Getting your lifting job done efficiently before the deadline is great, but it should never compromise safety. Working against time should never keep you from managing a safe working environment. For example, if your project involves lifting loads with a crane, the time you invest in a crane lift study will be a smart investment. This article delves into the importance of crane lift studies and why anyone thinking of crane hire should consider it.
You first need to do thorough research about the task at hand. This is what Membrey’s does when involved with crane hire Melbourne contractors may require from us.
A proper crane lift study will provide you with a visual representation of what you’re planning. It will cover setup and configuration of the crane, as well as where it needs to travel. It also covers details about rigging and ground bearing pressure.
You’ll have insight into hazards and the necessary safety measures to avoid risk. You can make informed decisions on site and the plan will guide everyone’s actions that relate to the lifting task. By planning ahead, you’re preventing unnecessary risk and avoiding accidents.
You may ask if it’s necessary to invest so much time in just one plan. Yes, it’s always necessary. Even when you’ve been doing this work for a long time, the following factors will always be there to motivate being prepared and cautious.
During any task, whether it requires mobile crane hire to lift a small load or whether you’re using a fixed crane you’ve owned for years for an immense lifting task, there are people involved. They move around the equipment and they operate it, putting them at risk of injury if anything should go wrong during the lift. For their protection, a lift plan is non-negotiable.
The range of possible outcomes is too vast to take a chance and not plan well. Can you say with absolute conviction that you’ve done all you can to protect your team and others on site from scenarios such as the following?
No matter what you’re lifting into the air, it carries value and during the time it’s being lifted, the responsibility rests with you to keep it safe. If it should get damaged it could cost someone unnecessary expenses and remember that an accident could affect your reputation.
No lifting task takes place in a vacuum where it won’t have any impact on the environment around it. On an open piece of land there are fewer risks but a falling load or a crane going off course could still damage another structure or even the soil, hampering future projects such as construction.
In other circumstances, you may need to consider the impact of the crane’s movements so you’re sure it won’t damage power lines or other utility infrastructures.
You can see how important it is to not only think of the lifting itself but the lifting in its entire context.
The few extra days or weeks you use for the crane lift study will never be wasted. With the study preventing unnecessary damage and helping you find the best plan possible, you won’t spend time on fixing problems, repairing damage or paying for accidentally causing another party any problems. This means your project can keep to its timeline without too much effort.
No need to go through this intricate planning process alone. The team at Membrey’s can assist with crane lift plans, including surveying your site, assessing the risks and providing you with a briefing on safety. With our help you’ll be prepared for the task at hand, with minimal risk to everyone and everything.
Let’s get started on your plan today. You can call us on 03 9554 4040 or request a quote via the website.
Written by James Graham for Big Rigs (bigrigs.com.au)
Hours after learning he had just suffered his first heart attack, Craig Membrey had to laugh when doctors asked if he had a stressful job.
Since he took over Membrey’s Transport and Crane Hire from his father Jack in 1989, Membrey has barely stopped: seven days a week the self-confessed workaholic is focused on moving everything and anything that’s high, wide, long and heavy.
It’s that boundless passion that’s seen Membrey, now 56, build the business from its humble beginnings with just six trucks to a yard in Dandenong South, Melbourne, that today boasts over 200 “bits of gear”, and growing.
“It doesn’t happen with sitting around doing nothing; it happens with hard work,” the 2015 Hall of Fame inductee tells Big Rigs in a rare moment of reflection.
“I have a saying: work hard, play hard, life’s short, make it happen.”
So, yes, Membrey knows his health scare in early September should signal that it might be a good time to “drop back one gear from top gear”, but it doesn’t mean he’ll stop doing what he loves.
In fact, just a month after undergoing a stent and balloon angioplasty procedure to unclog a narrowed artery, the walking, talking embodiment of his catchy company logo, Make it Happen, was back on the road with his crew in Tasmania.
