Clam bucket on a friction crane | Unloading a barge with a crane

[@WoodCutr1]

Great video Jimmy, also how do you not have like at-least 100k subs? I am one of the 10.3K :)

[@ToTheTopCrane]

I guess I haven't gotten noticed by enough people. Sharing the channel, the videos and liking the content all helps grow the channel. Many thanks for watching and being part of all of it. 🙂

[@WoodCutr1]

@@ToTheTopCrane If anyone im talking to needs info on crane stuff i will send them here :) this is by far the best channel ive seen for crane work!

[@ToTheTopCrane]

Thank you for the compliment! 🙂🏗

[@WoodCutr1]

@@ToTheTopCrane Your welcome :)

[@deanmccartney5021]

I'm a retired friction man myself. All the back ground noise is music to my ears.

[@hfdzl]

Back when I was working full time, running a clam or dragline was my favorite pleasures to pass the time. Had the Zen meditation mind set going. Just became part of the machine. Great video, keep 'm coming !

[@psidvicious]

Ive got Ø experience with this, but it must be like that. Gotta put your mind in that ‘zone’ or something. Maybe like long distance running where it’s just kind of a mind set you’ve got to put yourself in. Back and forth. Up and down. Back and forth. Up and down. Etc etc etc...

[@willardlocks]

My Dad ran a friction truck crane for years. I have been a equipment operator for 30 plus years but never had what it takes to operate a crane. Thanks for the videos, keep them coming.

[@ToTheTopCrane]

The ole friction cranes are a different animal than the newer cranes. I like my cranes with a side of hydraulics. Lol. Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@steveallarton98]

Just had to watch this for a third time - that guy is a really smooth and steady operator, gently teasing the old girl along - no rush, but every movement counts . . . . Excellent ! - from one who does it occasionally, for fun !

[@andyb9767]

Great video Jimmy. As much as I like to run equipment that would be the longest day ever sitting in that seat. Thanks

[@ToTheTopCrane]

Thank you! Sitting in there for a while would make for a long day. Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@hfdzl]

I ran both clam and dragline I was never bored always busy, the day went right by.

[@nicholasjohnson8829]

Not really boring but those mechanical brakes would definitely give you a workout. I ran a 518 for several years. My knees are now shot. Lol

[@Nudnik1]

Miss running those Erected steel 200ft boom hc238a Link belt. and PH 670... New hydro cranes safe easy.. Some Lorain had boom down pull back handles...Some had live boom and no swing brakes. Nice operator smooth safe. Thanks.. Say a prayer for everyone especially older people now... Jim from NYC.

[@ToTheTopCrane]

I don't have much experience with them. Hence the reason that I was recording and observing. Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@Nudnik1]

@@ToTheTopCrane try to practice you will love it. Start with single whip line no bucket

[@DemetriusEvans-gr9wu]

I remember these days lol good days, use to take all day to unload until they got gotwald 8400. That crane would knock out 4 barges a day with covers.

[@johnwarren-649]

Spent a couple hours in one of them years ago. Lots of work. Good old red potash from Canada

[@ToTheTopCrane]

The only time I hope to be in it, is recording footage. Lol. Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@johnwarren-649]

@@ToTheTopCrane you'd be good in it boss

[@ToTheTopCrane]

Put a clam on the Tadano, and I'd run the snot out of it. 😂

[@johnwarren-649]

@@ToTheTopCrane 😂😂😂😂

[@CHEVYK10]

Running a friction is a lost art

[@davidrigoni8231]

Great video fun to watch the old iron work:-):-)

[@ToTheTopCrane]

Thank you! Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@cjp3479]

After half a day in a friction rig with a clam on it, I knew I wasnt cut out to run one period. I didnt think i did bad with the other friction rigs but that clam was a doosy. Wish I had enough 'crane related experience' to get my cco, maybe one day. Thanks for the video!

[@ToTheTopCrane]

There is definitely a learning curve to friction cranes and clamming operations. Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@waltermattson5566]

Jimmy the drone got some very nice views of the job. Thanks for taking the big climb. The Link Belt works great from what I saw.

[@ToTheTopCrane]

No drone on this one. Just lots of stairs. The old Link Belt does run well. Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@waltermattson5566]

@@ToTheTopCrane I was calling you Jimmy the drone. Nice job showing the Link Belt in action.

