Got to side from a crane today.

[Don P]

We're close to wrapping up our part of the house we've been working on. The west end gable has been a spot we've tried to ignore as long as possible, the peak is 37' above the drive. Happily the crane lives across the hiway and the families lost track of favors several generations ago. I had put in a request for whenever it wasn't being used. We got to side the high gable from a basket on the boom today. Knocked it out and had it broken down by 3, heavy equipment sure is nice.
This is the easy east gable we buttoned it up last week, it now has windows and upper siding.


First shot from this morning is of me in the basket finishing up soffit and fascia.

Next shot is of the siding just finished, they prestained it. Its full log for the 2 floors below.

As he continued to zoom me up I got a couple more shots of the roof.
This one is the 2 small dormers and master porch flanking the 18/12 heavy timber roof.

This one is the 3 south dormers over the main porch.

I got above the trees and got a good shot of striped rock on the mountainside above us.

Fifty more feet of stick and I coulda got it all in one shot  :D

[Furby]

The right tool for the job always helps  eh? ;D
How high were ya?

[Don P]

That's a fact. It sure made quick work of a tough gable end. I was 80' up when I got the roof and rock shots. I sent my sis the short gable pic last week, she said it gave her sweaty palms, I don't think I'll show her the new ones  :D. That's the crane that will move the molder when I get the round tuits. Those pebbles on top of the rock are about truck sized. I do see one tip a guy taught me. The midsheet nails on the tarpaper are over rafters, or I try. When the roofers are looking for toeboard nailing it helps them hit something solid. They'll stock the roof Tues if the creeks don't rise. Sure will be good to have that sealed for winter.

[Norm]

Those are some great shots Don but I got a nose bleed just from looking. :D

My comfort level is about 30' after that I get weak knees and won't budge itis. I rented a 60' powered articulated lift for our house, it made the work go so much faster and I always felt safe with the railing around me.

[Don P]

Norm, they say after 40' it just don't matter, sounds like you have a pretty good internal protection system. Truth be told I was fine till he swung me over the outrigger. Rationally I know I probably don't outweigh the truck, lever and all, but I pointed him back in  :D. I'm not afraid of heights, I'm not fast at height either  ;D.  We did have a 75' Genie lift on one job, one of those drive it from the basket jobs. The roofer came in with my power planer in a crumpled mess and asked me if it was mine. I had left it on a stack outside. He had loaded the basket with shingles and boomed out... and down  .

[UNCLEBUCK]

You are a brave one Don but atleast you had outriggers .  Thats a nice house and looks like alot of work .  I dont like those man lifts because up high they bounce and sway too much but I bet a crane must feel more solid .

I bet the crane operator had a good time  ;D  Be safe 

[Qweaver]

I'm not afraid of heights, I'm not fast at height either  ;D. 

Don, people that are not afraid of heights are people that are looking to get hurt.  I've got over 1500 skydives and I'm afraid of heights.  It's that fear(not uncontrolled terror) that keeps me on my toes and helps me stay safe.  At 14000 ft. as I exit the aircraft, there is very little/no fear...but at 2000 ft at 120 MPH...now I'm focused because I'm only 12 seconds from impact and only a small error can spell doom...much the same as falling off of that high roof.  Yeh, I'm focused and a little fearful while I'm up high, no matter if I'm skydiving or working on a roof.  Maybe that's why i've qualified to wear this white hair.
There's old pilots, and there's bold pilots but very few old, bold pilots!
Quinton

[Don P]

Oh I have a definite fear of impact, been there done that, pay the cost. I didn't mean to sound casual, I understand what you mean, that's what I meant by slowing down. I work up there very similar to the way I would rock climb, 3 points down and check everything every move. What you would call terror is very dangerous, it causes people to cut out and just do things they know better than. I was about an hour west and had my wife in a rubber tired machine the day Big Blue fell in Brewer Stadium. We had set down and called it a day, sure wish they had.

This was the most stable machine I've been in, it was a rock. He'll get more business from me, but normally for that height a manlift will do the job. I've got siding over a glass topped sunroom coming up. Having him move me around is sounding pretty good.

Buck there is a lotta work in this one, about 10% more than I expected   :D.

Max, if you're reading, the long porch was done by math, almost the whole roof was. The master porch was measured and cut in the way I was talking about earlier, just diagonal measure stick by stick. There were few sticks a window height and dormer bump then valley. I knew the plane and pitches I wanted, layed it out in place and measured each piece. Just seemed simpler.