Preparing Your Site Before the Crane Arrives

Clear the Working Footprint, Not Just the Driveway

The area a crane needs is wider than the truck. Outriggers extend out to the sides, and the counterweight sweeps a circle as the machine rotates. Anything inside that circle has to be somewhere else before work starts.

The usual offenders are vehicles, trailers, trash containers, potted plants, patio furniture and the boat that lives beside the garage. Move them further than feels necessary. A car parked at the edge of the zone becomes a problem the moment the boom needs to swing the other way.

If the truck will set up in the street, check whether that block gets parked solid at certain hours. A working position that is available at seven in the morning may be gone by nine.

• Vehicles, trailers and boats moved off the property or well down the street
• Bins, planters, furniture and loose items out of the setup area
• Low branches trimmed back or reported in advance
• A clear route for the item from where it is delivered to where it will be rigged

Look Up, Then Look Down

Overhead lines are the hazard with the least margin for error, and they are the easiest thing to forget because nobody looks at them daily. Service drops to the house, lines crossing an alley, and cables running along a back fence all matter. Report them before the day. A photo taken from the setup area with the sky in frame is worth more than a sentence.

Underground is the other half. Irrigation lines, septic tanks and lids, leach fields, propane runs and shallow utility laterals all sit under ground that looks perfectly solid. If you know where they are, mark them with paint or flags. If you do not know, say so, and the truck will be positioned conservatively.

Recently disturbed ground is worth pointing out even when nothing is buried there now. A trench that was backfilled last year still settles differently from the ground beside it.

Surfaces, Gates and the Things That Get Damaged

Outrigger pads concentrate a lot of weight into a small footprint, so the surface underneath matters. Pavers, decorative concrete, stamped patios, pool decks and new driveways all need either avoiding or protecting with cribbing and mats.

Say up front if a surface is new. Concrete that has not fully cured is a different material from concrete that has. Nobody can tell by looking, and the person who knows the pour date is you.

Gates and fence panels come up on almost every backyard job. Sometimes a panel coming off makes a job simple. Sometimes the whole point of the crane is that nothing has to come off. Decide which it is in advance, and if a panel is coming off, arrange who is removing it and who is putting it back.

People, Pets and Who Is Making Decisions

Nobody stands under a suspended load, and nobody stands inside the swing path. That includes the customer, which surprises people who want to watch. There is always somewhere safe to watch from, and the operator will point it out.

Pets go inside and stay inside. Dogs react to hydraulics and diesel in ways their owners do not predict, and a loose dog stops a lift. Children go inside too, for the whole visit rather than the interesting parts.

Somebody needs the authority to make a call if the site is not what was described. Plenty of jobs here run for owners who are in another state for the season, and that works fine as long as they answer the phone. What does not work is a house sitter who cannot approve anything and an owner who is unreachable.

If You Are Not Going to Be There

Seasonal and out of state owners are a normal part of the work in this town, and a remote job can go perfectly well with a bit more preparation than a local one.

Send more photos than you think are needed, taken standing where a truck would park, and take one from the landing spot looking back. Leave gates unlocked or leave a code. Tell the neighbors, particularly if the truck has to occupy part of the street. Confirm that anyone else who needs to be there, such as an HVAC contractor or a spa dealer, actually has the same date.

Ask for photos of the finished work. It is a small thing and it closes the loop when you cannot see it yourself.