Replies

1. 
   UncleDunc | Oct 30, 2004 05:19am | #1

   How high do you have to go? Is there room for braces to the ground on the side away from the tower? If you can make the structure rigid, you wouldn't have to run the braces all the way to the top.

2. 
   SamT | Oct 30, 2004 05:21am | #2

   Paine,

   Are you going all the way around the tower?

   If so, you would only need standoffs to keep the scafold away from the tower.

   U-bolt them to the scaffold uprights and let them extend to about 1/4" from the tower, One every two lifts at the junction of planks should so it.

   My 2¢ worth.

   Note: you may be overcharged even at that rate.

   SamT

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1. 
   PaineB | Oct 30, 2004 04:21pm | #6

   Uncle Dunc, the tower  is 70 feet high, 15 to 10 feet in diameter (it tapers). It stands at the corner of a house with a pitched slate roof meeting it at 15 feet. I have room in the yard for bracing, I can rest supports on the roof but can't rip off any slate to tie in with screw or nails. There are 2 dormers about 20 feet away from both sides the corner that have some woodwork I can tie off from.  

   Yes SamT, we are going all the way around the tower. Your idea of the standoffs is a simple and practical version of using the circle to my advantage. I can make it so I can move them around as I need to reframe for windows that wrap around the structure.

   Andy, I like the rope idea, especially as a way tieing off at the top.

   Greencu, the boom box lift will come into play for a couple of feverish afternoons but I am entirely too slow a carpenter to afford having one around longer than that. But I can assure you that a boom box sans lift will be in service throughout the duration of the job. 

   Thank you all for your responses. I better get back to work.

    

1. 
   xMikeSmith | Oct 30, 2004 04:58pm | #7

   pipe staging will do it... but the rental and labor will eat you up..

    good staging= good quality and good production rates..

   mickey mouse staging on a 70 ' tower is ludicrous.. if ever a job and budget called for good staging... thisis it..

   me.. i'd include the cost of the man-lift... no matter how slow you think progress is going to be.. it will only be slower and more costly.. with a resulting decrease in quality if you don't stage it right

   Mike Smith   Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

1. 
   PaineB | Oct 30, 2004 09:07pm | #9

   Yes, encounters with Mickey Mouse are to be avoided. I have been looking at systems like this tube and clamp provider: http://www.lynnladder.com/Vang/vang15.htm 

   The money involved is mucho and competing with those who are more set up for this work than we are has been a critical issue to resolve.  We have opted for tight control of the product.

   As for the man lift issue, I think we can play that by ear. We will mostly be using the stairs inside the tower to go up and down and we have an electric pully system for materials on the outside. We will be working from the bottom up. Maybe when we get higher, the cost/benefit analysis will change.

1. 
   Davo304 | Nov 02, 2004 07:51am | #11

   To go up 70 feet with 5X5 X 8 pipe scaffolding, it would take 14 lifts.  Since 8 ft lengths aren't long enough, 2 sections long equals 28 lifts per side. That's a lot of staging.

   When using pipe scaffolding, we generally tied the structure off at 15 FT intervals ( every 3rd lift).

   A manlift (JLG) is much perferred in this situation. Rent the machine by the week, not the day. $350 for a week's rent is cheaper than the pipe, safer than the pipe, and more efficient/productive than the pipe.

   Once you start working above the 30 ft level, you'll really appreciate the manlift. Heck, the manlift can raise and lower materials much easier than a hand pulley...this I know for a fact. The bulkier the material, the easier it is to lay across the top of the manlift and raise up into position. I've done it hundreds of times.

   LOL and please work safe.

   Davo

2. 
   davidmeiland | Nov 02, 2004 08:04am | #12

   Another vote for the man-lift. Genie S-80 would be about right.

   A good scaffolder will charge you several thousand to build staging around the tower. You'll lose 50 pounds climbing up and down the dang thing, and the safety issues are huge unless you're wearing a harness and tying off everywhere you go.

3. 
   Davo304 | Nov 02, 2004 08:53am | #13

   Several thousand dollars to errect pipe scaffolding....in my area, about $2000 to $2500.

   Genie S-80 would be about right......so long as it has a wide wheel base, or better yet, outriggers. I'm not familiar with Genie's models. Also, the more boom features, the better.

   You'll lose 50 lbs climbing up and down... I agree, but I think his intentions is to walk up the stairs inside the tower and use the scaffold as a jump station to jump out and set up on. But, harnesses is still a must for this type of work or else risk the wrath of OSHA or worse yet, witness a fall due to an accident.

   Yeah...I'd opt for the manlift too.

   Davo

4. 
   HammerII | Nov 02, 2004 07:54pm | #14

   I've build a few tube block scaffolds in power plants and brought that knowledge into play a few times in work. Pricey stuff to buy but a few years ago I rented all I needed for two months. Someday I'll bite the bullet and buy my own pile.

   Fast stuff to put up and take down, and you can reach anything for work.

2. 
   jagwah | Oct 30, 2004 05:15pm | #8

   We refer to the scaffolding here as Tube-Lock. It's a standing pipe that has a twist locking male female end. It uses knuckles to join pipes at right angles or will swival . Lengths of pipe vary from 3' to 16'.

   The statue of liberty was scaffolded with this type of system. 

3. 
   handhewn | Oct 30, 2004 09:08pm | #10

   If you are going 70 feet I hope you have a ton of money in the job. Your as s is worth more than the few bucks you will save the client by rigging and jigging. Pipe scaffold or a boom lift are the best and safest way to go it seems.

   I learned from my uncle, a retired iron worker, that you do not cut corners on safety! Please be careful.

   CurlyHand Hewn Restorations Inc.

   Restoring the past for the future.

3. 
   Sasquatch | Oct 30, 2004 07:04am | #3

   If you could be more specific, solutions would appear.

   Les Barrett Quality Construction
4. 
   andybuildz | Oct 30, 2004 08:55am | #4

   ropes around the tower.tie yer scaffolding into that with yet more ropes.

   I've done it more than once.

   Same as climbing rocks of which I've also done more than once.

   Be tried and true

   andy

   The secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!

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5. 
   seeyou | Oct 30, 2004 12:34pm | #5

   Do you have to have scaffold, or can you use a boom lift? It's a whole lot easier to ride than climb, and you can pretty much move the basket to whatever height and position feels comfortable.

   I invented the boom box lift.

6. 
   PenobscotMan | Nov 02, 2004 11:47pm | #15

   How about checking with a Muslim builder.  I'm serious -- how do you suppose they work on those tall and skinny minarets??

1. 
   PaineB | Nov 03, 2004 03:36am | #16

   Thank you all for giving this problem your consideration.

   I first want to assure those who have insisted upon the primacy of safety that everyone is going to be harnessed. Everyone. And at the moment they step out onto the scaffold.

   The man-lift issue is interesting. Having one around all the time would be convenient. But even if we rented one on a monthly basis, we still could not dispense with scaffolding. There is a lot of work on the backside ( or house-side, if you will), of the tower that a lift would not be able to access. 

   Now the window units that will be going in are quite massive. They will be about 150 pounds apiece. Many hands make light work. When the time comes, I want to have four guys transferring the units to the final location. The rest of the time will be a situation where two guys are jumping out and jumping back in to prepare the openings. I am thinking that an electric pulley will take care of the preparation and a cherry picker (or what have you) will be there for the big frames. 

   javier, I have been talking to some people who have built minarets. I have also been talking to people who restore towers in Scotland. I am not sure what I think but I can safely say that everyone I have contacted has assured me that they are right :-)