Anatomy of Matt’s Arm
Our mission is to design and manufacture lightweight, portable hoisting tools that improve safety, increase efficiency, and lower the project’s costs.
About Matt’s Arm
Who and what is Matt’s ARM, and how did it get its name?
Jim’s story
As a young tower guy, my mentor was Elvin Phillips, and his motto was “get ‘er done”; that meant timely, efficient, and with common sense. As an ironworker, I witnessed crane accidents and learned safety, and as a contractor, I learned to juggle priorities. As a Crown Castle employee, my purpose was to “be a bridge” between the tower world and the corporate world – helping them understand each other so each could succeed.
As a manufacturer, our mission is to promote efficiency and safety. As a tower industry veteran, I believe a tower rigging project is safest when that work is supervised by a trained and experienced Competent Rigger.
The Name
So, how did Matt’s Arm get its name? It was a way to recognize and honor my son Matthew, who has arms like Hercules….If you could see his arms and feel his grip, you’d know he would not let go!
The Vision
While working with a crew servicing T-Mobile equipment on a monopole during the midnight hour, the Foreman called the job off as unsafe due to the antenna mount design. He wanted a $7,000 crane with a man-basket….what I saw was a need for “an Arm” to hold a line for a powered man-basket or powered ascender. A tool capable of changing antennas and sectors, with the hoisting line able to reach over lower sector mounts and torque arms. All in a lightweight easy to use modular design that could be carried in the crew vehicle
The Interactive Load Chart.
We also saw the need for a Load Chart that would do more than provide the basic equipment capacity – Working with PE Bill Griswold, we developed an Interactive Load Chart Calculator designed to “put an engineer in the Rigger’s back pocket”! This MS Excel-based tool helps the Contractor prepare the Rigging Plan and helps the on-site Competent Rigger stay within safe hoisting parameters.