PIPELINE NEWS
C-Section November 2011
Saskatchewan’s Petroleum Monthly
Crane operator gets a lift from oilpatch By Brian Zinchuk Estevan – A love of lifting things has kept Dwight Packer in fire-retardant coveralls while at the controls of his cranes for 29 years. Packer is the owner of Skylift Services Inc. of Estevan, the largest lifting operation in southeast Saskatchewan. “I got my first boom truck in 1982, and have been expanding ever since,” Packer told Pipeline News. The first shop was built in 1983, a tiny 32 x 45 foot Quonset. “I wondered what I would do with all the extra space,” he recalled. Ever since, space has been at a premium. The old yard had numerous shop expansions over the years, and finally, a new facility was built in the Frontier Peterbilt Industrial Park east of Estevan. It was built in the summer of 2008, but they weren’t able to get into it until the summer of 2009. “We outgrew this shop before we moved,” he said, noting they use both yards. In the early years, he started with a small portion of the old yard, then rented a bit more yard space with each expansion. “When I first got into the business, I ran under L&C Trucking’s authority. Walter Christenson helped me get started.” Packer has been operating on his own since 1989. “I bought my first crane, a 35-ton, in 1987,” he said. “I bought a couple of rough terrain [cranes] in 1989, a 15-ton and a 35-ton. In 1994, I built my second shop, and had about four staff.” Packer personally started out running cranes. He said, “It is a specific skill, no doubt about it. I have had people tell me they can run anything but find that a crane is different. One guy said he could run anything. He got in the crane for one minute, and got out frustrated. “You’re not moving the hook, you’re sort of chasing it, but you know where it’s going,” he said. As example, he noted that when a load is swinging into position, positioning the boom over it causes it to stop. “We have to make sure we know where everyone is, and is out of the way.” It’s apparent in his voice Packer has a love of cranes. “I don’t just run cranes because I have to. I enjoy running cranes more than being in the office.” ► Page C2
Skylift's 120-ton crane lifts a tank into secondary containment.
Photo submitted
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