Proud dad Craig Membrey with son Jack, 13, and daughter Leah, 15, who run the memorabilia side of the operation.
They were there to move two giant cranes – a LG1750 and GMK6300 – from Berrybank, Victoria, to a wind farm in Granville Harbour, a job that involved hauling 72 pieces of gear and one that was supposed to take three weeks. Membrey did it in two.
The trip away set the reset button, in more ways than one for Membrey, who admits that in the first few weeks after the heart attack, he had cause to wonder if it was all worth it.
“Going away to Tasmania made me appreciate how lucky I am, and how good the team are,” he said.
“It was real eye-opener for me to see the blokes perform, and the passion they’ve got. It was good fun.”
Membrey also got to see firsthand the power his livery has on truck fans – a video clip posted on the company Facebook page of his trucks’ push-pull configuration on the challenging Tassie climbs to the wind farm got two million views alone – with countless devotees lining up for pictures and a chat.
Nine years after he launched the special tribute truck to late son Rowan, who tragically took his own life in March 2011, the beautifully restored 2006 Kenworth T904 with the 4ROWAN rego plate is still one of the biggest drawcards.
Emblazoned with murals of Rowan on the back of the cab and the Beyond Blue logo and website details on its side, Membrey uses it to spread a mental health message he never tires of sharing.
The first trip to Tasmania for Membrey’s pride and joy.
“So many people come up to me and say that truck saved my life. It’s just enough to snap people out of doing the wrong thing,” said Membrey, a vocal Beyond Blue ambassador.
“I’ve been through it myself. I copped it three years ago and I’m not afraid to admit it, but I sought good help and it got me across the line.
“It doesn’t matter how much money you’ve got, you’ve got to get help before it’s too late.”
Membrey felt “proud as punch” towing his team up Tassie’s steepest hills in the truck he dedicated to son Rowan.
Rowan would be 26 now, and no doubt stepping up to help Dad shoulder today’s gruelling workload – Membrey’s other children Leah, 15, and Jack, 13, helm the popular memorabilia side of the operation – but Membrey still draws strength from his son’s legacy every day.
The recent trip to Tasmania with Rowan’s truck leading the charge – it pulled a Kenworth T909 Director with a Kenworth K108 pushing the loaded 10 line Drake Platform trailer from behind – was a classic example, giving Membrey a boost at exactly the right moment.
“Hearing Rowan’s truck grunting up the steepest hills in Tasmania with two other prime movers hooked up behind it made me proud as punch as a father.”
Membrey returned to Victoria recharged and excited about his next venture, his new heavy vehicle towing and salvage division.
Inspired by Membrey’s desire to be a one-stop-shop, the truck is both a nod to how far the boss has come and a chance for him to give back.
Membrey got his start behind the wheel as an 18-year-old, driving tow trucks for Barry Bailey at Bailey’s Towing and Salvage, based in Frankston.
When Membrey, an ‘old school’ truck fan and eagle-eyed enthusiast of auction sites, spotted a 1988 Kenworth T650 up for sale in Queensland, he saw the chance to pay the opportunity forward to a new generation.
“I was young once and someone gave me a go [Bailey] so I want to return the favour,” he said.
“I like to give young guys a start, and if they have a passion to drive and are keen, that’s all you need.
“I’m very lucky that I’ve got that; that’s the secret to get someone through.”
Sadly, Bailey passed away halfway through the onsite refurbishment of the T650, but Membrey has dedicated the truck to his memory and had his name painted in a prominent spot on the side of the wrecker.
“I don’t forget those who helped me out.”
Nor does Membrey stop looking to the future, even if his recent health episode might mean it’s at a slightly less manic pace, at least for the timebeing.
Buoyed by the tax breaks in the latest federal budget, Membrey is lining up yet more equipment to add to his impressive array, with Kenworth
taking pride of place in the 20-strong truck fleet.
