OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums General Discussion Forum Off Topics Full Riding Dogmen

I know this has absolutely nothing to do with lawn mowers nor is it even remotely lawn mower related...however...for those wondering why my Avatar is a pic of high rise construction cranes...the answer follows.

Back as a long haired and much more nefarious youth I had what I call the distinction of being a Full Riding Dogman on high rise cranes in Sydney. I rode the loads up and down the buildings from ground to the top.

If you look at the pic closely you'll see about midway on the right hand side a figure standing in a riding sling hanging on the end of the hoist rope.. My job was to guide the crane driver...who I might add was my dear departed father, by a series of bells that were transmitted to him via the Bell Rope in my right hand.

I loved this job and to be honest...I loved it so much I would now pay to do it again.

But ...unfortunately...WH&S back then deemed my job to be dangerous and I was one of the last of the dying breed of Full Riding Dogmen in the world.

Sorry for the tedious and boring social diversion...but hey...after 34 yrs in the ADF and 3 OS deployments, I look at my time of my youth and smile about the good times, being a 'prima donna of the Sydney skyline" ( AMP building, NZI House and Centrepoint Tower)

Regards
Gazza

One of you blokes gave me a fright I will never forget, I was young and working on the 8th or 9th floor of a building, early seventies, I was talking to this doggie, and he just stepped off the landing, grabbing the cable and swinging his foot onto the hook and he was gone. The next time I saw him I told him that he had given me a big fright, he just shrugged his shoulders and smiled. I will never forget it

G'day Gazza and Norm
I moved this post to Off-Topics for obvious reasons.

I find Gazza's phrases - and life - fascinating.
I mean, 'Full Riding Dogmen' is like 'Full Metal Jacket'.
Not everyone can boast about being a 'prima donna of the Sydney skyline'

And why the term 'doggie'? Is it because you are always losing bladder control?
I know I would be! I hate heights. Full stop!

Good story though.
Norm, I'm glad you saw the guy again...

Hahahaha...noooo...I have never (touch wood) lost control of my bladder....neither on the ground nor 900ft up in the air thank the gods.

A Doggie is aptly named after man's best friend...(not Beer nor Bourbon) but the faithful 4 legged pal who runs around after the crane driver safely hooking up his loads and then jumping on the load ( like a dog on the back of a fully loaded hay trailer) before riding it to where ever.

Am I afraid of heights???...Oh YEAH....not whilst riding a load or in the riding sling...but you will never catch me close to the edge of a building and looking over the side...THAT freaks me out bigtime. I am much safer standing on a load or in my trusty tailor made Dunlop rubber covered 1/2" 6/47 steel wire Riding Sling.

In the 10 yrs I was a Doggy in Sydney during the 1970s..the only fatality for a dogman was when he was walking down to the crib room and a rigger somewhere 37 floors up dropped a podger which struck the helmeted Doggy in the head and killed him on the spot. He wasn't even riding a load.

As for calling it a 'distinction' to have been a FRD...I personally don't know of many who can say they've done what I have. To be honest...it was the most exciting and fulfilling job I have ever had...bar none. It is a pity it was banned by ridiculous OH&S laws and we became a dying breed.

Oh...and don't let those jumped up self involved 'Crane Chasers' ( who cannot then nor will ever ride a load) try to convince you that they're full riding dogmen...aint no such thing anymore...anywhere in the world.
FRD rode loads back then...Crane Chasers are Earth bound by law.

Ding Ding
(that's the signal for UP)

Gazza

G'day OF54

That's a great story!
Many thanks for that explanation of 'Doggie'.

I find it funny that you can be 'freaked out' by looking over the
side of buildings; but felt comfortable in a riding sling. Just
wearing platform shoes in the 1970s freaked me out. The wide white
belt and psychedelic body shirt didn't help...

"dropped a podger" invites an obvious question ...

I think members are intrigued by folks who have had extreme jobs.
I mean, like the FRDs and the Caisson workers building bridges.
Amazing - and frightening! There is a moist patch in my gusset...

If any member can pen the lyrics to "There is a moist patch in my gusset"
I would be eternally grateful.

Ding Ding
---------------------
Jack

Morning OF54, Jack, folks,

I've enjoyed reading your story OF. Many thanks!

The psychology of 'heights' is interesting for sure! Personally I'm with Jack. Can't lean on the balcony rail of anything that's 3 stories above the ground! But I can fly no trouble- unless I'm flying over the stack of the nearby power station or in some other way flying near a 'heighted' object. Figure that. My GP had a full size poster of that scene above in his treatment room. Used to feel funny just looking at it.

I'll leave the lyrics to someone else Jack but reckon it should be to the tune of 'There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza...'

Thanks again OF54.

Cheers,

Another interesting and well chronicled era in my life was when I became a test rider for the Motorcycling Marque " Spagthorpe".

Such wondrous machines and devil may care topped off with derring do whilst I risked life and limb on a daily basis.

Just let your eyes feast and your heart (as well as your stomach and bowels) stir with the visual magnificence of this beautifully engineered motorcycling masterpiece.

http://cybermotorcycle.com/archives/spagthorpe/era-bng.html

To most people the legend of the Spagthorpe would be wasted on them

Hello OF54 prd and Norm
Well, almost lost on me.
What amazing men and their flying machines.

I take it these bikes are highly prized?
I notice one page mentioned the SS Edmund Fitzgerald - a story in itself.
http://cybermotorcycle.com/archives/spagthorpe/waterspaniel.html

And this one is hilarious ... but a tragic end ...
http://cybermotorcycle.com/archives/spagthorpe/rottweiler.html



Brilliant Gazza!
If only you hadn't lost that photo of you as a FRD riding a Spagthorpe
as it was being lifted by crane with Sydney skyline in background.
[Can you remember the model?]

I wonder if Jay Leno has a Spagthorpe?
A brilliant use of 'alternative facts' for this one.

Cheers
-----------------
Jack

Bloody hell, one of the inmates over at the AdventureRider motorcycle forums uses the handle 'Spagthorpe', and I never knowed from whence it came. Wonderful pisstake, that site.

I like the 'Shepherd' description - illustrated by a very identifiable Brough Superior SS100!

And the mention of 'twingle' engines - one of these really was made, by Ossa in Spain, in 1971. A 500cc 360� two-stroke twin. Puch of Austria also built a slightly different design [twin bores, common combustion chamber] two-stroke in the 1960's.

I've long liked the attitude behind the dropbears.com website - and it does host quite a few serious, if somewhat offbeat, Oz motorcycle-related businesses. http://dropbears.com/about/dropbears-cute-deadly/