Bray Marina crane service

[Old Crusty]

After 29 years at Bray Marina, Thames Marine will cease offering the crane service on 20 December 2017 but will continue with engineering services. MDL is reviewing options for craning at Bray.

 

[TrueBlue]

Oooo - won't that make winter storage a bit of a challenge / more expensive for moorers??

 

[DogsBody]

Oooo - won't that make winter storage a bit of a challenge / more expensive for moorers??

Quite possibly. Current suggestion is to either have your boat re-launched before 20/12/2017, or notify the marina office you would like a launch date in the spring, with the likelyhood they'll be hiring a crane in to relaunch all the boats and splitting the cost among those being launched, all of course TBA depending on demand.

I would have thought it would also negatively affect Thames Marine's winter business, as a lot of it is servicing outdrives / antifouling boats they've hauled ashore for the winter.

 

[No Regrets]

Who would want to service outdrives anyway....wretched things

 

[Nick(2)]

Thanks OC and that’s exactly what I was told by Thames Marine on Friday. The chap there (not Terry) whilst very helpful was not sure as to how the crane in would work or cost in the spring.

I just hope that ours won’t be the only boat out this winter as it could end up being very expensive to get her back in next year.....

 

[jct1981]

Who would want to service outdrives anyway....wretched things

I reckon outdrive engineers are always very happy and keen to service them!

 

[oldgit]

Was that they one located on the river frontage ?
Many yards which do not have the space for a hoist and which used to employ some sort of fixed crane have now gone down the route of hiring in semi mobile crane unit.
Presumably a crane which sits doing nothing for months on end still has to be maintained and certificated and simply cannot be justified with todays tight margins. Simply put Bray( and its surrounding market) is not big enough to justify its permanent in house own crane. ?
Seem to remember that Bray crane was not big enough some MDL boats and they had to go elsewhere for a lift
Many clubs/yards hire in a mobile unit purely for their busy periods and rely on lift outs elsewhere for emergencies.

 

[ChrisJBSC]

Is it the crane driver who is no longer licensed / wants to do the work? Fair enough - I have retired as well! But it would be easy for one of the MDL staff to get licensed as a crane driver - a good career move rather than just reading electricity meters!
Or is it the crane itself that is old, needs servicing, major repairs or replacing? If so - a mobile crane service will need to be organised at the beginning and end of season: not really a hard job to organise that!

BUT I pity TBS boat sales - who are always lifting in and out new and for sale second hand boats for people to try, to inspect, to buy and take elsewhere, and to try and shake down (often requiring a lift out) before selling to local owners.

 

[oldgit]

Not ust Bray....

"Or is it the crane itself that is old, needs servicing, major repairs or replacing?"

...." my" local crane man is well into his eighties and his crane not in the first flush of youth.
Once one of them packs it in its only going to be the big players in the locale left with the capacity to lift.

Fortunately RCC has a neat set of drying tidal blocks available for club members to carry out delightful jobs such as prop swapping and anti-fouling or discovering exactly what the propellers have collected this time !

At £45.00 a go its a bargain, compared to the £ 200 x 2 lift out/ in elsewhere.

 

[Pump-Out]

Was that they one located on the river frontage ?
Many yards which do not have the space for a hoist and which used to employ some sort of fixed crane have now gone down the route of hiring in semi mobile crane unit.
Presumably a crane which sits doing nothing for months on end still has to be maintained and certificated and simply cannot be justified with todays tight margins. Simply put Bray( and its surrounding market) is not big enough to justify its permanent in house own crane. ?

Not speaking from any knowledge of the situation at Bray, however.......
The issue is that few modern cranes are suitable for "lift and carry operations". The current unit at Bray can. Therefore a boat can be carried across the yard and placed ashore well clear of the lifting bay.

One can, for example, hire at 25 ton mobile crane for around £450 for a four hour session. However if the capacity (allowing for reach to the river) is, say, 9 tons then an off-load from transport and launch is straight-forward. Getting anything onto the far part of the hard nigh on impossible, as modern cranes are reliant of having the out-riggers deployed.

The gold standard is, of course, a travel-lift (cf Bushnells and Thames & Kennet) but the capital cost for the shore-work and lift dock is eye-wateringly expensive.

So, the challenge is not buying a second hand crane, but getting a "lift and travel" capacity to fill the hard-standing. The same happened at Windsor MDL some years ago, the hard-standing is now under used.

 

[oldgit]

local crane had the tank track thingys, so could pick up a boat and move it elsewhere in the yard.....and at £2.00 a foot per lift was a bargain. ie. £70.00 each way
Cheapest now is Gillingham at just under £ 190.00 each way .

