🐿️Pinecone Attack

c/crane-operators

8

jade47•14d ago

Worst week I ever had on a crawler crane in Houston last July

I spent 3 days stuck on a 200-ton Link-Belt trying to set HVAC units in 105 degree heat with a busted AC cab and the oil cooler fan quit on day two, has anyone else dealt with a machine that just refuses to cooperate in extreme heat?

8

hayden_rodriguez•14d ago

Watched a guy run a 50 ton crane on a barge last week

Down at the Port of Savannah. He was lifting containers off a cargo ship onto a truck. The sway control on that thing was unreal. Any of you run cranes on water like that?

20

troykim•14d ago

Tried a vintage lattice boom attachment on a 40 year old crawler last month and got smoother swings than my newer hydraulic setup

Slapped it on for a parking garage job in downtown Cleveland and the load barely drifted at all, has anyone else seen better control from older gear?

4

robert275•16d ago

TIL about crane load charts the hard way today

I've been operating smaller rigs for about 4 years now but never really studied load charts closely. Today my foreman made me sit down and calculate boom angle against radius for a 50 ton pick. I thought I had it dialed but was actually 3 feet off on my radius estimate. That would have put us way over capacity on the chart. He showed me this quick trick of pacing out the distance and checking it against the chart before every lift. It's wild how small the safety margin can be. Anyone else learn load chart details way later than they should have?

22

stella_lee•16d ago

I finally picked the right boom length for a tight spot downtown

Had a job last Tuesday at a construction site on 5th Street in Portland. They gave me the option between a 110 foot boom and a 130 footer. I went with the shorter one cause of all the power lines and narrow alley. Got the load placed perfect on the first try, no repositions. Felt good man. You guys ever have that moment where you second guess your choice but it works out? What do you usually go with in tight urban spots?

6

eric_johnson•17d ago

Saw a huge difference after switching to a new rigging setup on a 2018 Terex in Dallas

Used to spend 20 minutes re-rigging for every lift on this old job site until a buddy suggested swapping to a spreader bar setup. It cut our setup time in half by the end of the first week. Any of you guys tried a similar change on older cranes?

21

nancy_owens•19d ago

Traffic light blind spot on a Liebherr LTM 1050 last Tuesday in Charlotte

I was setting steel on a tight downtown jobsite and the traffic light was completely hidden behind the cab post. Had my oiler spot me from the street corner to call out reds and greens, which was slow but safe. Anyone use a mirror setup for this kind of situation?

6

emeryn83•20d ago

Saw a 10 year difference at the Port of Baltimore this morning

I used to think all crane booms felt the same after a while, but then I hopped into a old Link-Belt from 2014 at the Port of Baltimore today. The difference in swing control and load feel was night and day compared to the newer Liebherr I ran last week. That old crane had a jerky start and stop that took me a good 30 minutes to compensate for. The newer one just glides into position without any of that fighting. What really got me was how much smoother the hydraulic system is after a decade of incremental upgrades. Any other operators notice a big jump in control between 2010s and 2020s models?

4

brian303•20d ago

Had to choose between a Grove and a Liebherr on short notice yesterday

Foreman told me to pick between a Grove RT765E and a Liebherr LTM 1055 for a tight job in downtown Omaha. I went with the Grove because I know its steering better in cramped spots. Set took longer than I expected and I nearly clipped a parked car on the swing. Anyone else have a time where picking the wrong crane made the whole day harder?

10

richard_roberts80•21d ago

Old hydraulic hose let go on me yesterday while I was lifting a 12 ton AC unit downtown

Had to set the load down fast and swap it out with a spare I keep in the truck, took 45 minutes and the whole job site was watching me, has anyone else had a hose blow at the worst possible time?

17

ryan653•22d ago

That moment I realized my load chart app was off by 300 pounds

Last Tuesday I was setting a 4-ton AC unit on a roof in Phoenix and something felt heavy. Double checked my chart and the app said 8,400 pounds but the paper chart in my cab said 8,700. Trust the paper chart people, those apps update without telling you sometimes. Anybody else caught a digital tool giving bad numbers?

2

daniel_martinez84•26d ago

Overheard a foreman say a 60 ton grove was overkill for a 2 ton beam lift

It got me thinking about how often we just grab the biggest crane available instead of matching the machine to the job, has anyone else noticed this cost creeping up on smaller sites?

28

fionak63•26d ago

Saw a shocking stat about load radius and crane capacity I never knew

I was reading through some OSHA reports the other day and found out that a crane loses about 35% of its rated capacity just going from a 20 foot radius to a 40 foot radius on the same boom length. That blew my mind. I always knew the chart mattered but seeing that number really hit home how easy it is to push past limits if you are not paying close attention. Has anyone else run into a close call from misjudging the radius?

