By: Kelly Holdaway On: February 22, 2012 In: Blog Comments: 0

A Unic mini crane proved to be invaluable for working at height on a telecoms project recently, replacing a defective telephone mast in Uppermill, Saddleworth.

The 1300mm wide Unic URW-376 mini spider crane was narrow enough to be able to get into the confined area where the telegraph pole stood behind a row of shops. The customer was impressed with how quickly and easily the crane could be set up ready to work in the most awkward of spaces.

Before the 8.5 metre pole could be replaced, overhead cables connected to the top of the mast needed to be uninstalled. Usually this can easily be done by a worker using a ladder, but as a neighbouring tree was in the way this was impossible.

To solve this problem, the spider crane was configured to lift an operator in a man basket, the operator cutting down the obstructing branches on his way up and then disconnecting the phone lines when he got to the top of the pole. For this first lift the Unic URW-376’s usual 2.9 tonne lifting capacity was reduced by 50% as per safety regulations for lifting people using craneage.

The mini crane was then reconfigured back to normal lifting capacity to lift out the faulty wooden mast and install the new one. The new 300kg pole was lifted from its trolley, slung ¾ of the way up and lifted until it was upright. The load could then be slewed round, lowered into the position and securely fixed in the ground before the crane was detached and derigged.

To read more about how Unic mini cranes can be used for telecoms maintenance projects, take a look at our blog story about mini cranes working in the great outdoors.

 

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