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Thought load charts were just paperwork until Ray proved me wrong on the 90 ton
For my first two years running a 90 ton truck crane out of the yard in Bakersfield, I treated the load chart like a formality. I knew my picks, I knew the site, and I figured the chart was for the office guys and the inspectors. Then Ray, a guy with 30 years on cranes who was retiring off our crew, watched me make a pick at 55 feet radius with the boom at 80 feet. He didn't yell or write me up, he just said "run that number against the chart tonight and call me if you still feel good about it." I did, and I was 1,400 pounds inside the limit on a pick where the ground was soft and the outriggers had already settled an inch. Nothing happened that day, but I sat in my truck for a while after. Since then I go to the chart every single lift, even the ones I've made a hundred times, and I've caught three picks in 8 months that were closer to the edge than I'd have guessed. Any of you ever had a close one that didn't make a sound but still changed how you work?
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chen.james18d ago
Spent years thinking the chart was just wall art for the cab, right up until it wasn't. Soft ground and settled outriggers will humble you fast, glad Ray said something before physics did.
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