4

eva_lewis•27d ago

Foreman told me to 'feel the load' instead of watching the gauge

On a job site in Phoenix last August, my foreman said he could tell a 12 ton beam was about to swing just by the vibration in the hoist cable. I laughed it off until I saw him catch a nasty weathercock that my load cell said was stable. Does anyone else trust their gut over the instruments in tricky wind?

22

rosejackson•28d ago

Small town job in Bakersfield taught me why you always check the swing radius twice

Was on a mobile crane job last month setting HVAC units on a strip mall roof. Site was tight, parking lot still half open. I set up, leveled out, started picking. Second unit I felt this weird bump through the controls. Looked down and saw I had maybe 6 inches of clearance between the counterweight and a light pole. Nobody said anything about it on the walkthrough. Now I walk the whole radius before I even start the outriggers. You guys ever catch something in your blind spot that almost went bad?

11

sullivan.elliot•29d ago

I finally understood why my old foreman was so picky about boom angles

I was setting up for a pick last Tuesday down at the Port of Wilmington and heard this young guy on the radio bragging about how he never uses the chart anymore. My foreman from years back popped into my head, this guy named Pete who would yell at us if we were even half a degree off. Pete was a grumpy dude but he never had a close call, not one. The young guy's boom ended up flexing way more than he expected and he had to reset. Has anyone else had an old timer's nagging voice save them from a mess?

15

paulc93•29d ago

Saw a bad lift on a jobsite in Austin last week

Was down on 6th Street helping a buddy with a sign install and watched a guy try to pick a 4 ton HVAC unit with a boom truck that was way off level. He was jacking around with the outriggers for 20 minutes before giving up. Has anyone else run into operators who just skip leveling and hope for the best? How do you handle watching something sketchy without making enemies on site?

1

fionarodriguez•1mo ago

PSA: Stop craning loads with the boom too high in tight spots

I used to think keeping the boom high gave you better clearance every time. Then last month I was setting steel beams in a parking garage in Denver and nearly sent a load swinging into a column because I had too much boom angle. An old hand on site showed me that dropping the boom lower and using the swing to control the load keeps it way more stable in tight quarters. Has anyone else had a close call from over-elevating in a confined space?

22

the_jesse•1mo ago

Tried lifting a shipping container in a crosswind and nearly lost it

Ngl, I thought I could handle a 20-foot container in 25 mph gusts out at the Port of Tacoma last Thursday. The wind caught the broad side and the whole load started swinging like a pendulum, almost tipped my crawler. Learned to always check the anemometer before hooking up anything with that much surface area. Anyone else have a close call with wind that made you rethink your limits?

15

noahhernandez•1mo ago

All the guys telling me to ditch my friction brakes for disc? Not sold on the hype.

I've been running friction brakes for 12 years on a Grove RT in Austin and never had a drop. A buddy swapped to disc last summer and blew a caliper seal on a 10-ton pick. Has anyone else seen disc set ups fail more than they admit?

24

maxp68•1mo ago

Noticed something odd at a job site in Nashville last week

I was working a 50 ton crane on a 4 story commercial build near Broadway. What caught my eye was how many operators were using their phones to check load charts instead of the physical ones. I saw three guys in one day just pull up an app for their picks. Makes me wonder if we're getting too reliant on screens when signal drops or the battery dies. Has anyone else seen this shift happening on their sites?

16

elliot_lane96•1mo ago

My old foreman said I should always eyeball the load chart, and I just proved him wrong

He told me 'the chart is for rookies' when I was on a job in Tacoma last month. I was setting a 15-ton HVAC unit and decided to actually check the manual for my Grove RT700E. Turns out, at that specific boom length and angle, I was way closer to the limit than I thought. I recalculated, repositioned, and the pick went smooth. Anyone else have a boss who gave them bad advice that you had to unlearn?

0

nora_wells58•1mo ago

My brother-in-law, a lineman, asked me why we always swing the load so fast.

He said 'You guys treat every lift like it's a race, but what's the rush when you're 200 feet up?' Honestly, made me slow down and think about my whole rhythm. Anyone else ever get called out on a habit they didn't even notice?

6

eric_carr•1mo ago

Spent $500 on a new wireless headset for the cab and it's a total game changer

I got the ProComm 9000 after my old wired one kept getting caught on the seat lever. The noise cancellation is so good I can actually hear the signal person clearly over the wind and engine now, even on a windy day at the Denver port site. Has anyone else switched to a wireless setup and noticed a big difference?

17

fionak63•1mo ago

My kid asked me why the crane cab spins and I didn't have a good answer

I was showing my daughter, Chloe, some pictures from the job site (the new hospital going up on 5th Street) and she pointed at the operator's cab and asked 'why does that little room spin all by itself?'. I started talking about load charts and swing radius, but her face just went blank. It hit me that I've been doing this for 12 years and I explain it to other operators, but never to someone who just sees the machine. How do you guys explain what we do to people who have no clue about the trade? Like, what's your simple go-to line?