Tried a new lift bag setup on a salvage job and it went sideways fast

We were pulling a small crane off a river bottom near Pittsburgh last month, water was maybe 30 feet deep. My boss got this new double-chamber lift bag system, said it would give us more control. First chamber filled fine, but when I hit the valve for the second one, the whole thing shot up like a rocket. It ripped the rigging right out of my hands and the crane slammed back down, kicking up a huge silt cloud. Took us an extra two hours to find and re-secure everything in zero viz. Learned that new gear needs a real shallow water test run, not a trial by fire on the actual job. Anyone have a go-to method for checking new lift gear before you commit it to a dive?

3 comments

3 Comments

logan_wells11d ago

Tell me about it, had a bag roll once in a current.

gray87511d ago

Yeah @logan_wells, that "spinning" part sounds like the worst lol.

leewalker11d ago

That exact thing happened to me on the Colorado last summer, @logan_wells. My dry bag got pulled under and started spinning. I had to swim hard downstream to catch up with it. Grabbing the shoulder strap was useless, so I went for the main bag handle instead. Took a lot of effort to drag it back to the kayak and get it secured again.