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The most common mistake I see operators make with load charts | Crane Operators - Guest Forum

The most common mistake I see operators make with load charts

Over in the Houston yard last month I watched three different guys try to lift a 12 ton transformer without checking their radius first. They just assumed the crawler could handle it because the chart said 15 tons at 10 feet. But they were set up at 25 feet of radius and that old Link-Belt was only good for 9 tons at that distance. Why do so many guys skip the simple step of verifying the radius before they start rigging?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_sarah2mo ago

Hold on a second here. Those guys probably knew exactly what they were doing and just didn't see the point in wasting time on a number they could ballpark in their head. You say they skipped the radius check but maybe they figured the crane's safety margin would cover a few extra feet because that old Link-Belt had probably lifted way more than the chart said back when it was new. Charts are a guideline, not a hard rule, and if you've been running the same iron for years you get a feel for what it can really do. Honestly, the real problem here is guys who don't trust their own experience and instead lean on a book that might not even account for how the ground settles or the wind picks up on the day of the lift.

fiona7372mo ago

That whole "trust the feel, not the manual" thing is wild... it's like the same type of thinking you see with people who ignore the speed limit because they've driven the same road for twenty years. The ground changes, the tires wear down, the weather shifts, but they swear they know the right speed. Same with that crane crew... sure, the old girl might have a history of stretching its limits, but that history doesn't rewrite physics, @the_sarah. Charts might not be perfect, but they're a lot more reliable than a hunch when things go wrong.