c/crane-operators

Came around on using a tag line after a close call in Jersey City

I always thought tag lines were for rookies who couldn't handle a load solo. Then last month on a job near the Holland Tunnel, a steel beam started spinning on me in a gust and nearly clipped a foreman. That guy with the rope saved my butt and probably kept us from a fines from OSHA. Anyone else eat crow about a tool they swore they'd never use?

5 years on the same crane seat - do you swap cranes or stick with one?

Boom truck vs crawler on a mud site - picked wrong

Last week I had to choose between my 50 ton boom truck and a 70 ton crawler for a job in Clifton. The site was a total mud pit after three days of rain. I thought the boom truck would be faster to set up, but man I was wrong. Got stuck 20 feet from the pad and had to call a tow truck for 4 hours. Should have went with the crawler even if it took longer to unload. Anyone else ever pick the wrong rig for ground conditions and regret it?

Tried a 180 ton Grove to place a precast panel on a tight site downtown yesterday

Ngl I figured the smaller 100 ton would be fine but the reach and load chart just didn’t work out so the bigger crane barely fit in the alley and I ended up swinging blind because one outrigger was over a utility vault, has anyone else had to call a bigger crane than planned for a tight spot and how’d you handle the setup?

The foreman who told me I was leveling the crane wrong every single time

Old timer named Dave on the Irving job last Tuesday showed me I'd been relying on the bubble level instead of the load line and now I feel like an idiot for 8 years of bad picks, anyone else skip the basics and get called out for it?

Had a old-timer tell me I'm rigging too fast...

Met a retired guy at the yard last week who watched me choke a load and said I was rushing the tagline setup. He showed me how he does a quick double-wrap on the hook for stability and honestly it felt way more solid. Anyone else pick up little tricks from older operators that you still use?

Blew $400 on a fancy remote control for my crane and it died after 3 months

Went with the high-end radio remote from a brand I won't name, and the battery pack gave out on a Friday afternoon job, leaving me stranded 40 feet up for two hours, anyone else had bad luck with aftermarket controls?

Spent $400 on a fancy anti-two block system and it saved my ass today

Bought a Rayco Wylie i5200 last month after my old one kept glitching out. Came in at $387 total with shipping from a place in Houston. Had a blind pick over a school today and it chirped at me right as the hook got close to the boom tip. Any of yall running these newer ones or still sticking with the older mechanical stuff?

Why nobody talks about using a level on the crane hook

I was setting steel on a job in Portland last month and kept having trouble getting the beams to sit square. After three tries on one column, I took a 4-foot level out of my truck and clamped it to the hook block. It showed me the hook was actually tilted about 2 degrees to the left. Once I adjusted the boom angle to get the block level, the beam came down flat on the first try. Has anyone else dealt with a crooked hook causing fit-up issues?

The old timer who told me to never grease a crane cable

I had this guy Frank at a job site in Tampa last year, he said grease attracts grit and grinds the wires from the inside out. He pointed at a frayed cable on a Grove RT540E and said 'that's why it snapped.' Been conflicted ever since. Anyone else run into that kind of advice and decide whether to follow it or not?

Hey, has anybody worked a job at the Port of Savannah recently?

I drove through Savannah last week and saw three brand new Liebherr harbor cranes down at the Garden City terminal. Those things are massive, probably 140 feet tall easy. Curious if anyone here has run one of those newer models or worked a container job there. How's the pace compared to a regular tower crane gig?

Appreciation post: That one old foreman at the Port of Savannah

Back in 2018, I was running a lattice boom crawler on a beach restoration job near Tybee Island, and this old foreman named Chuck walked up and just said 'son, you're not feeling the wind, you're fighting it.' He showed me how to let the boom swing with gusts instead of fighting every one, which cut my cycle time by almost 30% that afternoon. Has anyone else had one of those quiet guys drop a piece of wisdom that changed how you run?

Just figured out a swing brake trick that saved me a headache on a tight pad in Houston

I was fighting to get a 90-ton Grove in position on a cramped foundation pour, and letting the brake grab just a hair early on the swing really settled the load. Has anyone else messed with feathering the swing brake instead of relying on the controls?

Question about those fancy load indicators on older cranes

Always thought the digital load indicators on our 2009 Terex were just a fancy gimmick that would break, but after a 12 ton pick last Wednesday it saved me from overloading by almost 3 tons. Anyone else have old gear that surprised you with how well it works?

