Several years ago I was building my shop building and rented an
all-terrain platform lift to help out. Working 30' in the air the engine
quit, actually running out of fuel. There was nobody around to add the
fuel that was sitting a few feet away from the lift, so I climbed out of
the lift and spent about 10 minutes working my down through the framing
to the ground. After filling the fuel tank I was able to drop the lift
and all was well. Later I was telling a friend about the ordeal and he
mused that most hydraulic lifts use the engine to raise the platform and
gravity to bring it down. I promptly fire the lift up, raised it and
shut the engine off. With the key on I pressed the lever to drop the
lift and almost miraculously, and silently the lift dropped to the
ground. I'll remember that for the next time I rent a lift and get stuck
up in the air!
Peace,
Pat
Thusly spake Richard Beels:
> And just this past summer, I stranded myself 80 feet up. Have a
> manlift and sometimes use it as a mobile tree cutting
> platform. Topping off a maple one day, the damn deutz diesel died on
> me right as I got into position. Hmmm.... Clouds don't look too
> close. I'll just finish cutting and it'll fire right back up when
> I'm done. When I went to restart it, it wouldn't start. Battery
> seems to be turning a bit slow. Hmmm, call the wife in the house for
> a jump. Call her and she doesn't answer the phone because the
> battery in the cell dies after half a ring. <Grrrrr>. After about
> an hour (took a little nap, read a couple catalogs, sore throat from
> yelling for her, etc...), my wife realizes she doesn't hear anything
> and comes out to see what's going on. She drives down the driveway
> and after cussing me out, goes to get the portable battery jump
> starter. Which doesn't work. Hmmm.... We then decide to have her
> string out a couple extension cords and plug in the battery charger
> (it's a Schumacher that can jump start a battery-less diesel by
> itself). Still no go. Hmmm, those clouds are starting to get closer
> and is that lightning I see way in the distance? I'm 80 feet up
> standing on 5 tons of steel. CRAP! I then ell instructions down on
> how to lower the boom - there are some relief valves that will lower
> the box to the ground. She can get the first two open but not the
> third. By this time, I'm feeling rain and starting to get a bit,
> ummm, anxious. All of a sudden, Deb calls out that there's this
> "circuit breaker thingie" that's red. I tell her to push it
> in. The engine starts right up and I lower myself to the ground in
> the beginning of the thunderstorm. The fuel pump circuit breaker had
> tripped... :-O
>
> Make sure the cell is charged before you go out. I have one of those
> 9V battery adapter thingies that I keep in a pocket now. Backup for
> the backup....
>
>
>
> At 2/24/2008 at 18:07, Shakespearean monkeys danced on old
> dirtbeard's keyboard and said:
>
>
>
>> Any ideas? What would you do if you found yourself immobilized while under a
>> car in your shop? What precautions do you take while working alone in the
>> shop?
>>
>
>
> Cheers!
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--
Pat Horne, Owner, Horne Systems
(512) 797-7501 Voice 5026 FM 2001
Pat@HorneSystemsTx.com Lockhart, TX 78644-4443
www.hornesystemstx.com
-- We support Habitat for Humanity - a hand UP, not a hand OUT --
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