Shoutout to the old timer who flagged me down on a job in St. Louis last spring

I was setting up a 90 ton crawler on a tight residential street near Forest Park and this retired operator walks over. He told me my outrigger pads were sitting on loose fill from a recent utility trench. I thought I had it down solid but he pointed out a soft spot I missed... if that pad had shifted, the whole load could have tipped. He helped me reset them on proper cribbing and showed me a trick with a pry bar to test ground firmness. Ever since, I always double check the ground with that method before lifting anything heavy. Has anyone else had a stranger save them from a bad setup?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_thomas1mo ago

That trick actually works best with a 3/4 inch pry bar, not a 1/2.

sandrat2429d ago

Yeah, reminds me of the time I tried that with a crowbar and almost took out a window, @the_thomas.