Took me 4 years to notice I was leveling my outriggers on loose gravel every single time

I was on a job in Portland last month setting up for a steel beam lift. Ground looked solid. Leveled everything out, started the lift, and felt the whole rig shift maybe half an inch. Stopped everything, got out to check, and saw the pads had sunk a little into the gravel. I had been setting up on gravel pads for years thinking I was good. Never once actually checked if the gravel was compacted underneath. My foreman saw me and just shook his head. Said he figured I knew that by now. Anyone else have a setup habit they just never questioned until it bit them?

2 comments

2 Comments

derek_dixon7821d ago

Gravel is sneaky like that (it looks solid until it isn't). I've started doing a quick stomp test around each pad before I even bother leveling.

karenw2321d ago

Oh man, the stomp test is a game changer lol. I used to set up on this one spot by the river that looked packed down but was basically just a thin crust over loose fill. Took me sinking a pad halfway to China before I learned my lesson too.