[@ToTheTopCrane]

@@waltermattson5566 ahhhh! That makes sense. 😂.

[@brucelee64485]

Nice shot of the St Joe skyline and Old Glory at the end Jimmy! And thanks to the operator for giving us a ride in the Link Belt too! I'm counting function winches here and just wondering how many winch clutches and brakes are on this crane? Since all of the up functions and turn functions are powered then I'm counting 5 clutches i think, not counting the drive functions which would make for 4 more, then at least two brakes, one for the boom down function and one for the bucket down function? I'm guessing a third one to hold the clam shell bucket closed. This rig looks high maintenance and I can see the need for an oiler on them for sure. Thanks for showing this one off to us!! Fascinating piece of machinery for those of us who like to see the spinning bits do their work!

[@ToTheTopCrane]

I'm not sure of the number of clutches and brakes. There are three winches. One for the boom up/down, one for the main, and one for the auxiliary. Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@tiredoldmechanic1791]

We got rid of the last 5 friction crawler cranes in 2008. I didn't miss working on them. We started the change to hydraulic material handlers in 1995 with a Koehring 6650SK. The last new friction crane we bought was an American 7220 in 1983. We had 3-7220s, a 797 and an American 395 on a Crane Carrier chassis. We had some older 30 ton Link Belt crawlers that we scrapped out in the 80s.

[@KB-gs8zi]

Sir Jimmie !! Thanks for videoing & Sharing !! Have an 8 yr old Great Great grandson who will love to see this !! Thanks again !! As you stated with ""MIKE ROE"" ,,need more TRADESMAN !!!! ""KEEP IT SAFE ""!!! POSTED ON FACEBOOK !!!!

[@ToTheTopCrane]

Thank you! Hope your great great grandson does enjoy it. Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@Kevin-is-here]

Thanks for showing this, much respect

[@ToTheTopCrane]

Thank you! Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@tex45g]

It amazes me how these operators do the same thing day in day out I think I would go insane well done to them

[@ryanburbridge]

That was cool thanks for taking us along.

[@Shadow42276]

I thought for a minute there, we were going to get to see you running the old girl Jimmy.

[@ToTheTopCrane]

Not this guy. I don't have enough friction crane experience. Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@tiredoldmechanic1791]

@@ToTheTopCrane There's only one way to get experience.

[@TristamMayes]

Awesome video Jimmy.

[@ToTheTopCrane]

Thank you! Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@loadblock4995]

Friction separates the men from the boys

[@cassrailroad5358]

Another great video. Would love to see how they got the skid loader down there and if the driver was in it. Tell the operator thanks for the ride along, really neat to see the working part of the crane. Being in maintenance love seeing the works of any machines. What size engine is in the crane. Beautiful view on top. Love the water and crane working. Would like to fish there.

[@ToTheTopCrane]

Thank you! The skid loader was lowered in without the operator in it. It has a Detroit 6-71 in it. Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@ronbriggs6905]

Now this is awesome

[@ToTheTopCrane]

Thank you! Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@nashguy207]

I actually see a few of those around here fairly often loading and unloading different things.

[@ToTheTopCrane]

They are reliable old machines. Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@TheCool913]

Gah, I remember doing this for ship loads of concrete. 60k tons with an 11yd grab. 6 days of 18 hour days. Two or three times a month. Using the shipboard cranes. Which was a glass box with a huge hydraulic motor under your seat to keep you warm in the Florida summers. We wouldn't put the loaders and manlifts down into the holds until near the end to get the last little bit and bang the sides. As the generally had to be food grade clean when we were done.

[@Kevin-is-here]

I watched this 2x it was so cool

[@dakotagrown8619]

Cool video!!

[@cindytepper8878]

This was pretty much what everybody had back in the late 70's early 80's when I first started working. Almost all Detroit powered, some controls were manual, some hydraulic, and some air. Brake bands and shoes to adjust. When the scrap yard's and demo companies used the old clapped out ones wi8th the hydraulic controls they would pressurize the hyd tanks to about one PSI t0 keep the bands and shoes just touching because most of the time the adjusters were F"ed up. Some would power down and lowering the load was easy, and some you had to rely on the hoist brakes. Turning over backwards was always a danger.

