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Posts tagged “Tracked”

Jamie, from J. W. Decorating in Scarborough got in touch with High Reaching Solutions as he had an awkward project to do and wanted to do it safely and efficiently. 
The property hadn’t been decorated for some years due to the awkwardness of its location in the grounds combined with a ground floor extension on one side, conservatory on the opposite side and an old slab-paved patio in the middle, which also contained large and heavy stone garden ornaments. 
 
The only access to the side with the extension and to the patio area further on was via a narrow, sloping and twisting gravel path. 
View from bottom of path showing where Sophie needed to come down.
View from top of path showing where Sophie needed to go.
 
When you need to work safely at height consideration should be taken of not only where you need to get to at height to do your work, but also of how you are going to get there and the ground conditions where you are working. 
 
Tracked spiders are the most versatile forms of mewps (mobile elevated work platforms) as they can traverse and set-up on many different types of ground environments. The types of terrain that you need to consider are: - 
1. Sandy or other types of loose material, such as gravel, soft soil etc 
2. Boggy waterlogged ground 
3. Slopes 
4. Ploughed fields 
5. Restricted and narrow areas 
6. Obstacles in the way 
7. Uneven surfaces 
8. Internal, delicate floor surfaces 
 
The reason why spiderlifts can overcome these conditions is due to their design. They are light in weight and that weight is spread over the area of their tracks when moving, which reduces their ground pressure loading. The weight (point-loading) is then transferred and spread over a larger area when their outriggers (legs) are set, especially when using additional spreader plates at the ‘feet’. 
 
They say that a picture can save a thousand words, so please find below some examples of spiders overcoming the environments mentioned above. 
Sabrina the tracked spider cherrypicker crossing a mound of seaweed on a beach.
Sabrina the tracked spider crossing a beach
 
High Reaching Solutions assist our arborist clients on a regular basis, especially when it comes to working on dangerous trees. Tree surgeons would much rather be safe and use one of our ‘ladies’ than risk injury or even death, and rightly so. 
What would constitute a DANGEROUS TREE? 
 
A dangerous tree is any tree (whether large or small) that is a hazard to people, property or facilities because of: 
 
• location or lean 
• physical damage 
• overhead hazards 
• ground deterioration 
• deterioration of limbs, stem or root system 
• or a combination of the above. 
 
And it’s not just the tree itself, it’s where it may fall if nothing is done that needs taking into consideration. 
Tracked spider cherry picker set in road helping tree surgeon to dismantle a dangerous tree.
 
 
Adam Smith, an excellent carpenter in Scarborough needed to work at height safely on one of his jobs in Scalby village. He needed to replace some rotten wood on a gable end of a house which entailed cutting out the old rotten wood before replacing it with new oak on this listed building. He didn’t want to use scaffolding as this was a straight forward and relatively quick job for him so decided on a cherrypicker for speed and security. 
 
He came to High Reaching Solutions through recommendation and after we surveyed the site we suggested that Scarlett Grace, our Platform Basket 13.80 Hybrid tracked spider would be the ‘lady’ of choice. Her light weight, easy manoeuvrability and quiet lithium batteries would be ideal in this peaceful village location. The house he was working on is opposite a local landmark, a K6 telephone box, newly refurbished by local decorating company J.W. Decorating - Scarborough which now contains a Defibrillator instead of a phone, great idea to conserve heritage and benefit the local community at the same time. 
 
History shows us that working at height had to evolve to become quicker, cheaper and more importantly safer. This entailed moving on from old wooden ladders, wooden gantries and trestles and of course, hanging from ropes. No…not the around the neck type but around the waist or siting on a sling. 
 
We have now progressed to strong alloy ladders, alloy or steel scaffolding, rope access technicians (with purpose made equipment) and of course access platforms. 
 
Most are self-explanatory, but what is an Access Platform? Simply put, an access platform is a temporary work platform attached to the end of a boom and is manoeuvred into position via a system of hydraulically operated arms/booms. 
 
They are known by different names, here are a few; 
• Cherry Picker - used by most as a basic description of all access platforms. 
• Scissor Lift – a four wheeled vertical platform known by some as a 'flying carpet'. 
• Boom Lift - a general term for four-wheeled self-propelled boom type machines. 
• Spider - a term used for a tracked access platform with outriggers. 
• Trailer Mounted – a road towable platform that can be towed behind a car. 
• Truck Mounted – a platform which is fitted to a vehicle chassis. 
• Vertical Boom - a term used for stock pickers or manlifts. 
• MEWP - Mobile Elevated Work Platform, the descriptive term. 
 
Many maintenance and facilities companies come up against obstacles which they have to overcome in order to do their work safely and efficiently. High Reaching Solutions were approached by one such company, Aegis Fire & Security. They had a multitude of obstacles to overcome which included working from a mezzanine walkway as the floor was crammed with machinery, fenced of exclusion zones, electrical conduits, pipework, storage tanks etc. Basically the floor area was totally covered except for marked pedestrian walkways, hence the installed mezzanine walkway. 
Aegis Fire & Security needed to work at height safely and work from the mezzanine walkway as mentioned to install their fire and security system. This created another problem as parts of the walkway were very narrow and this combined with a weight limit meant there were very few options. Scaffolding the work area from the floor had been looked at, but the complexity, scale, time constraints, high possibility of damage to machinery and equipment during the build and disassembly and the very high cost meant this really wasn’t an option. They had contact a few very well-known companies within the access industry before being recommended to us by one of them, Promax Access
 
One of High Reaching Solutions regular clients, N Dean Tree and Garden Services of Malton, North Yorkshire, had the task of dismantling a very dangerous tree which was unsafe to climb and so requested the services of ‘Selina’, our 22m tracked spiderlift to help them do it safely. The tree was rotten in the centre and was in danger of falling and although situated in a garden the tree was awkward to get to and no other form of cherrypicker could get close enough to do the job. Nick has used ‘Selina’ on many occasions and found her controls precise and easy to use, along with her adjustable track settings to get through narrow gates and her adjustable leg settings enabling setting up in tight and awkward areas very beneficial. Being only three tonnes in total weight which is spread over the area of the tracks whilst travelling and then over the footprint when her legs are down gives a very low ‘point-loading’ and therefore leaves very little evidence that she was even there, which is a bonus for all concerned. 
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