He has a new T410 crane truck reporting for duty in November, a T509 coming off the Bayswater factory line the same month and was spec’ing up a T909 when Big Rigs checked in.
“Kenworths are just worth paying the extra money for. They build what I want, and I get what I want. They’ll spec it up from every nut and bolt right through, and they’ve stuck by us through the thick and thin.”
Meanwhile, Membrey’s unmatched status in the die-cast world here keeps growing – Drake Collectibles are tipped to release another 2000 truck and crane models in the next few months – and the phone at the Dandenong HQ keeps ringing.
Mostly it’s for wind farm work, said Membrey, but his 50-strong team, headed by right-hand men, operations manager Daniel Narkiewicz, and general manager Leigh Canet [Membrey’s ex-bank manager] are ready for anything.
“We’ve got the most versatile trailers in Victoria; there’s not one thing we can’t do now.
“It’s only taken 32 years of my life to get all this extra equipment, but I still have the passion and it’s just amazing to see what we can actually do.
“You’ve just got to shake your head and think, ‘wow wee’. I might be moving a ute-load of spare parts one day for a hotshot express load, then on the Saturday moving wind blades up to 68.5 metres long, and the week before that we’re in Tasmania with three prime movers and the heaviest load of 250t.
“I remember my dad saying to me 32 years ago, ‘son enjoy hobby transport’, and I said ‘why do you call it hobby transport Dad?’, and he said ‘because you don’t make a fortune but you’ll have a lot of fun, like a hobby’, and how true he was.”
When the time comes for you or your team to hire a crane truck, you can trust Membrey’s Transport and Crane Hire to make it happen. Our range of crane trucks available for hire are convenient and versatile. Their ability to lift and transport loads makes them a suitable choice for many heavy-duty projects.
If you hire one of Membrey’s crane trucks you don’t have to worry about operators, storing it or the liabilities that come with owning large construction machinery. We offer hiring solutions that are simple and customer-centric so that you don’t have to worry about a thing. You are our top priority.
But before you hire your crane truck, there are a few aspects to think about first. Continue reading to find out some useful tips. When you hire your crane truck from Membrey’s, our team of experts can assist you with all of the following points and more!
Before you pick a crane truck from Membrey’s catalogue, consider how heavy your loads are going to be. There are crane trucks that have different lifting capacities. You should never lift heavier loads than what your crane truck can handle as this can cause dangerous accidents.
Membrey’s has a crane truck loading chart for you to refer to. We can guide you through this so that you can pick a machine that will be able to handle the heaviest load you want to lift.
If you need accessories as part of crane hire Melbourne based companies and agencies in most major cities can help you with your requirements. So, if you need extra equipment such as steel plates to make your lifting task easier, contact Membrey’s.
At Membrey’s, our crane trucks are hired out with professional operators, however here are some safety tips that operators will follow when using a crane truck.
When working with heavy lifting machinery you must always maintain a line of sight with the load. Operators shouldn’t continue with the lift if they can’t see the load that they’re going to move. All operators must be licensed professionals with the correct Australian qualifications.
Your construction site must be a safe place to work for crane truck operators and it should be inspected regularly for obstructions. The crane truck should also be inspected for any leaks, damage to the crane arm or faulty operation panels.
The crane truck and construction site must meet Australian safety regulations.
If you’re looking for quality crane trucks that are semi or tilt tray machines, Membrey’s can assist you. Contact Us today or Visit the Membrey’s website to hire a crane truck that will help you get the job done.
Call Membrey’s today on (03) 9554 4040 to get a quote on crane truck hire and other construction equipment you may need for your project.
Our range of hire equipment includes cranes, crane trucks, heavy haulage trailers and gears, access equipment and pilot vehicles.
We also provide nationwide 24/7 transport and crane hire services. At Membrey's we take a personalised approach to your transportation needs. We will work in partnership with you to find the right equipment and solution for your project needs.
Call us now and we'll be happy to discuss your project needs.