[@ToTheTopCrane]

I'll stick with the newer hydraulic cranes. There's a lot going on inside the old friction cranes. Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@cindytepper8878]

@@ToTheTopCrane What really killed them was the setup/breakdown and transportation time/cost. Lots of people, lots of trailer loads of boom, lots of removing and installing of outrigger boxes, and counterweights. And if you needed a lot of boom, you needed a lot of space to setup. Sometimes with really high boom you needed another crane to assist to boom up from the ground On a positive note though, usually the chart didn't fall off as fast for radius. I worked for these people. They closed down in 1990, but we stay in touch sbiii.com/rdldpix/McHugh/mchugh8a.jpg

[@ryanburbridge]

Cindy Tepper that’s an awesome picture. We had a wonderful crane company here in SoCal that ran a bunch of conventional cranes in the oil patch. Thomas crane and trucking.

[@cindytepper8878]

@@ryanburbridge Yeah. they did some wild stuff. I'm going to say that picture was late 70's at US Steel Fairless Works. At one time back in the 50's or 60's they had the world's largest truck crane built. They had a US Steel ad hanging in the office with a picture of it and US Steel was boasting that McHugh specified it built with US Steel. I guess they did, USS Fairless was one of McHugh's largest Customers at the time

[@raylz19]

Jimmy, how can you prefer to operate a hydro more than a beautiful machine like this? I would hate to get kicked by the operator.

[@ToTheTopCrane]

I'll stick with the hydros. Lol. I'm sure he does kick pretty hard. That is, if he can lift his legs after all of that. Lol. Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@VideosByAl]

Very interesting

[@ToTheTopCrane]

Thank you! Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@hoverhead047]

Is the rail line associated with that swing bridge live or extinct?

[@ToTheTopCrane]

It is still live. Very limited traffic though. Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@g4outdoors]

This reminds me of an ol timer running a steam engine. so much going on that is all in the controls of the operator. Why is the sand red?

[@psidvicious]

I wondered the same. Looks very fine too. Others have said its potash for fertilizer.

[@ramoncastillo1722]

Nice video, I am claming on a 338 right now. But couple differences and questions, mine is a tubular boom, also looks like your front drum doesn’t have power down option, and mine does, my second drum is free fall. I am a bit younger, so was power down an option on these rigs?

[@stevensetyono5071]

What do you call the reel on the side of the boom? Does it have the function to reel itself in?

[@mattvega6941]

Not sure if the name, but the hook is attached to the claim bucket to keep it straight and its spring tensioned.

[@mattvega6941]

A tag line i think that's the name.

[@SteveCable-h1e]

Steve it’s a tag winder

[@constructionwatcher5381]

Thanks for the great shots and the chance to see some vintage machinery in action. But "Pretty amazing technology for its age"??? Didn't you say it was from the '70's? Some of us don't think the '70's were all that long ago. :-) I'd already been working 10 years by then, and had mastered time-share computers. Now there's some vintage technology.

[@AWRay1300]

Jimmy, how does the clam bucket work on the friction cranes?

[@ToTheTopCrane]

One winch is connected to some linkage that opens and closes the bucket. The other winch raises and lowers the bucket. Maybe I should make a video on the subject. Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@farmerbrown3768]

I’m sure I can operate that crane with nooo problem. Because I slept at a Holiday Inn last nite!

[@ko9446]

Do you think the operator’s of friction cranes are a dying breed? Are younger operators training on these?

[@mattvega6941]

They are, most older operators are retired, retiring, or passed away. No new young operators want to run them because they are more labor intensive to operate, noisy, and hot, no ac, no adjustable air ride seat!

[@ko9446]

I see from the replies a few have experience with the type of crane. Being a heavy equipment mechanic I can’t just watch and be entertained like most without diving in. I searched but can’t find a control diagram. Can someone comment on the controls he was using. The left hand I noticed he would go forward, then back. Was that to start motion then “catch” it? I can’t figure out what the feet were doing and his right hand.

