Bronto in a slope

[Rescue101]

Our Smeal locks the front brakes while operating the platform.Still prefer to have as many tires as possible touching the asphalt. T.C.

[hookandcanman83]

I have seen something like that on a job. Pretty funny when the operator forgot to put it in pump gear and needed a little giant to get back in.


http://njfirepictures.smugmug.com/20...37798144_RyFc6

[skylifter]

Brontos are designed to have all of the tires in the air, so that 100% of the chassis weight is acting as 'restoring weight' (counterweight).
Cab facing downhill is the recommended set-up position, if possible, because less cribbing will be needed for the leveling of the unit, and the operators will have a shorter climb up to the turntable controls. The overhang of the the front axle, beyond the front outriggers, means that he unit would have to be jacked up that much more in order to clear the tires from the ground.
The only part of this story that is scary is the fact that the cribbing should be level, not simply laid on the slope so that it has the same angle of the slope. I learned this the hard way about 20 years ago while operating a large rough-terrain crane, and the cribbing we used was not very level. While pre-flighting the configuration, I touched the swing brake and the whole crane slid off of the cribbing. Luckily, it slid slowly and caused no damage, except to the operator's confidence. In order to level the cribbing on a slope, the cribbing should look like a 'wedge' when finished, and the top surface of the cribbing should be level.
And yes, there is always the possibility that the cribbing can slide down the slope, so that must be addressed.