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Watching a new guy on a 150-tonner in Houston last week made me realize most people don't understand how much a slight breeze matters when you're swinging a long boom.
He kept fighting the load drift with the swing instead of just waiting 90 seconds for the gust to pass, which is how you get a real dangerous situation real fast, so what's your go-to rule for wind speed versus boom length?
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avery8052mo ago
Rule of thumb is 20 mph wind means you're done with a long boom. Seen too many guys try to be heroes and fight it, just park it and wait it out.
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ryanburns2mo ago
What's the biggest crane you've seen get shut down by that kind of wind?
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jordan1341mo ago
...and @avery805 is totally right about the 20 mph thing, but I once saw a guy try to run a 300-ton crawler with a 220-foot boom in gusts that hit 35. The boom actually started bouncing like a fishing rod (which was terrifying) and they had to pin it to the ground with a counterweight truck just to get the boom down safely. I still get chills thinking about how close that was to flipping on the whole crew.
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