This guy on a job site in Greenville said something about rigging that I still think about

We were setting a 15-ton HVAC unit on a roof, and I was about to use a standard choker hitch on the nylon slings. This older operator, maybe in his 60s, just walked over and said, 'You're gonna choke the life out of that sling, and it'll bite you one day.' He showed me how he uses a basket hitch with a spreader bar for those big, square loads to spread the weight. He said he learned it after a sling failed on a job in '98 and a beam dropped six feet. It wasn't a lecture, just a quiet tip while we were waiting for the signal. I've used his method ever since, and it just feels so much more stable. Has anyone else had a simple piece of advice from another operator that just stuck and changed your routine?

2 comments

2 Comments

nora_wells587d ago

That "it'll bite you one day" line hits hard. Heard something similar from a crane op years back about never trusting a rusty shackle, even if it looks solid. Those old guys have seen the close calls we haven't. That spreader bar trick is solid gold for keeping a load from tipping. Makes you realize how much we learn by just watching and listening.

simon_davis7d ago

Watch that same lesson play out everywhere, @nora_wells58. People ignore the small signs in relationships or cars until something finally breaks. The real skill is learning to see the rust before the shackle fails.