Demolition with wrecking balls

(Update:   Using Clamshell Bucket   Using Demolition Fork     After "explosive demolition failed, Rock Island used a wrecking ball to bring down a coaling tower.     Removing a grain elevator with a wrecking ball.)

Steve Robinson posted
Imagine doing this today over Live traffic
Bob Brickman Picture looks to be 1971 or so.
Mike Michaud Ole Pump n Hope

Brick buildings come down a lot easier than reinforced concrete buildings.

Screenshot @ -0:22

Embedded 1:19 Frank McCarthy video in a comment by Fert Faust on a post of the demolition of the depot via Dennis DeBruler

Steven Xzin posted

Jim Browne commented on Steven's posting
From what I've seen wrecking balls are more productive than excavators, just less controlled.

Jeremy Bellois posted
What’s the going price for balls five ton and three ton
Jeremy Dunn That big one looks like a 5k lbs and the little one looks like a 3k lbs. Not tons. Huge difference.
[The consensus of the comments is 50-100 cents per pound depending on the condition of the ball.]

Instead of swinging the boom to swing the "ball," this crane uses a second cable between the house and the ball to swing the ball. Or in the case of the beginning of the video, the second cable pulls the ball that is inside the silo.

(new window) Around 4:10, the part that fell down hit the crane and rocked the boom. Around 4:30 the crane does the sideways swinging of the ball that I'm more used to seeing. At 5:39, judging by the sound, the chain hit the boom! It is a good thing it didn't wreck that. He hit the boom again at 7:17 and 8:07. When he is working at those high angles, most of the force of the second cable is adding additional downward force on the boom.


A wrecking ball was used to tear down part of the Cline Avenue Bridge.
(new window)

Reminders of growing up in Chicagoland posted
[Edgewater Beach Hotel. Torn down for the Breakers.]

I think this crane is using a wrecking ball, but I couldn't find it in any of the photos.
Robert Daly posted three photos with the comment: "More photos to depress y'all--demolition of the North Western Station headhouse, October 1984."

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James Vaughn commented on a Ben Stalvey share
During the demo

James Vaughn commented on a Ben Stalvey share
Almost done

Two of four photos posted by Kevin Conrad with the comment: "Old Northern Pacific Grain Growers mill being demolished, Spokane, WA 5-25-19"

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Street View

The east side of that elevator had some rather modern bins. Looking at a satellite image, it looks like it could receive and ship by rail. But the sidings were short.

3D Satellite

The elevator in the background of the first photo is ADM Milling. It not only has a yellow fall protector, it has a roof over part of the fall protector.

3D Satellite

Mario Torres posted four photos and a video with the comment:

The Manitowoc 3900W has started demolition work. Although a high-reach demolition excavator with shear might have been better for demolition of this steel-framed building, it was nevertheless fun to watch this vintage 1988 3900W work. Nice to see an older friction machine still at work in the age of hydraulic, joystick machines.

Gareth Wood There's still many advantages using a ball, providing a good operator can be found.
Jaime Chier Gareth Wood 100% agree. Have both a high reach and crane and ball. Just set our crane up yesterday. On the operator thing. I only have 5 years left that I want to work. Been looking for someone to train. Have a good Oiler now but he has a long way to go.
Gareth Wood Jaime Chier nobody runs balls on demolition here in England now, I'm probably one of the last owner operators about, mostly breaking rocks in quarries now though.
Jaime Chier Gareth Wood well on a 15 story I don’t want to even think about what it would cost to buy a high reach to effectively work that high.
Jim Browne High reaches have their place, but they are remarkably slow. A good ball operator will out-produce them all the time. Obviously you can't use them everywhere and high reach machines can be surgical but its amazing how fast a drop ball machine will take a building down.

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I thought wrecking balls were swung into the building. But the above post and the following show that the ball is sometimes just dropped.

Morio Torres posted four photos with the comment:

It seems that Link-Belt cranes (at least for Potts & Callahan) were the best cranes around for demolition work. In 1993, when I photographed their LS-218, it was balling a parking garage. Another time, it found itself doing the same thing to a brewery complex. I wonder if that crane is still around, doing its thing with the ball.

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Steve Robinson posted four photos with the comment: "I would assume some of you here have operated a wrecking ball or two in your time."
Christoph Menzitowoc Interesting to see the lattice-boom truckcranes in wrecking mode with ball or heavy clamshell in the old times. From time to time there are also pictures with truckcranes working with a dragline bucket in those days. Obviously the outriggers of these old truckcranes were strong enough to withstand the horizonal forces during excavator work.
Jason Keillor Christoph Menzitowoc I still use a truck crane as a dragline. I have never used out riggers, that would destroy the frame.
Steve Coughlin Always wrecked with a truck Crane . Much better chart.
Albert Bailer I used a 55 gallon drum full of concrete , dried of course . When I swung it toward the building , I kept checking the swing right before it hit .
Jim Sharp Yep with lattice truck crane. A hard days work for machine and driver. Did clamshell work and pile driving and concrete pouring with the same machine.
Layne Wylie Looks very tedious. Just recently there was a failed building implosion in Dallas, TX. The only safe option I guess was to attack it with a wrecking ball. The local news must have thought this would be exciting, so they sent the helicopter for a live video feed. After 6 hours you couldn't tell anything had happened to it. I assume they did eventually get it down, but the news had lost interest by then.
Steven Camp My knee ran one a few to many times. [Back before hydraulics and joysticks, the clutches were controlled directly by muscle power.]

Dennis DeBruler I never operated, but I have watched.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TjYqr5RnLk
Dennis DeBruler In fact, I made more than one trip to watch them bring down the McDonalds Headquarters in Oakbrook, IL.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDdzktnyxoQ
Dennis DeBruler A satellite map not only still has the building, it has cars parked in the parking lot.
https://www.google.com/.../@41.8443891,-87.../data=!3m1!1e3

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Kory Wayne Vander Feen commented on Steve's post

A video of an excavator using a wrecking ball. (source) Sometimes when he whipped that ball, he would lift the rear end of the crawlers off the ground. He has already knocked the surface concrete off the other columns. That would allow the outer layer of rebar to bend.