The Siren Board

Get some help and take it down Johnny Cash style.

One piece at a time.

holler wrote:Get some help and take it down Johnny Cash style.

One piece at a time.

I'd love to do it that way but due to liability issues I am not allowed to work on the siren until it is on the ground. Robbinsdale Schools said I must have licensed, bonded, and insured contractors remove all parts of the siren I would like to have. I was originally going to hire the crane company to remove the siren body after I had disconnected the electric service and pulled out the control cabinets, AF timer, and radio receiver myself, but Robbinsdale schools said I may not work on the siren's electrical unless I'm a licensed electrician.

So I have to pay around $250 just to get the electrical done
That was the cheapest bid. Other bids I got were: 1) "not to exceed $400" and 2) $400-600 for 4-6 hours of work. I don't get how it can take that long to just shut the power off, cut the wires, and unbolt/remove the boxes. If I end up going with the project, I will go with the $250 electrician bid. Two hours sounds much more realistic than 4-6 hours.

I will most likely have the electrician come out at the beginning of next week to remove the controls, and pay that all off and everything. Once that part is done, I know for sure there won't be any surprises as there could be if I had the electrician come out immediately before the crane service got there. That way one phase of the project is over with (electrical shut off and removed), I am ready to take the siren head down whenever the crane company has time.

UPDATE ON CRANE COST: Rocket crane has just called me back. He said they'd probably have to use their (I can't remember what size it is) but I think he said 2nd smallest rig. The removal will cost within the vicinity of $300. He says once they're set up, they can start and should be able to get it down in an hour or so. $200-$275 an hour (I can't remember exactly what the price is) for their second smallest rig.

I am not confirming with anybody yet, but it looks like I will be having it done as the cost looks to be around $550 as originally planned. If it goes a little higher (up to $700) I will be slightly annoyed but at least I will have a t-bolt.

Thunderboltlover wrote:
So I have to pay around $250 just to get the electrical done

If anything the crane company should be doing the electrical work, or atleast that's how I've seen it done.

I really can't wait to see another Thunderbolt rescued. If it ends up being restored, reinstalled and reactivated, all the marrier!

Midnight Drifter wrote:I really can't wait to see another Thunderbolt rescued. If it ends up being restored, reinstalled and reactivated, all the marrier!

If I somehow got in contact with a municipality that was in need of a "siren swap," or simply even a new (refurbished) siren installed, I would sell it to them for whatever it ends up costing me to remove it + any parts I have to buy for it (New Hope keeps their sirens in wonderful shape so I shouldn't have any big things I have to fix). I probably won't even have to repaint it. We'll see. I will for sure perform all maintenance on it that looks necessary, but otherwise it should be ready to go as a collector siren unless a town contacts me with interest.

If you have it done be sure to take pics. I'm curious to see how they will do it. It looks to me from the pics that it's at least 60-80 feet from the outside wall of the building and on the second story roof as well.

The electrician will probably have those boxes out of there in half an hour. Of course they most likely charge from when they leave to go out there.

I know there are cranes that can reach it but it seems like a crane with enough reach to get it would cost more than $300.

Will do!

I am going to have it done for sure if the school district is OK with it. The head maintenance guy has now referred me on to the central office for the district. It sounds like the whole thing will have to be authorized by a high power for the district. This might mean that the project will come to a hault if they don't/aren't willing to grant access to my electrician and crane company.
I left a message on somebody's phone on Friday afternoon after I had heard back from everybody I needed to and thought it through enough. If I hear back from the district and get an appointment for the removal, I will have the t-bolt removed.

If you hit a dead end with the district don't forget to watch for when demolition is about to start. You might get the demo guys to bring it down for you. Maybe not. Offer them a few hundred bucks and maybe they will take a little extra time to get it down without destroying it. They also might salvage stuff out of the building first before it's demolished the siren might be saved that way as well.

I think 550 is a little to expensive around these parts.... The Siren removal services around here only ask around 300 to remove an old thunderbolt.

SirenSynthsInc wrote:I think 550 is a little to expensive around these parts.... The Siren removal services around here only ask around 300 to remove an old thunderbolt.

Well, You have to think about the 1003's location. Its on top of a school. If it were to fall and crash through the roof and injure someone working down there, They would be liable for the injuries. So they have to charge extra for the risk.