HIAB Crane Training – Wabasca

HIAB light duty crane training I’ve had the pleasure of working with many folks over the past 7 years and in Wabasca if you have ever been there, well it’s got great fishing lakes, really great people and well, for me it’s got light duty HIAB cranes to instruct on.

The HIAB-055-CLX is a pretty darn good little crane, with 3 hydraulic extensions on it it picks near 880 KG at 9.3m. One of the biggest complaints I point out and see all the time is that when this crane or the larger HIAB 077CLX -3 is mounted on a Ford F550 regular cab chassis, these cranes in Alberta are typically installed directly in front of the rear axle, which you may or may not know, is a fulcrum point so when the crane is fully extended to the rear of the chassis when completed, IF and I say IF the crane operator actually picked up the 880KG or 1,930 lbs full extension and tried to lift it up past the 3m point, the rear of the truck nose-dives and then the front of the truck will lift almost fully off the ground.

Then we are told, it’s supposed to be 100% stable directly behind the truck and how again is this possible? This is the world of LIGHT DUTY knuckle boom cranes.

There are training companies that have very nice manuals, well bound, look good graphically but I’ve had one in my hand from a large college here in Alberta and it’s so full of wrong information regarding “light duty knuckle boom cranes” that it’s actually borderline dangerous to give to anyone.

Feel free to call us anytime at (844) 334-8847 or send us an email by clicking HERE, subject : Light Duty Knuckle Boom Crane Training and you will hear from us in less than 2 hours time.

If companies follow the guidelines provided and look up the CSA standard they offer up in the manual, it’s not even correct for the type of crane. YET…there it is. So even after reporting this I was told; “As long as the company is doing it’s due diligence by providing training, then the specific standards are less apparent”. So folks, here is our solemn oath and guarantee to you – you WILL GET the right standard for your crane, you WILL GET the proper and crane specific training for your small, knuckle boom crane, you WILL GET the most current standard and OHS standard that you can actually use in your COR or SECOR program.

That you can take to the bank.

Light Duty Picker Training Locations in Alberta

Your company will have one of the best trained operators by one of the best trained instructors in Canada.

We have our light duty picker instructor based in Edmonton, as well as Calgary, Saskatoon and Regina.

So we cover both provinces and come right out to your shop, office, lay down yard.

We’re also providing crane training in conjunction with a strong safety company in Bonnyville and with the Alberta Construction Safety Association in Edmonton for open classes.

These are generally held once every 2 months as right now there is less demand in our provinces than there once used to be.

That said if you have a HIAB, FASSI, PALFINGER or any brand of picker, UNDER 8-tons in either province and are looking to update your safety program, give us a call at (844) 334-8847 and we can give you all the information you need to see if it’s a good fit for what you are looking for for your operators.

If you just got a brand new picker, we can help show your operators the best foot to get started on.

Send us an email to info [at] KnuckleBoomTraining.ca let us know which program you are interested in and within an hour or so you will have an estimate along with other information you didn’t know you needed.

Knuckle Picker Stability Issues

One of the concerns I see is that while “overall” issues with the knuckle boom crane have fallen, it’s still #1 on the list around the world.

STABILITY – SAE J765 test code is one that is required, oddly in Alberta it is not mandatory as it is in BC. Many good dealers will bring in a 3rd party engineering company that will test your crane after an install.

The issue we see is the accidents NOT during the testing but once an operator has been on the crane for awhile, complacency is king here and unless you are an engineer yourself, why, just why bother short-jacking the picker? Don’t have the room, move, don’t have the reach, move or bring in a bigger crane.

This is the reality but still we see these figure not going away.

There is a simple test you can perform on the ground PRIOR to un-racking the crane, it literally takes 5 minutes to do, then look at the stabilizer pads on your crane, are they the nice plastic 1″ 18″ x 18″ on a 20 T/M crane or larger? If so they are the wrong pads. The body builder or perhaps even the dealer created a nice little pocket and used these pads as they have 100’s of times in the past. Not knowing any better.

