Meanwhile, the real problem with rooftop snow removal, is the lack of remote crane-control capability (Pebbles also lacks the load sensors of other modern cranes, which lock out the controls before the truck tips or seals blow, if an overload situation is detected). The rotary brush idea would basically dump all that rooftop snow right on the operator... wear yer goggles! What I might do is attach a push-broom and get some practice on buildings around here that are falling down anyway, before getting too carried away with the coolness of a rotary brush. Or thinking about remoting a crane that never had that as part of its design criteria?
The seriously-crazy idea, would be to equip the HMMH with the same gadgetry found on my AutoCrane 3203 EH PRFX (on custom Knapheide w/ air compressor & dual-tank setup, six off-road lights on the worry bar, LED work lights at all four corners, Wilton's biggest vise on a custom mount, two years old now but only used 1/2-dozen times to pull boat motors, mine at auction for $10K delivered last year) w/ FM remote control. I have stuff to build, OK?
The concept is, use the service crane for everything it's capable of, and the HMMH for 2nd-story work and such. So many cool tools to put out at the tip of a knuckle-boom crane these days, but really, the load sensors & remote-controls are a must-have for that, also the hydraulic capability not being jury-rigged.
Although, just calling a friend to be a spotter woulda kept the mtn bike pedal from catching on the motorhome ladder, that's just common sense! Maybe one less beer. I'm the guy out there getting to know his SEE and HMMH wearing shorts, t-shirt, and flip-flops, with beer in hand. Makes me soooo aware of my knuckles & toes! I've ripped a fingernail, but not past the cuticle, so far. When I do real work I'll be kitted out in steel toes & a hardhat, because the driver-side operational controls on the HMMH (passenger side isn't full-function) can really, really injure someone. HMMH is a knuckle-buster to limber/unlimber, I have a bad back to boot so I'm learning a few things as I go.
Like, engage PTO before exiting cab!
Those stabilizer pads are easiest to swing in/out with the crane about halfway between lock positions, lower the crane all the way and feel like a total moron for forgetting, eh? Even on the SEE, about 80% of the time I get out and try to lower the hoe into position, only to have to climb back in to engage PTO! Buried somewhere in this thread, is the tip to put the H-shifter in 1 with the range shifter in N, *then* engage the PTO -- even at too-high an RPM (up to a point), I haven't heard any grinding noises using this method.
There's a "tread plate" on the HMMH if you need to climb up onto it after unlimbering the crane, like to grab that jerry-can you see in the pics of mine. What I'd like to do, is make it somehow quick-release. So I can put it down at the controls. The damage I did to my motorhome with the mtn bike, even with a spotter, was going on 180* behind me (the remote control on my AutoCrane would've negated the need for a spotter) so I was "contorting" at the controls. While standing on gravel -- even without flip-flops, easy to slip, more so in winter... do that while you're putting down the stabilizer several inches away, and that warning decal with a foot gettin' all Kunta Kinte'd is no joke!
Or, if you slip, how you gonna not reach out to catch yourself, and hit one of those hydraulic levers? Maybe just a snow-rated stair-step or two in the toolbox, to put down. Or, when I busted up the motorhome, I shoulda been on the other side of the HMMH so I could see both what I was doing, and the controls, by just bobbing my head instead of having to rotate 180*. My only other crane experience is using the FM remote on my service crane, so going all old-school was a bit of an eye-opener. No mtn bikes were damaged in the production of my pics!