Heard a rigger say something that changed how I look at the load chart

I was on a job down in Houston last month and overheard an old timer tell his apprentice 'the chart ain't law, it's a suggestion until you know your machine.' That stuck with me because I've seen guys push limits and get away with it, then one bad day on a 50-ton Grove put a boom in the dirt. Has anyone else run into situations where trusting the chart saved your butt?

2 comments

2 Comments

james_kim1mo ago

the chart ain't law, it's a suggestion" - man that's a dangerous way to think. I get that the old timer has experience but that kind of talk gets people killed or maimed. Charts exist because some engineer did the math on what that boom can handle when everything goes wrong. I've seen guys push a machine 5% over on a calm day and it's fine, but then a gust of wind comes or the ground shifts and suddenly you're on the news. That Grove 50-ton story proves it. Charts aren't suggestions, they're the difference between walking home and getting hauled out.

xenagarcia1mo ago

That reminds me of a buddy of mine who worked a 50-ton boom truck down in Baton Rouge. He thought he could shave off a few minutes by ignoring the chart on a pick near a steep grade. Boom was fine for the first few lifts, but on the third one the ground gave way just a little. Nothing dramatic, but the machine tipped just enough to send a 4,000 pound beam swinging. It took out the cab of a parked pickup and missed a guy by maybe three feet. He lost his job and almost lost his arm later that day when the operator tried to blame him. The chart was right there in the manual all along.