An over-sized chair that is six metres tall and weighs 2.8 tonnes has been lifted into position by Hird ready for a major outdoor art exhibition.
Its contract lifting team used a combination of a Maeda MC405 spider crane and winches to control the lift so the Giant’s Chair can be enjoyed by thousands of visitors to RHS Gardens Wisley.
The chair is a sculpture by artist Henry Brudenell-Bruce. It was first put on display in Dartmoor National Park but had to be removed because it broke strict planning regulations.
Ideal for art installation
Hird was commissioned to install the oak artwork, which is part of an exhibition of modern and contemporary sculpture at the gardens near Woking, Surrey, from 31 May to 1 December 2019.
Lift project manager James Carr said: “The success of this lift demonstrates the benefits of using spider cranes for art installation. The main challenge was the confined area we had to work in.
“The Giant’s Chair was being installed on an open space surrounded by plant beds. Quite rightly, RHS Gardens Wisley didn’t want us to disturb any of rare and important plants.
“This meant we had to design a lift that used equipment which could be used within a tightly-defined space.”
Lift space restrictions critical
The chair had been assembled on site, lying on its back. Hird selected the Maeda MC405 spider crane to lift the artwork onto its four legs.
Because of the space restrictions, the lift radius was just three metres. To control the load as it came upright, two 1.6-tonne Tirfor winches were set up between the chair and trees selected by the garden’s arborists.
James Carr said: “As the crane lifted the chair, the winches could be let out, controlling the shift in weight, avoiding the risk of the chair falling forward. This allowed us to place the chair onto its legs smoothly and safely.”
Spider crane gate access
The Maeda MC405 has a maximum safe working load of 3.83 tonnes and a maximum working height of 16.8 metres, which can be extended to 20.7 metres with a jib.
At just 1380mm wide, the spider crane was narrow enough to be guided through a gateway as it was traversed along a garden path 70 metres to reach the lift site.
RHS Gardens Wisley covers 97 hectares. It is one of five gardens maintained by the Royal Horticultural Society in the UK and is the society’s flagship garden.
Hird has a large fleet of Maeda mini cranes available for hire, or for contract lifting projects, ranging from the Maeda MC174, which has a SWL of 1.72 tonnes to the MC815, with a SWL of 8 tonnes.
For more information about national contract lifting and mini crane hire service, including spider crane hire and pick and carry crane hire, and to find out more about our mini crane hire rates, call Hird today.
Northern 01482 227333
Central 01302 341659
Southern 0203 174 0658
