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TIL a trick for spotting ground shifts on a long pick
Back when I was running a 40 ton truck crane on a site in Spokane, we had a lift over a drainage trench that kept feeling off. The load would swing a few inches after I set it down, even with the outriggers solid. An old hand told me to put a penny on each outrigger pad after setup. If the penny fell during the lift, the ground was moving. Sure enough, on the third lift, two pennies dropped. We stopped, packed the trench edge with more gravel, and finished the day without a hitch. What other simple checks do you guys use to catch site problems before they get bad?
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margaretramirez1mo ago
We always kept a cheap laser level on the crane's cab floor. If that dot started walking across the floor during a long pick, you knew the whole machine was tilting.
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evan_cooper731mo ago
Margaretramirez's laser level trick is smart for catching tilt. You could also tape a piece of string with a weight to the cab window frame as a cheap plumb bob for the same job. It gives you a constant visual check without any electronics to fail.
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