A View from the Top
May 24th, 2011 | Back to Blog Listing

The boom crane fully extended on the property
In an effort to get an idea of just what the view from the top of the building might look like, Preston and I rented a cherry picker for the day (technically called a Boom Crane) and took some panorama pictures from the potential footprint of the building. In the winter time it’s usually pretty easy to see parts of downtown Austin through the trees, namely since the leaves die off. In the summer, however, it’s a bit more difficult as the foliage is much thicker.

The entire boom crane was designed to be a tow-able trailer, so it wasn’t particularly difficult getting it out there. Once you have it in the place you want it, it has to be disconnected from the trailer hitch and then set (this is really the only time-consuming piece of getting it going). To set it up, there is a controller that slowly lowers the hydraulic legs on all four corners. As they start to settle on the ground, a computer senses to ensure that the machine is properly balanced. From there, you just climb into the basket and start hoisting it up in the air - one part of the crane at a time. I’d estimate it takes a little over one minute to get all the way up.


Looking down from the basket 34? in the air


I rented the machine from my usual heavy equipment rental facility, Rent-Equip, up in North Austin. They’re always incredibly helpful and friendly and were even willing to refund my full-day rental when I only wound up using it for 4 hours (what they constitute a half-day). The four-hour rental was $100.00; the full day would (including overnight) would have cost $150.00.

Although I am not afraid of heights at all (I fly planes!), it turns out that I am terrified of being in a small metal basket 35 feet above the ground in heavy varying winds. This was exacerbated by the fact that the boom was setup on dirt, making me think it was that much less stable. Preston by stark contrast, was happy as all could be spinning around in it fully extended.

You can see from the pics on the right what the apparatus looks like fully extended. It may not look all that high, but I can assure you that once you’re up in the air, it feels pretty high.

The top of the building itself will only be used for mechanical purposes (air conditioning, additional solar hookups, water collection, and etc.), but it’s nice to see such a view nevertheless!


A panorama from the top of the crane. If you click on the image you can get a good feel for what it’s like up there looking towards the city!