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A 30 year vet in Baton Rouge told me to stop riding the load chart and I still think about it
I was running a 60 ton out at a job site near Baton Rouge last month and this old hand named Earl watched me set up for a pick over a roof line. He walked up and said "son you're doing math to prove you can lift it, not math to prove you can't." That hit me because I had been pulling my chart to the edge for years trying to squeeze every pound. Now I add 15 percent to whatever the chart says before I even think about it. Anybody else had an old timer drop something on you that you still hear in your head?
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phoenix5731mo ago
Had a guy named Ray tell me basically the same thing years ago on a bridge job, said the chart is there to keep you alive not to help you win a bet. Took me way too long to get it through my head but once it clicked it changed how I set up every pick. Now I figure my load with the rigging and the wind and then knock myself down another 20 percent just to sleep at night. The guys who run right at the edge are the ones you read about in the accident reports, and I got kids to get home to. Earl sounds like he did you a real favor that day and you were smart enough to actually listen.
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