I was on a site in downtown Portland back in 2019 running a 200 ton crawler. A sudden gust came through the canyon between buildings and my load started swinging bad, nothing I hadn't handled before but the operator next to me had his tagline break. Have you guys changed how you prep for tight urban spots with weird wind patterns?
For like 10 years I always used hand signals with my ground crew. Thought it was the only safe way and radios would just add chatter and confusion. Then we got this big tower crane job in Phoenix where the wind was kicking up dust something fierce. Couldn't see the guy on the ground half the time. Foreman handed me a headset and told me to try it. Now I'm wondering why I waited so long... the precision is way better when they can tell me exactly where the load is. Has anybody else made the switch and then had trouble going back to hand signals?
I was reading the manual for our Liebherr LTM 1050 last night, and I ran across this chart that shows load capacity dropping by almost 40% when you go from 30 feet of boom to 60 feet. I always knew you lost capacity but I didn't realize it was that steep. Found it buried in the appendix. Has anyone else been surprised by a stat like that from their own rig's paperwork?
I kept noticing my loads felt heavier on one side of the site at the Port of Seattle. Everyone told me it was just wind or ground slope. I spent 2 weeks adjusting my rigging, checking slings, and re-leveling outriggers on every pick. Finally got the OEM tech out here with a calibration rig. Turns out the sensor bracket had shifted 6 degrees after I hit a pothole back in March. That means I was running with bad data for over 90 days and never caught it because I trusted the screen. Has anyone else had a sensor fail slowly like that without throwing a warning code?
It was a simple 'boom up' but they were all wiggling their thumb instead of pointing straight up, has anyone else noticed new guys mixing up the standard signals on site?
Watched a guy spend 45 minutes re-leveling a crawler crane on a slope while his extendable boom counterpart was already lifting, and that 45 minutes of wasted billable time convinced me I need to stop being a purist about lattice boom cranes.
I was swapping stories with a retired operator named Pete at a yard in Pittsburgh last Tuesday, and he told me he always set his boom at a specific angle before storms came in. He said most guys just lock the swing brake and hope for the best, but he'd calculated the exact position to let the wind spill off instead of fighting it. Has anyone here ever tried adjusting boom angle specifically for wind instead of just riding the weather out?
Had a 100 ton Grove acting up on a job site near Chattanooga, kept losing boom swing control intermittently, and I tore through the hydraulic schematics twice before a buddy told me to check the negative cable on the battery box, which took maybe 10 minutes once I thought of it.
The old wire rope would fray after a few heavy picks on a bridge job in Columbus, but the braided cable holds up way better against the drum wear, anyone else made that switch yet?
I was working a job in Phoenix last August, putting a tower crane up on a school site. We had a near miss when a tag line got snagged on a rebar cage during the final pick. The ground guy froze up for a second and I had to set the piece down hard to avoid a swing. Everyone started yelling at him but in my experience, the real issue was the radio delay and the blind spot from my cab. I told the foreman the path wasn't clear from the jump and he brushed it off. Has anyone else had to play middleman when the setup makes the job harder than it needs to be?
Back in 2010 I was running a Grove RT in Houston and swore by the old boom angle method. Thought load cells were just another thing to break. After I lifted a 12 ton water tank and the analog gauge said fine but the load cell caught 14.2, I shut down immediately. Who else had a similar moment when tech proved you wrong?
Ngl, I was running a 150-ton crawler on a container job near Berth 35 last fall. We had a 40-foot box swing weird on the hoist because the tag line guy got distracted. I had to drop the whole thing hard to keep the crane from tipping, and it bent the spreader bar. Am I the only one who thinks we need better spotters on tight container lifts?
I was running a 90 ton crawler crane near downtown Seattle, setting steel beams for a new office building. The load started swinging weird during a 200 foot pick, and I realized the tagline operator wasn't paying attention. I set the load down slowly and stopped the hoist before anything got out of hand. Turns out a shackle pin was loose on the rigging, which made the beam twist. Anyone else ever have a load act up because of loose rigging hardware?
I was setting steel on a tight downtown site and kept bumping the load into the column next to me. Turns out the tail swing was getting caught on a temporary fence the site super forgot to tell me about. Anyone else have a problem that took way longer than it should have because someone didn't share info?
Was hoisting a 4-ton HVAC unit when the ring started grinding real bad. Had to set the load down quick and call the shop for a replacement bearing, lost half a day. Anyone else had a swivel fail on them mid-lift?
I dropped $300 on a fancy new harness from a place in Houston last spring, thinking it would be way better than my old one. Turns out the quick-release buckle kept jamming in humid weather, which is basically every day here. Who else has had gear fail because of conditions nobody talks about at the store?
Had a 50 ton Grove last Tuesday on a site near I-75. Setting HVAC units on a warehouse roof. My old block and tackle setup kept binding up on the return fall. Took me almost three hours to get the headache ball back down each time. Finally swapped to a swivel style block with a nylon sheave. Cut my cycle time by half on the next pick. Wished I did it six months ago when I first noticed the issue. Anyone else fought with a binding block on a long boom job?
I compared running a luffing jib at 30 meters versus switching to a hammerhead setup on a tight site in Chicago last Tuesday. The hammerhead gave me way better clearance for the steel beams we were setting, but it added 15 minutes to each pick cycle. Has anyone else hit this tradeoff on a congested job site?
I was running an old hydraulic the other day and kept thinking about the lattice booms we used at a job in Nashville back in 98. That American 9310 could lift circles around the new stuff when you needed precision, and you felt every inch of the load through the cables. Anyone else think the feel got lost with all these computer controls?
I always thought pre-lubing swing bearings was a waste of time and grease. Figured if it wasn't squealing it was fine. Then I hit 5,000 hours on my 218 HSL and pulled the bearing for a look. There was so much dry wear I had to replace the whole race. That $50 tube of grease I skipped probably cost me $3,000 and three days of downtime. Anyone else learn that lesson the hard way?
I was setting up on a slope near downtown Denver last month and couldn't get my bubble level to stop drifting. Bought one of those rotary laser level tripod bases with the fine adjustment knobs for around $400. It locked in the reference line in about 2 minutes flat, where I used to fight it for 20. But here's the catch, the battery died halfway through the second day and the replacement pack cost another $80. Has anyone else tried those multi-axis self-leveling mounts, or do you just stick to manual setup on tricky ground?
I was grabbing lunch near the site and this kid at the next table was going on about how his crane's GPS does everything for him, even plans the picks. Made me think back to when I started in 2008 up in Bakersfield and we had to eyeball everything with a tape measure and a hand signal from the oiler.
I always thought putting a tagline on the boom was just extra hassle (more gear to trip over, right?). Last month I had to lift a 2,000 lb steel beam near a window in a tight warehouse downtown. My spotter convinced me to try it, and honestly I stopped the load swing in like half the time. Has anyone else had a job where a tagline saved your bacon?
I always thought those guys carrying extra plywood sheets for outrigger pads were just wasting space until a job in Medina last spring. The crane started sinking maybe 2 inches into the mud even with the standard pads under it. Anyone else find a better solution than hauling a dozen sheets of 3/4 ply everywhere?
Always thought I was smart saving money on a 2007 Liebherr LTM 1050 from a Ritchie Bros auction in Houston. Paid $185k which felt like a steal until the hydraulic pump went out on job 3. That replacement cost me $12k and two weeks of downtime. Anyone else have better luck with auction finds or am I just unlucky?