Had a near miss at a job site in Phoenix that completely changed my pre-lift checklist

Last Tuesday I was setting up a 50-ton Grove for a steel beam placement out by the 101. I got lazy and skipped my usual walkaround of the outrigger pads because I figured the ground looked solid enough. Long story short, the rigger on site noticed the pad on the driver's side was starting to sink into the asphalt. We were maybe a minute from picking the load. We stopped everything, got some cribbing under it, and avoided what could have been a bad situation. That moment made me realize I can't ever assume based on how things look. Now I do a full pad check even if I'm in a hurry. Any of you guys ever skip a step and regret it later?

3 comments

3 Comments

phoenix_carter1mo ago

Damn, that's a wake up call for sure. I had a buddy who did something similar with a boom truck out in the desert, skipped checking the ground on a hot day because he was running behind. That asphalt turned to soup and the whole rig leaned over. Lucky nobody got crushed but it took a crawler crane two days to pull it out. Now I got a rule for myself, if I'm in a hurry I double check everything because that's exactly when I'm most likely to miss something stupid.

caleb_stone1mo ago

Hurrying is how you end up with a crane in a hole.

lisa51mo agoMost Upvoted

Yikes, that reminds me of a guy who forgot to chock his trailer wheels once.