Jobsite in Austin changed how I rig my loads

Was working a tower crane job near downtown Austin last month. Had a load of steel beams that started spinning bad on the way up, almost hit some scaffolding. I always used a four-leg bridle sling the same way for years. Watching that load twist made me switch to a choker hitch with a spreader bar on longer pieces. Has anyone else had a load go sideways on them and change their rigging setup because of it?

2 comments

2 Comments

daniel5521mo ago

Spinning loads are a nightmare, I've had a bundle of rebar start twisting like a corkscrew on a job in Houston once and it nearly took out a crew's lunch table. A spreader bar is the right call for anything over 20 feet, it kills that twisting action dead. The choker hitch with a tag line on the far end gives you way more control when the wind kicks up too. That old four-leg bridle might be fine for shorter stuff, but long steel will always want to spin unless you break up the center of gravity.

ryan_nelson1mo ago

That’s the exact kind of situation that makes you rethink your whole rigging setup. Once you see a bundle of rebar start unwinding like a giant spring, you never forget it. I’ve switched over to using a spreader bar on anything over 25 feet now, even if the weight doesn’t technically call for it. The control you get with a choker hitch and a tag line is night and day different, especially on a windy day when that load wants to sail. Breaking up the center of gravity with a spreader bar or even a well placed spacer keeps everything stable and predictable. It’s one of those things that looks like overkill until it saves your crew from a bad accident.