We needed a crane to set the crane

Not even kidding. We ended up using a 130 ton crane, which took forever to get ready. It required 110,000 lbs of counterweight to lift our house, and the counterweights are huge steel plates of various sizes (5 ton, 8 ton, etc.) that attach to the bottom of the crane. After the crane was up at the top of the hill, the counterweights were carried up in dump trucks. The second crane moved all the counterweights at the staging area down the street.




Then the crane at the top unloaded the trucks (of counterweight, mats and bracing for the crane's arms, the cable and spreader arms for the pick, etc.):


Preparing the spreader arms, drilling holes in the sill of the house, passing the cable through:






Our intrepid film crew declined OSHA-recommended hardhats:


Ready to go:








Watch those toes:


Set and secure on the foundation:


The crane's last job was to turn the trailer around so it could be towed down to the bottom of the driveway (where Simplex will pick it up one of these days and drive it back to Scranton):


Mark, our contractor, recapping the day: