Crane degreasing in the harbour

So got a call from a crane operator that is moving his crave off location and is needing it to be degreased and clean for the next site, the big issue here is that the crane is located 10 feet away from the shore line in the harbour. My question to you guys is what would you guys do to contain the grease and oil from going on the ground and seeping into the harbour. They are EXTREMELY environmentally conscious and need this done this week. I sourced out oil matting rolls that I could place underneath the crane while washing but they are $140 each for a 38"X144" roll. So I would need 20 of them to cover the ground.(or 10 if I washed carefully and did half at a time). So what do you guys have for a remedy to keep the cost reasonable and so I can get this job.

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Wow this project sounds challenging
can the crane be moved to away from the water to make your job easier?
U would need to contain everything that comes off the rig. If your not equipped for environmental cleaning don’t be afraid to decline the offer. Could avoid headaches :mad:

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^ This plus dont ever worry about your prices being reasonable!! You will go broke very quickly if your goal is to keep customers happy with low pricing

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Is it gravel or pavement the equipment is on?
I would find where the water is running of at and put a couple home made sand/kitty litter water filters and then after washing degrease and kitty litter the pavement after it’s soaked up sweep and rinse.

Don’t forget to charge them for the extra environment service!

Hope that gives you some ideas.

My family actually owns a crane rental business and every now and then I would have to degrease a crane… Odd’s are he has a hot water propane unit back at his shop, but to save time and money he is trying to get someone to just wash it on site for cheap…

That is not a very high end crane, and it looks really old… I would imagine he wants a good deal… And being on the harbor it may be one that you just walk away from… especially if your renting those oil mats…

Great idea but it’s mostly gravel underneath with some asphalt and atvthe front of the crane I won’t be able to wash because it is hanging off the edge of the cliff down 6 feet to the water surface. I think I’m going to go with the suggestion of pulling chute on this one unless I can do it on another location that is a bit safer.

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I’m most likely going to walk from this one and the oils mats are one time use so it’s really a big bill that I will never get any use from after, over $1500 just for mats and that’s just doing half at a time.

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yeah there is no way they would pay that… Odds are he will take it back to the shop and pay a employee to clean it for the 18 a hr wage and have it done in a few hrs… It would be a nice job to mix things up from the usual sidewalk and truck wash!

Brain storming… What about having the crane drive onto a 50’X50’ tarp and put booms all around the perimeter to collect oil run off? How effective are these booms at collecting oil? Anyone have experience with boom function and set up?

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I am not sure you can find a 50 x 50 tarp. You may be able to get some cheap tarps from the local box store and over lap them. That would be your best bet. Don’t attempt to have the crane driven on the tarp. It will punch holes all through it. Lay it out under the crane. Hopefully, it smooth enough and sloped enough you can over lap and the wash water will collect in one corner. You could then use a sump pump to collect the wash water. If not, I would pass on the job.

Who will have to handle the wash water? Where will you be pumping it to?

A 50’x50’ blue tarp is available from quite a few different sources but I totally agree with you that they will not survive driving on.

My Bad, Thanks for correcting me Tim. I did not realize they were available that wide.

The possible repercussions could GREATLY outweigh the profits on this one.

If your not properly trained and have the correct equipment to handle this, I wouldn’t even think about it.

Walk away…

My 2 cents.

Thanx for everyone’s input on this. I walked away from this one. You guys are right, too risky for reward and I couldn’t make it cost effective enough and I’m just not set up to take on that kinda job/risk

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I think that is a really good decision. Sometimes the jobs you don’t take are more important than the ones you do take.

Good decision