Any experiences using a Cherry Picker for mast top work

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Delfini

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Hi - as part of my preparation for the ARC later this year I am planning to fit a Hella tri colour lamp atop the mast of my Moody S38 (18m from the waterline apparently) and also a Witchard Mast tang and halyard block to fit a temporary Solent Stay which I am fitting just in case the return journey via Bahamas and Azores in 2017 gets lively - according to everything I have read my 130% furling genoa wont be suitable

I was considering getting some single line mast climbing gear but when considering the tools, fixings and wiring logistics and how that might be resolved from a harness swinging from the mast head halyard, I am now considering using a 20m cherry picker whilst on the car park at my local yacht club - the bosun tells me that would be fine as long as the hire company has suitable insurance !

I would like to know if anyone on this forum has used such a thing before for similar work and if I should be worrying about something I cant think of just yet - other than pressing the wrong lever and bringing down the entire rig :-)

Thanks
 
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They are easy to use but the main risk is that the cherry picker and the boat will not be on the same substrate, unless the boat is on the hard. This means that the mast can move relative to the cherry picker and so damage can ensue. Unlikely to be too big a problem, you can put up some padding and the boat will hopefully not rock too much. To be honest, the biggest drawback is likely to be the cost and inconvenience of organising the CP which is likely to outweight the convenience of not going up the mast the traditional way. I put a number of fittings on my mast the traditional way and it is not that difficult. I carried a small roll of string which I could send down for 'supplies' (tools I forgot) and if you prepare in advance it should not take too long.
 
They are easy to use but the main risk is that the cherry picker and the boat will not be on the same substrate, unless the boat is on the hard. This means that the mast can move relative to the cherry picker and so damage can ensue. Unlikely to be too big a problem, you can put up some padding and the boat will hopefully not rock too much. To be honest, the biggest drawback is likely to be the cost and inconvenience of organising the CP which is likely to outweight the convenience of not going up the mast the traditional way. I put a number of fittings on my mast the traditional way and it is not that difficult. I carried a small roll of string which I could send down for 'supplies' (tools I forgot) and if you prepare in advance it should not take too long.
 
Thanks for the reply - both boat and platform will be on the yacht club car park so no problems with relative motions - the biggest problem out of the water is the height - the CP of interest is about £250 for the day (£300 for the weekend) mounted on the back of a small self drive truck - so not too hard on the pocket - especially when compared to the quotes I received from a few riggers !
 
When was the last time you had the mast down? Think if I were preparing to do the ARC I would have the mast lifted out to do the work and check everything else at the same time. Much easier to do it with the mast on trestles than up in the air.
 
Here is one being used to fit my in-boom luff track some years ago. It needed substantial fittings at intervals up the entire mast and was a quick and easy solution for the installer. No problem about being afloat so long as the rigger was flexible to synchronise with the odd few ripples. The boat was warped tightly in to the jetty with some hefty fenders between. Only 1m tide that hardly varied during the entire time taken. However, it was Italy, where health and safety is sometimes treated more casually than elsewhere.

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Yes thats exactly the thing I am considering - in answer to earlier from Trinona, the mast was down 3 years ago when all standing rigging was replaced - I don't really want to take the mast down again !
 
I've done it for a rush job, boat in water and picker on land. It was reasonably OK, we just heeled the boat over to the picker pod which steadied it enough.
 
It's what they do in our boat yard. It is sheltered, boats must be in cradles, and there's no need to take masts down. I wouldn't take a mast down unless it was necessary. There's quite a potential for damage and loss.
 
It's very rare for someone to climb the mast in Empuriabrava, the CP costs €30 an hour and is so much easier. When climbing the mast it's sometimes difficult to get high enough to work on the top.
 
It's an excellent way to work and, at least in my case, the only way to do certain jobs. I replaced the masthead light in the 2014 season and the wind instruments in the 2015, both done in just an hour at a cost of €100 each time. You cannot beat having all tools up there, full tool box, drill and bits, etc. On the two cherry pickers I used there was no possibility of my getting anything wrong, the operator on the ground adjusted the position of the basket until I was satisfied, I then locked off the hydraulics in the basket. The worst problem was that the operator the second time insisted I used a harness clipped to the basket. It was a total PITA, in the way all the time I was working.
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Tranona said:
When was the last time you had the mast down? Think if I were preparing to do the ARC I would have the mast lifted out to do the work and check everything else at the same time. Much easier to do it with the mast on trestles than up in the air.
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+1. Get the mast down and go over everything carefully. You won't rush the job, which you may if you have a cherry picker for a day. When you are in mid-Atlantic in a blow, you will be pleased you did
 
Another vote for pulling the stick.

I'm not sure I'd say that three years ago is 'recent' in this context. Not to mention what happens if you're up there and you notice something wrong? Keep the CP for a while (which may not be possible if it's booked out to someone else) at large expense, or end up having it pulled anyway, in which case it'd be cheaper to have done that in the first place.
 
Usually the cost for a cherry picker is not a lot extra to extend a hire because it is often a big chunk for delivery of it to your site that makes up the price. It is also a legal requirement to have a clipped on harness in a boom type cherry picker. It is not if it is a scissor lift type. Check the inspection records for cherry pickers before use as they need to have the level sensors correctly calibrated so that they do not allow the boom lift to do something that will endanger the user. In the UK an IPAF licence would be required to operate one.
 
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