of Crane 30 in action from inside the cab and the speed during different manoeuvres:
Slewing 360 degrees: 55 secs
The Luffing jib cranes are designed to have the greatest freedom of movement:
Luffing the jib Dockside: 17 secs
The crane are spaced out so that they could load and unload simultaneously which gives us room to luff the jib on land.
Luffing the jib to the water: 10 secs
Hoisting the hook: 20 secs
From water to top position:
level luffing Straight: 16 secs
This is a clever trick that is quite specific to this type of crane: it allows us to raise the jib, but maintain the hook length, so keeping it in line (just touching the water in this example)
Semi Circle Level Luffing: 17 secs
A nippy manoeuvre using the slew to level luff, rather than raising the jib.