Cherry Pickers
Discussion
fourstardan said:
Has anyone hired a cherry picker for awkward fascia/roof level work with zero experience?
They seem a rather expensive bit of kit and expensive so wouldn't want to waste hours learning how to use the thing.
I hire them once a year. You need experience. Or they'll kill you in a blink. Don't underestimate this. A "course" takes a few hours and costs very little. They should nto hire one to you without your ticket/training and if they do and you have an accident they are in deep sThey seem a rather expensive bit of kit and expensive so wouldn't want to waste hours learning how to use the thing.
t."so wouldn't want to waste hours learning how to use the thing" - I kind of hope this is a joke.
If you tip one over on a reasonably high reach you die. I've seen it happen at a festival.
They are actually quite cheap to hire. We pay around £150 for a week for a 4x4 Genie. But, you have to pay dleivery and collection, £80 each way for us.
f
k using one with no training.I had training on cherry pickers and scissor lifts years ago and used them for a few years on and off.
You certainly need to treat them with respect (as you would any item of plant), no sudden movements with the controls and have a rescue plan, just in case it breaks down while you are at height (i.e. someone at ground level who knows what they are doing).
I would highly recommend a few hours training.
You certainly need to treat them with respect (as you would any item of plant), no sudden movements with the controls and have a rescue plan, just in case it breaks down while you are at height (i.e. someone at ground level who knows what they are doing).
I would highly recommend a few hours training.
"Cherry picker" is a bit of a broad term. You'll need to know what it is exactly that you're going to be using and it's correct for your application. They (the royal they) are not hard to use but you need to have a good amount of common sense and to know it can be extremely dangerous.
Ipaf licences are a strange one, I paid and did one off my own back once when self employed but when I moved back into employed the company would not accept it and I had to do it again
You could get someone familiar with one to train you, it's not rocket science but as said you need to be aware of the safety aspects and use of a harness.
You could get someone familiar with one to train you, it's not rocket science but as said you need to be aware of the safety aspects and use of a harness.
Genie's are a great bit of kit, if you know how to use them. The biggest I've used is a 30mtr boom to get around and paint the tower of the Grand hotel Llandudno. We had to put scaffolding planks under 2 wheels, as there was a slope on the road. This is the tower, we had to get as far around the left hand side as we could. Managed to do it with rad rollers on poles
Griffith4ever said:
I hire them once a year. You need experience. Or they'll kill you in a blink. Don't underestimate this. A "course" takes a few hours and costs very little. They should nto hire one to you without your ticket/training and if they do and you have an accident they are in deep st.
t.
Slightly scary to read. I was working on a farm in Australia many years go and wanted to do some filming, and asked if I could take the cherry picker out to get some shots from up high. They shrugged and said yeah. No training was mentioned.
There's a pretty good chance it was a home made thing too, since a lot of stuff on the farm was.
Probably because it felt very sketchy, I was very, very careful with it accordingly. I also had an escape plan running through my head at all moments - jump and roll and hope
I did a cabling job at one of our new sites earlier this year, required me to work extensively at 9.6m height, using a large scissor lift.
I had my employer pay for the iPAF training to ensure that I was "legally" safe to use the lift, but in reality if you have common sense and take it slowly there's not much that can go wrong. Even after the training I was thinking through each operation before I did it, checking all around (including above) before moving the lift etc.
As noted above, make sure you have someone at ground level who knows how to bring the boom / basket down and make 100% certain that you are harnessed in, the sides of these devices are not substantial!
I had my employer pay for the iPAF training to ensure that I was "legally" safe to use the lift, but in reality if you have common sense and take it slowly there's not much that can go wrong. Even after the training I was thinking through each operation before I did it, checking all around (including above) before moving the lift etc.
As noted above, make sure you have someone at ground level who knows how to bring the boom / basket down and make 100% certain that you are harnessed in, the sides of these devices are not substantial!
Griffith4ever said:
I hire them once a year. You need experience. Or they'll kill you in a blink. Don't underestimate this. A "course" takes a few hours and costs very little. They should nto hire one to you without your ticket/training and if they do and you have an accident they are in deep st.
"so wouldn't want to waste hours learning how to use the thing" - I kind of hope this is a joke.
If you tip one over on a reasonably high reach you die. I've seen it happen at a festival.
They are actually quite cheap to hire. We pay around £150 for a week for a 4x4 Genie. But, you have to pay dleivery and collection, £80 each way for us.
fk using one with no training.
As an occasional user of a number of them, this is hand wringing, scaremongering bt."so wouldn't want to waste hours learning how to use the thing" - I kind of hope this is a joke.
If you tip one over on a reasonably high reach you die. I've seen it happen at a festival.
They are actually quite cheap to hire. We pay around £150 for a week for a 4x4 Genie. But, you have to pay dleivery and collection, £80 each way for us.
f
k using one with no training.ks. Accidents can happen but if you have any self preservation at all they are simple as anything to use and not die.
For someone inexperienced I’d actually wager a self erected tower scaffold is more dangerous (and more likely to encourage complacency).
My brother has one on the back of an Isuzu flatbed with 40ft reach. He'll either rent it as is or with him as the operator. If anyone is interested he's based in the West Midlands number is 07904 115191.
As an aside, I'm not sure you can rent one without some form of training or certification as I suspect there will be an insurance/liability issue without it.
As an aside, I'm not sure you can rent one without some form of training or certification as I suspect there will be an insurance/liability issue without it.
It appears hit n miss on the hiring without a valid IPAF,
I've come across places that wont even let you drive a van mount out of their yard without a valid ipaf (despite tickets being sent ahead as part of the hire)
But most recently hired a nifty trailer mount with a big outfit and no questions were asked (which is good as my ipaf expired many years ago)
When I did it, the course is more about avoiding dangers vs operating the thing
Don't get pinched on an object above
Don't go near overhead cables
Don't drive from the bucket if going over a big drop
If near a road, watch for the other end of the arm and wear a harness in case of vehicle strike.
I've only ever done a abseil out of one for rescue during DNO training. Sketchy as hell, inbound thunderstorm and platform stuck situation.
Id wager that if you hired without any experience, you'd quickly get the hang of it, after remembering what will stop you engaging the pto, switching to bucket controls, operate drive wheels on a trailer mount etc, but most likely not take it anywhere near the its capability owing to natural fear its going to tip over.
...no matter what platform, and despite having int the high 100's of hours using them (20m and 12m platforms mostly) , full extension of both primary and secondary and rotate.. gets me uneasy!
I've come across places that wont even let you drive a van mount out of their yard without a valid ipaf (despite tickets being sent ahead as part of the hire)
But most recently hired a nifty trailer mount with a big outfit and no questions were asked (which is good as my ipaf expired many years ago)
When I did it, the course is more about avoiding dangers vs operating the thing
Don't get pinched on an object above
Don't go near overhead cables
Don't drive from the bucket if going over a big drop
If near a road, watch for the other end of the arm and wear a harness in case of vehicle strike.
I've only ever done a abseil out of one for rescue during DNO training. Sketchy as hell, inbound thunderstorm and platform stuck situation.
Id wager that if you hired without any experience, you'd quickly get the hang of it, after remembering what will stop you engaging the pto, switching to bucket controls, operate drive wheels on a trailer mount etc, but most likely not take it anywhere near the its capability owing to natural fear its going to tip over.
...no matter what platform, and despite having int the high 100's of hours using them (20m and 12m platforms mostly) , full extension of both primary and secondary and rotate.. gets me uneasy!
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