 

[No Regrets]

I looked into alternatives on a 'Club' basis. £5000 per day excluding chocking up means there is no alternative, ignoring all the inevitable aggro one would encounter from MDL.

they need to sort themselves out, or several Bray bertholders are off to sunnier climes...: nonchalance:

 

[ribdriver]

Not speaking from any knowledge of the situation at Bray, however.......
The issue is that few modern cranes are suitable for "lift and carry operations". The current unit at Bray can. Therefore a boat can be carried across the yard and placed ashore well clear of the lifting bay.

One can, for example, hire at 25 ton mobile crane for around £450 for a four hour session. However if the capacity (allowing for reach to the river) is, say, 9 tons then an off-load from transport and launch is straight-forward. Getting anything onto the far part of the hard nigh on impossible, as modern cranes are reliant of having the out-riggers deployed.

The gold standard is, of course, a travel-lift (cf Bushnells and Thames & Kennet) but the capital cost for the shore-work and lift dock is eye-wateringly expensive.

So, the challenge is not buying a second hand crane, but getting a "lift and travel" capacity to fill the hard-standing. The same happened at Windsor MDL some years ago, the hard-standing is now under used.

There are plenty of other ways.....travel hoists/ lifts old hat these days. Big cumbersome things that take up space.

Lift and carry on a 'mobile' crane - whether wheeled or tracked - is becoming more and more frowned upon from a safety angle. Pretty scary for the boat owner too.

 

[oldgit]

Await with interest alternatives to travel hoist or crane capable of moving with a boat on the end of the jib ?

Very common down here was an old lighter with the bow cut off.
Think there may well be one or two still in operation locally but not many.

 

[ribdriver]

http://roodberg.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/Lightbox/boot-te-water-april-2009-026.jpg

Hydraulic trailer that can pick boats up and put them down.
Can be used directly on a slipway (which granted, I don't think Bray has) or load boats onto trailer with crane or hoist. Crane stays in one place, hydraulic trailer does the moving of boats into the yard and setting them down.

Mobile crane can even be replaced with one of these;

http://roodberg.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/Lightbox/spc20-4x5t-myhigh-frontview.jpg

 

[oldgit]

Slip would definately be out of the question at most popular Thames locations, finding space a problem and doubt excavation of river bank would be allowed, capital cost would be major consideration. Also loss of river frontage.
Some of those boats in Bray must be approaching (45 footer 15-20 tons) and up, its going to need one hefty trailer to lug those around and your going to need a big 4WD tractor to haul the thing up the slope and across the gravel to the hardstanding.
Suspect for most,its the crane or nothing ?

 

[thames cruiser]

Slip would definately be out of the question at most popular Thames locations, finding space a problem and doubt excavation of river bank would be allowed, capital cost would be major consideration. Also loss of river frontage.
Some of those boats in Bray must be approaching (45 footer 15-20 tons) and up, its going to need one hefty trailer to lug those around and your going to need a big 4WD tractor to haul the thing up the slope and across the gravel to the hardstanding.
Suspect for most,its the crane or nothing ?

Valid points. But they manage with big boats at Penton Hook, using fixed crane to lift and a trailer to move and chock, so should be simple enough to replicate this at Bray too. They could even buy a second hand ‘normal’ mobile crane, utilising it in the fixed mode (ie with stabiliser legs out) to do the lift onto a trailer+tractor for the move. This system would presumably not be too expensive to set up and operate. Being portable, they could probably even use the same kit at Bray and Windsor, utilising both marina hard standing areas.

 

[ribdriver]

Yes, crane plus trailer is a common solution.
Mdl already has 2 x 47t capacity trailers in the fleet. Smaller tractor required on the flat. But up to 100t doable on a slipway, with the right towing vehicle. 15 and 20 T trailers very common.

 

[PaulTG]

I thought it was worth re-opening this thread as I've been told by the marina that the dates they've agreed to put everyone "back in" from hard standing is 10th-12th April which is after the Easter bank holiday and after the schools' half term holiday.

I am very disappointed with this because they originally stipulated "March". It was on that basis we decided it was less hassle to come out at Bray rather than find a weekend with young kids to get the boat up to Penton Hook.

We would normally use the Easter bank holiday to have a week out with the kids but unless Bray change their mind it seems we are stuck.

I'm hoping that some others currently on the hard may feel likewise and will pop an email in to the office as I have done? Owning a boat isn't cheap so losing out on one of the bank holiday/school holiday periods is an expensive mistake!

 

[Old Crusty]

I asked about the crane last week while on site. I was told that it had had a test though the results weren't known at that stage.

Also, before Christmas, the staff mentioned a possible slipway and craning facility to be built at the back of the marina near the car park and WC block at the main gate.

Time will tell ...