My uncle's load chart advice was dead wrong and it nearly cost us

My uncle ran a Grove RT for 30 years and always told me to add 10 percent to the chart for safety. Last month on a job in Columbus, I was lifting a 12,000 pound transformer at 40 feet and followed his rule, putting me over the rated capacity. The crane started to tilt before I set it down, and the site foreman checked the actual load with a dynamometer, it was only 11,400 pounds. He told me charts are tested limits, not guesses, and that old habit could have rolled the machine. Has anyone else been given advice from a veteran that goes against the printed numbers?

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blake_bell2922d ago

The whole "add 10 percent to be safe" thing drives me nuts. Those charts are there because someone already did the math and tested the limits, they are not suggestions. Your uncle meant well, but a guess like that can turn a routine pick into a wrecked crane or worse. The fact that it was only 600 pounds over shows how thin that margin can get. I bet that foreman saved your ass and your job that day. Old habits die hard, but the printed numbers are the only thing that matters when the load is swinging.