Had to choose between a crane and a bucket truck for a tight job in Portland

I was removing a big dying maple behind a row of houses last month, and I had to decide between renting a crane for $800 or squeezing my bucket truck down a 6 foot wide alley. I went with the crane because the alley looked too tight for my bucket, but the setup took forever and I still spent half the day worried about the neighbor's garden. Next time I'm paying for the bucket and just hoping the mirrors squeeze through - anyone else had to make that call?

2 comments

2 Comments

bettyhunt1mo ago

Wait till you try it with a 4 inch clearance on each side and realize you left your ladder on the roof an hour away? I've made that mistake three times now, and I swear my bucket truck has a magnetic attraction to garden gnomes. Honestly, I'd rather deal with a tight alley than spend a whole day setting up a crane in a wet yard, because that's just asking for a mud wrestling match with your equipment. Last time I did the crane route, I ended up charging extra for "landscaping therapy" after I messed up the neighbor's hydrangeas. You're braver than me for even considering the bucket squeeze, but sometimes the cheaper option just means more mental gymnastics.

pat_hall871mo ago

Crane setups are tedious but at least you're not scraping paint off a fence for an hour.