Crawler vs truck crane for a tight site in downtown Austin

Had to make a call last month on a job in downtown Austin. Only 30 feet of working room between two buildings. Picked a crawler over a truck crane because I figured the tracks would save us from needing outriggers. Crawler did great on the first lift but then the ground got soft from rain and it started sinking. Lost half a day getting mats under it. Should have just gone with the truck crane and dealt with the outrigger setup. Any of you guys run into this on tight urban sites?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_skyler1d ago

Ground mats are always the answer on soft city dirt.

brookepark1d ago

That line about treating every downtown lot like a potential bog is dead on. Even if it's been dry for a week, city dirt is almost always compacted fill that turns to soup fast when rain hits. Next time I'd say budget for mats from the jump and save yourself that panicked scramble.

ivanlewis1d ago

Man, you're absolutely right about that. Ground mats are one of those things nobody thinks about until they're stuck in the mud watching the clock tick. I've seen guys try to cheap out by using plywood sheets instead of proper mats and it just turns into a bigger headache when the plywood splinters under the weight. The real trick is planning for soft ground before you even roll onto site, not after the crane starts sinking. On a tight urban site like that, you might as well budget for mats right from the start because losing half a day costs way more than the rental fee. It's almost like you have to treat every downtown dirt lot like a potential bog, no matter how dry it looks on Monday.