tylermurray•13d agoTop Commenter

Old timer on a job site near St. Louis taught me about boom angles

Back in 2008 I was running a 50 ton Grove on a bridge project. An older operator named Hank walked over during a break and pointed at my boom. He said "You're running too shallow for that pick radius, son. That load chart is a suggestion not a promise." He showed me how to adjust the angle by just 3 degrees and that boom settled right down. Has anyone else had an old hand give you advice you still use today?

3 comments

3 Comments

terrywilson13d ago

I dunno, "that load chart is a suggestion not a promise" sounds a little dramatic. Charts are engineered numbers, not guesses, and 3 degrees probably wouldn't have made that much difference unless you were already right on the edge. Sounds more like an old guy wanting to feel important than any real secret to lifting.

gavinp4413d ago

Not sure it's that serious @terrywilson, load charts are pretty straightforward if you ask me.

jones.brooke7d ago

Honestly I used to be in your camp Gavin, thought load charts were just simple numbers you follow and that's that... but a few years back I was helping a buddy with a job and we had a 200 ton crane picking a generator, everything looked fine on paper. We were about 4 degrees off on the boom angle though, not even thinking about it, and the load cell was screaming at us way earlier than I expected. That moment kind of shifted my whole view, made me realize those charts are tighter than they look and yeah, 3 degrees can absolutely push you over if you're already riding the line. Terry might have a point about the old guy thing but the math doesn't lie when you see it happen.