Be smarter, why not have us come in and take a look at your current set up, it may cost you far less than the price of recovery of your crane truck from being dumped over on it’s side or worse.

On-Site Picker Truck Certification & Training

Alberta based picker training company with locations in Edmonton & Calgary to serve you better.

Truck mounted knuckle boom cranes, or pickers and boom trucks and most know them as, with a lift capacity of under 8 tons are all covered in this course.

In our on site picker truck training course, operators will learn how to properly assess the lift site, set up the picker truck for the safest lift, inspect the structure of the picker itself and then the actual frame work or sub-frame of the truck they are mounted on, including their safety systems and familiarizing participants with the crane limitations.

We take all of your operators through best practices, safety legislation and the core fundamentals of operation with the on-site picker truck training and certification. Finally each participant will have to complete an afternoon operational test to acquire their picker truck certification.

In Canada we have CSA Z150.3-11 which is the standards set out by CSA on proper use of the the truck mounted picker brands like HIAB or Palfinger, Fassi and the rest are made to a specific EN code, but for operating the cranes we have CSA in Canada and each province has its own interpretation of standards based on the CSA code.

It’s very important you select a teaching company that knows these inside and out and relays that to your picker operators. We have 1000’s of successful participants and 100’s of companies that have given us testimonials and we’re happy to share those with you anytime.

Give us a call at (844) 334-8847 or send us an email to: info [at] knuckleboomtraining.ca for more details.

Remember NOT all training is created equally, our instructors are factory trained, you do want that don’t you?

How did we get Here – Picker Safety Training

Picker Stability is it part of Picker Safety Training?

So from time to time we get sent some great photos of knuckle boom cranes we look at and from a pure picker safety training perspective, would NEVER give out as being Okay to do in your day to day.

However this picture shows a crane with the flip-over stabilizers and in this case where the operator requires full stability but is not able to do so were the leg in the standard position.

So what does one do then?

IN this case, while many look and say no way, the operator has placed the pads underneath the part of the stabilizer beam, just under the leg itself to be used once the crane is over top of that area , the beam itself will begin to flex as it would if the leg was down in the proper operating procedure.

It’s not right, it’s an accepted practice and stress is being placed in the right area, the job was completed without any issue.

We instruct your operators on not only “best practice” of the knuckle boom crane, but in Canada we have very specific CSA standards that each provincial OH&S takes their standards from and they “interpret” accordingly.

Would you trust a company that says they can give you this knowledge in 4 hours? Maybe you will but I can tell you first hand, if there is an accident in your company and the operator is charged with a criminal offense, it falls upon you the business owner to speak to due diligence.

So much to say, we offer free consultations on best practice for your pickers, why not take advantage of that (it’s an hour of your time and mine), you will learn more in that 1 hour than wasting your money on a 4 hour…something.

Light Picker Training Improved in Alberta

If you have a HIAB crane or a FASSI crane, well actually any light duty knuckle boom crane and are looking for training, we have the program for you

We recently completed a training program for one of our customers and thankfully we were able to provide our HIAB knuckle boom crane training INSIDE of their large well ventilated shop as it was -33 outside!

If anyone tries to tell you that all you need to do is dress warmer than 4 layers of everything, well not so much. It’s tough on cranes [and all equipment] as well as those operating them.

That said, we talked with the customer about some specific needs their client needed and were able to incorporate those into our program and although we follow the CSA Z150 standard outlined for the truck mounted knuckle boom crane, we also liked this new addition so we’ve made it standard on this particular section of the light crane training.

The areas we offer the light duty picker training program are all of Alberta and Saskatchewan, our travel rates are excellent, we don’t charge a carbon tax, our rates have been standardized and our program updated so you won’t have to worry about anything.

Give us a call at (844) 334-8847 or send us an email HERE