[@ToTheTopCrane]

His left hand was running the swing control. There is no swing brake. So, he was swinging and counter swinging. His feet were operating the brakes on the winch drums. When the left brake is released, the clam opens. When the right brake is released, the clam lowers. His right hand was engaging the two clutches for the winch drums, and also the boom up/down control. If the far right lever is pulled back, it releases the brake on the boom winch and engages the boom up clutch at the same time. If the lever is pushed forward, it again releases the boom winch brake and engages the boom down clutch. The other two levers on the right, engage the hoisting winches. Hope all of that makes sense. Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@ko9446]

Thanks for the info. I wish my mechanical mind could stop with “it just works”

[@ko9446]

Damn it, now I have to watch it again with this info

[@lwilton]

Was that open swing bridge on a disused rail line?

[@dirtycraneoperator]

Looks like a link belt with an anvil bucket and rudomatic tag line.

[@jimharris4013]

I used to erect Iron using a 75 ton P&H with 200' main boom and a 40' jib. My operator could run that machine smoother that the Grove 30 ton we also had.

[@ToTheTopCrane]

That sounds like it would be a handful! Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@davidrigoni8231]

How long to unload a barge?

[@ToTheTopCrane]

I think a day or two.

[@adrianpoole6858]

@@ToTheTopCrane Going by this video a bloody lifetime.

[@dylanschafer172]

@@ToTheTopCrane we unload with a friction crane manitowoc with a bobcat skidsteer inside it only takes us 3 1/2 hours if it’s natural sand

[@cntslesfabrication]

How long does it take to empty out the barge?

[@barryhansen6854]

The climb to the top was part of the YT fitness programme so we get to see great video content, was that fertilizer?

[@ToTheTopCrane]

Lol! I obviously need to do more climbing. It was fertilizer. Pot ash I believe. Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@timskiff9422]

Does your company own this crane?

[@ToTheTopCrane]

We do own it. Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@davidphillips6571]

How old is this machine?

[@ToTheTopCrane]

I'm not completely sure. Early 70's I believe. Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@robertmeyer1356]

Awesome video. That's the only way to clam in my opinion. Those old girls are great for duty cycle jobs, not so good on the knees. I always described it as like running a hoe but with a crane. I'm pretty new into the crane world on been at it almost 3 years, but was fortunate enough to learn the friction rigs from the other ops. The company I work for has a LS 108, LS 118 and a LS 98. Thanks for all your hard work and education. IUOE Local 18 Ohio.

[@sandy1653]

Wow the operator must be damn tired by the time he clocks off at the end of a shift. How long does it usually take to empty a barge?

[@psidvicious]

Looked like that one hydraulic line could have used a zip tie on it to keep it away from the swing clutch. But I guess to keep it period authentic, a piece of tie wire would be correct.

[@lwilton]

I believe that is a grease line for the bearing. You can see similar fittings on the ends of the other clutch shafts, but they have hard lines going to them.

[@steveallarton98]

No, that’s the air line to the clutch cylinders - I expect that it was probably done in copper tube originally, but it looks to have been replaced in nylon at some later time.

[@psidvicious]

@@steveallarton98 Right. I knew a “hydraulic line” on that old friction crane wasn’t right, but not being real familiar with old diesel engines I just called it what it looked like. I knew anyone that watched the video would know the line I was talking about. I’d put a piece of tie wire on that sucker anyway! 👍

[@steveallarton98]

psidvicious Absolutely !

[@dougbush4170]

Dose the LS 318 stay there and a operator go there when a loaded barge comes in. Only thing you missed was his lunch break.

[@ToTheTopCrane]

The crane does stay there. Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@MrPetercooknh]

Dollar waiting on a dime… 😮

[@rheins989]

First!

[@ToTheTopCrane]

You are indeed first! Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@jerrykinnin7941]

Second

[@ToTheTopCrane]

Second is good too! Lol. Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@Kevin-is-here]

1960’s

[@shanedavis9966]

Looks like its potash being unloaded

[@ToTheTopCrane]

It is indeed. Many thanks for watching! 🙂

[@patrickpat8878]

9 levers 2 pedals , how to make it complicated….

[@johnrambo3935]

That hopper is way to high

[@CB57]

This setup is so inefficient. A purpose built material handler like a Liebherr or Sennebogen, or converted excavator blows this thing out of the water.

[@richb9564]

If your not cut from that cloth just say that lol

[@CB57]

@@richb9564 lol. we ran Manitowoc cable cranes for years..Then went to converted excavators, then to Liebherr’s and Sennebogen’s. Just pointing out the efficiency differences as I know first hand..