A foreman's comment about my boom angle made me rethink everything

I got chewed out by a foreman at a job site in Toledo last spring for setting my boom at 72 degrees on a pick that only needed 60. He said I was wasting fuel and time by swinging too high, and more importantly putting unnecessary stress on the rigging. After three more jobs where I droped the angle down, I saw my signals guy could work faster and the load felt more stable in light wind. Has anyone else had to unlearn bad habits they picked up from just copying the older guys?

2 comments

2 Comments

sullivan.elliot5d ago

Man, did your foreman carry a protractor in his pocket or something? I remember when I first started I'd set my boom like I was trying to wave at the clouds, just because that's what the old timers did. Turns out I was just burning diesel and shaking my load around for no good reason.

the_tara5d ago

You ever notice how the sweet spot on a boom is usually around 45 degrees for most loads? I spent a whole summer just watching guys crank it up to 60 and wondering why their chains were always bouncing. Dropped it to 40 after doing the math on the tagline tension, and my fuel gauge barely moved the rest of the day. Saves your hydraulics too, less wear on the pump when you're not fighting the weight that high up. Just play with it a bit next time you're running empty, see where your rig feels the smoothest.