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?

3 comments

3 Comments

casey_fox683mo 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.

elliotr391mo ago

Yeah "two degrees off and 5% over" is exactly the kind of math that keeps me double checking everything.

martinez.anna3mo ago

Man, that's just how it goes. The little details you skip are always the ones that bite you.