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Posts tagged “work at height”

One of regular arborist clients called us in to assist with making an unstable, storm damaged tree safe. A large part of the tree had already snapped off and fallen onto a house, stone wall and fencing causing some damage, leaving the rest of the tree unbalanced, fragile and too dangerous to climb. They needed and requested Selina’s assistance to help stabilize the tree enough to allow it to be climbed safely. 
Broken limb from tree fallen onto house, stone wall and fence.
Selina, High Reaching Solutions Platform Basket 22.10 EVO Hybrid tracked spider cherry picker, was requested as the tree was located in a very awkward position, which could ONLY be accessed via a steeply banked field. On first seeing the steepness of the field, it was necessary to assess a safe route for Selina, as obviously we didn’t want her to tip over or get stuck getting in or out. Tracking her across the slope was out of the question as there was a high probability of her losing at least one track, if not both, due to side pressure load. After walking the route, we decided the best (and only) option, was to track her up the slope at an angle until we reached a ‘relatively’ level area, then across a few meters before descending, again at a slight angle, toward the tree. 
Photo showing steepness of slope in field.
 
Selina, tracked spider entering sloping field.
Selina, tracked spider cherrypicker driving up steep slope in field.
High Reaching Solutions have given their 'Ladies' the weekend off. 
WHY? 
 
Because over the last 10 years they have been extremely busy helping people to work safely at height! 
 
Since we started on the First of September 2008 we can proudly say "WE HAVE A 100% SAFETY RECORD"! 
 
That's right, a 100% safety, with no near misses! 
 
Not only that, we also have a near perfect attendance record. We are always on site before the scheduled time other than the ONE occassion when our transport vehicle had a serious breakdown. Once in 10 years and covering the whole of the UK, that's not bad and I think you'll agree! 
Tracked spider booms arranged in an attempt to display the number 10
An attempt to display the number 10 using the booms of the tracked spiders and Sophie, although not a shy lady, is trying to stay out of the limelight. 
 
Selina, High Reaching Solutions Platform Basket 22.10 EVO Hybrid tracked spider cherry picker, was requested to assist with chimney inspections and repairs at various properties around York. Our clients own staff as well as their subcontracted chimney sweep, Trevor Lund, were very impressed with Selinas abilities. 
On the first property Selinas amazing outreach came into its own with Trevor Lund getting to where he needed to be to inspect the chimney for stability and condition. After the first stack had been inspected Selina was moved to the rear of the building so the second stack on the list could be reached. This involved Selina negotiating a deceptively steep grass bank, so having her tracks on wide setting for the additional ground clearance and stability and running on her Lithium batteries so as not to disturb the residence of the neighbouring properties, she was able to perform the task without issue (please watch the accompanying video). 
If you require an excellent chimney sweep in and around the York area then please get in touch with Trevor Lund on 01904 760075 or 07801 529952, I'm sure he'll be glad to hear from you. 
Tracked spider cherrypicker chimney maintenance
 
 
 
Our client of several years had a project in Leeds to decorate the exterior of an apartment block. Most areas were easy to gain access to via a mobile boom lift, however the rear created somewhat of a challenge for them due to the restrictive narrow access. 
 
On realising the difficulties of the task they gave High Reaching Solutions a call and ask for Selina, our Platform Basket 22.10 EVO Hybrid. Having used her before they knew her 10.5 meters of outreach at 11 meters up and multi positioning stabilizer settings ensured that their experienced decorator would be able to get to the furthest point they needed to from the restrictive setup space. 
 
They also knew that she was very quite when using her Lithium Ion batteries. 
The narrow start of Selinas, the tracked spider, journey to her work area.
This photo shows the narrow and awkward path Selina the tracked spiderlift had to take on the start of her journey to the work area. 
The next view of Selinas continuing journey down a narrow path to the work area
 
 
 
After negotiating the narrow start as shown above Selina would need to continue her journey down this narrow and restrictive path.  
 
Great care would also be needed so as not to damage the established vegitation in the garden, which at times would be very difficult and time consuming to do. 
 
High Reaching Solutions good friends at Tracked Access Platforms, based in Bradford, asked if we could assist one of their clients on a gutter cleaning and repair job in York. They needed Scarlett Grace, our Platform Basket 13.80 Hybrid narrow tracked spiderlift as she was small and able to set-up and operate in a confined area. With a working area of no more than 3 meters wide they thought Scarlett Grace would be ideal as they had taken into account her negative tail-swing, dual tracking speed, outrigger footprint of less than 3 meters and of course her lithium batteries to negate noise echoing between the buildings. 
Tracked spider gutter cleaning
 
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.