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PSA: A veteran operator told me to always check my load chart for the exact boom angle, not just the radius.
He said it saved him from a close call on a 200-ton lift in Houston last year. I ignored it once and nearly overloaded a 75-foot pick. Do you guys always cross-check both, or is that overkill for routine lifts?
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casey_fox686mo ago
My old foreman in Detroit drilled this into us on a 90-ton Grove. He caught a guy reading radius off the chart while the boom was actually two degrees off from the listed angle. That small difference put them 5% over capacity on a pick near a live power line. It's never overkill because charts are printed for a perfect setup, and your rig is never perfect on site. Wind, uneven ground, and cable stretch all mess with your true angle. I keep a cheap angle finder magneted to the boom just to be sure.
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elliotr394mo ago
Yeah "two degrees off and 5% over" is exactly the kind of math that keeps me double checking everything.
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martinez.anna6mo ago
Man, that's just how it goes. The little details you skip are always the ones that bite you.
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