Spent 3 years leveling my crane wrong because I didn't check the ground surface first

Last month a older operator watched me set up and asked why I was using blocks on the stabilizers on concrete. I told him it was standard practice. He pointed out the concrete had a slight slope I never noticed. I felt like an idiot. Turns out I was putting extra strain on the boom for years. Has anyone else missed something this basic and only caught it from a random comment?

Blew $300 on a fancy wireless remote system that never worked right

Back in 2018 I bought one of those aftermarket wireless remote kits for my Grove crane. Thought it would save time on solo pick jobs. Ended up spending more time troubleshooting dropped signals and dead zones than actually operating. The thing would cut out if I walked behind a steel beam or got more than 40 feet away. Lost a whole afternoon on a site in Seattle because it locked up mid-swing and I had to climb down to reset it manually. Tossed it in the trash after 3 months and went back to my hardwired unit. Any of you guys had luck with wireless rigs that actually hold up on a real job site?

Switched my pre-lift inspection routine after a job in Tulsa

I used to just do a quick visual check before every lift. Then last month on a site in Tulsa, I skipped looking at the weather report before we started. A gust caught the load at 40 feet and I barely kept it steady. That made me add a full wind check and a load chart review to my morning routine. Now I take 15 minutes extra before any pick. Does anyone else have a close call that changed how they prep?

Wind flags on tall loads keep getting ignored on my site in Houston

I keep seeing guys skip tying wind flags on long beams when we're lifting above 200 feet. Last Tuesday a steel beam started twisting bad because nobody could see it swinging from the ground. This is basic stuff, you know, the flag lets the spotter track movement before it becomes a problem. My foreman told me last month, "flag it or flag yourself down." I've watched at least three close calls in six months that could have been avoided with a simple piece of ribbon. Is everyone else seeing this slack or is it just our yard?

PSA: I used to set up my outriggers by feel and guesswork for years until a job in Dallas last August with a 150 ton crawler on uneven fill dirt taught me to bust out the laser level every time

Now I spend an extra 20 minutes getting things dead level and it saves me from a whole shift of re-leveling plus the stress of wondering if the load chart is even real, has anyone else had a close call that made you change your setup routine for good?

Just realized I might be wrong about load indicators after a talk with an old timer in Houston

I've always said load indicators are a crutch for operators who can't feel the machine... but I got schooled by a guy named Jerry at a jobsite in Houston last Tuesday. He told me about a job he did in 2019 where a 90 ton crawler tipped because the operator trusted his gut over a faulty gauge. He showed me how he cross-referenced the indicator with his own feel, and now I'm thinking I've been too harsh. Maybe the smart move is using both, not picking one. Anyone else changed their mind on load indicators after a specific incident like that?

That job in Austin last summer with the 180 ton crawler on soft ground still has me second guessing whether outrigger mats are always necessary or if they just slow us down on tight schedules.

My crew got away with no mats that day because the soil looked stable, but two weeks later a different operator at another site sunk a 100 ton into mud up to the cab, so what's the line between saving time and risking it all, has anyone else been in that spot?

Showerthought: Crane operators in Chicago all seem to know each other somehow

I was up on a job near the Sears Tower last Tuesday and noticed three different crane ops waving to each other across the skyline. It got me thinking about how small this trade really is even in a big city like Chicago. Do you guys find that most operators in your area end up crossing paths or is that just a Midwest thing?

Watched a tower crane swing around downtown Boston yesterday morning

The way the operator rode the wind gusts instead of fighting them made me think about how I approach those sketchy extension ladder setups on big houses. Any other operators notice crane control principles showing up in your regular life?

Old timer told me to trust my gut on lift angles, not the chart

Guy named Joe with 30 years on a Liebherr told me the load charts are a guide but your gut knows when the angle is off. I blew it off until last month setting steel on a job in Columbus. Chart said my radius was fine but I felt the boom start to wobble, so I reset and recalculated. Turned out the ground was softer than I thought and I woulda tipped for sure. Anybody else have a gut call save them from a bad lift?

Talked to an old tower crane hand last week that changed how I prep for high wind days

I ran into a retired operator named Frank at a job site in Pittsburgh. He told me he always kept a 50 foot section of nylon rope in his cab tied off to the mast. Said it saved him once when his radio died and he had to signal a ground guy by yanking the rope in patterns. I never thought about having a backup that doesn't need batteries. Made me realize I rely way too much on electronics for communication up there. Anyone else carry something simple like that in their cab just in case?