Framing the house includes handling and setting the 200 steel pieces, as well as many of the other materials and trusses that make up the profile. While many other builders would have hired out a crane service, or relied on a consistently moving series of telehandlers and lifts — Ben Morton did almost all of it with a single machine: The Manitou MRT 2260 Vision+ rotating telehandler.
Ben Morton, owner of Ben Morton Builder LLC, is working on an impressive 20,000 sq. ft. building project on the coast of Maine.
As a result of his ability to successfully complete framing on complex styles of home design, Morton and his team are often called upon to help with the construction of more involved architectural layouts.
"This is a large residential house. It has 200 pieces of steel, which is what makes this unique," said Morton. "It's a three-story house. And most houses have one or two pieces of steel. We're able to deal with both blending wood with steel, real architecture, lots of interesting roof lines, with real heavy structure."
Framing the house includes handling and setting the 200 steel pieces, as well as many of the other materials and trusses that make up the profile of the impressive coastal home. While many other builders would have hired out a crane service, or relied on a consistently moving series of telehandlers and lifts — Morton did almost all of it with a single machine: The Manitou MRT 2260 Vision+ rotating telehandler.
"The MRT 2260 [is a] new model with the new cab," said Morton. "I bought it because I was really impressed with the new design. And I really thought that having the whole glass cab, and being able to see everywhere would be convenient.
"What I didn't realize when I bought it is how little time I'll spend in the cab. It's a beautiful cab, but we only use the remote. I mean, we're 98 percent outside of the machine."
The Manitou MRT 2260 Vision+ is a powerful, all-terrain rotating telescopic handler that functions as a material handler and as an aerial work platform with a number of compatible attachments, including forks, work platforms and jib and winch systems. With complete 360-degree rotation of the turret, most of the required operations can be executed easily — without needing to move the machine.
Morton operates it with a very practical and user-friendly remote device that allows him to manipulate materials from the position of the attachment and the work itself, rather than sitting in the cab.
"The MRT allows me to use the machine throughout the entire job," said Morton. "It starts off as a forklift, then morphs to a crane, and finishes the job as a basket lift. The only time we're in the machine is to move it. And once it's set up, we're working outside with the remote all the time. It allows me to follow the end of the boom around and be at the critical point throughout the entire process. Whether I'm scooping something with a fork, I'm right there, watching. Or I'm setting something up in the air, lifting a wall, I'm right there."
Morton operates the Manitou MRT 2260 Vision+ with a very practical and user-friendly remote device that allows him to manipulate materials from the position of the attachment and the work itself, rather than sitting in the cab.
Zen in the Art of Framing
When the Ben Morton Builder crew frames a structure, they've been able to change their processes for greater productivity — and more clear and straightforward communication — all due to those remote control capabilities. Now, as materials are being placed, Morton stands directly with crews, which allows for direct communication without being separated by a machine's cab and the physical space between them.
"Four of us went through crane rigging and crane signaling certification, but we don't need it," said Morton. " We need the rigging. But we don't signal. We talk. And we talk in a quiet voice, because we're right here. We're not even yelling.
"The magic with the machine is the remote. Being able to walk around, being able to physically see what you're lifting from any angle, and not have to worry about doing things blind. What I can't describe well enough is how Zen-like it is, how calm and how comfortable it is, versus operating from the cab. Just being able to either omit the communication or being able to do it verbally close at hand is amazing."
Another big advantage has been the ability to use the broad spectrum of attachments that are compatible with the machine, as well as his other Manitou equipment.
"One of the great things about Manitou is that the attachments physically fit on all the machines — they have the same connection point," said Morton. "So that means that I can use my Manitou MT 1840 and I can move all the attachments around and bring them to the roto.
"The benefit is I can keep the roto stationary, and I feed the roto with my straight-boom forklift. It saves me the time of setup. I don't need to move it, because I feed that machine with my other straight boom forklift, and I set everything up within the radius of the swing of the boom."
Morton sees that ability to keep the rotating telehandler in a stationary position throughout the build as a major advantage. He sees it as a time savings, and also as a way for his team to concentrate on critical tasks without losing energy focusing on machine moves or other distractions around the site. Maybe most importantly: it increases safety by minimizing the amount of walking each employee does around the site and reduces the amount of actual physical lifting and labor they are doing.
"Keeping the machine central, I'm able to use it as a hub to feed everybody" he said. "[We can] bring steel up to the top or unload a truck, bring steel down from the top floor, bring trash from the side of the house over to the dumpster, bring plywood up to the second floor. What I do is just stroll around the site and see what people need and where they need it. And my goal is to make sure that nobody's carrying lumber around. Right? I want everybody doing the best thing they can do, and they don't need to be carrying stuff, we've got equipment for that. They need to be problem solving. They need to be doing amazing, beautiful work. And that does not involve carrying lumber up a staircase, or trash to the trash can, or you name it.
"And it's just safer when the machine's not moving. It allows us to take more care with setting up a nice, safe work area, we can rope it off. We can make sure it's really nice and level, and it's way less damaging to the site. You're not driving constantly, you're not making ruts, you're not going through the mud, you're not damaging the tar. You're just stationary. It's a big difference."
Reducing Site Operating Expenses Through Smart Layout, Fleet Decisions
Investment versus cost savings is a critical factor in decision making. Morton takes a practical perspective on how his decisions and his approach to framing affects his bottom line — and how that approach has freed up his team members to be even more productive and valuable to the process.
"When I think of how much money I would have in crane time, when I think of how much labor I would have trying to physically lift all these boards, move them around when I think of trying to do it with my regular forklift, setting each piece, the amount of driving in and out, it's just a no-brainer [to use this rotating telehandler]," said Morton.
"It makes all the sense in the world. What I've done is, I haven't replaced anybody. I haven't downsized. I have pivoted their roles to something more important than just carrying materials. So now they're creating."
Ben Morton and his Manitou rotating telehandler have become somewhat legendary around the Northeast. Sold to him by WD Matthews Machinery Company, Steve Kelley (sales) and Samantha Bazinet (director of marketing) tell of the growing stories of Ben Morton Builder and the company's smart use of rotating telehandlers.
"He built the entire house sitting in one spot," said Kelley. "I was here two or three weeks ago, he had it out front, and he set this entire house without moving the machine. In fact, I don't think he just took the plastic off the seat, because he never drives it."
Bazinet said that the practical benefits of how he uses the telehandler have obvious operational benefits, but the real signature advantage comes in how that translates to the quality of the work.
"If you've seen some of the stuff that he's put together, I mean, really elaborate roof lines and different things — that's why I think people get involved with him, because I think he has a good eye for that type of stuff. He's an artist."
Ben Morton
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