Big Crane Takes a Steady Hand

"I'm a third generation, my Grand-dad was in it, my dad worked 30 years in it and I just kind of fell in the trade. You start out basically swamping on them, flagging, you learn the ground game first, then eventually work your way into the seat and just get bigger and bigger and bigger," said Max Glendenning.

Newson6.com's Chris Howell reports Max Glendenning is a crane operator, and the crane he operates is really, really, big.

"It's a 385 ton Demag and it did come from Germany, it's also a super-lift crane, so it's a pretty big crane for this part of the country," said Max Glendenning.  "This machine right now has 350 feet of boom, so an inch at the bottom is four feet, 350 foot away from you. So it's pretty touchy. It's a big responsibility, but we do it day in and day out. We do the best we can and try to get everybody home at night."

On Wednesday, Max hoisted the final beam on the new Cherokee Casino Hotel in Catoosa, and for the momentous lift, hundreds of dignitaries have assembled. Max raises the massive beam with extraordinary caution; one false move could mean death as many of the recent crane accidents have proven.

Max's dreams are descriptive of the general fears of crane operators everywhere.

 "Cranes turning over, losing a load, loads falling on your buddies on top. We're all pretty much family.  We've been out here six months, six days a week. Here recently seven days a week, 12 hours a day, they become family to you. It's a eye opener, makes you think when you get up in the morning and return home and everyone around you being safe underneath you. It wakes you up," said Max Glendenning.