Having a bad day

[Grader4me]

I received the following pictures in an e-mail. Maybe these have been posted before :beatsme
Just follow the pictures in sequence
4393

4394

4395

4396

4397

[Grader4me]

The rest... The last pictures are smaller but I'm sure you all get the jest of what happened

4398 A bigger crane is brought in

4399

4400

[nedly05]

While we are at it, lets go get a slightly larger crane and see if we can put that one in the drink too.......:Banghead

[d4c24a]

yes i have seen these before ,the last picture is not genuine a bit of photoshop magic:D

[Grader4me]

yes i have seen these before ,the last picture is not genuine a bit of photoshop magic:D


Well, there you go...didn't think that anyone could be that stupid...errrr...hummmm....well maybe....:eek:

[digger242j]

I have no doubt that there are people who can be that stupid. But that's a whole nother discussion...

While it's apparent that the last picture is a photoshop (the people and vehicles from the earlier pics are all absent, for instance), it is interesting to diagnose the first part of the sequence, which has legitmate lessons to teach.

I'm wondering where the operator is, and where he ends up? Is that an outrigger there just on the edge of the wall, or was he trying to pick that car up just sitting on rubber? If so, did that outrigger fail under the load, or was it beyond the truck's capacity to begin with? He's got it pretty far up before it flips--why did it go over when it did, and not before? What kind of idiot would try that without keeping the bystanders a safe distance away? It looks fortunate that nobody was standing right beside the truck as it flipped, but there doesn't seem to be anything other than luck to account fot that.

I'm sure there are other factors that I haven't thought of...

[tylermckee]

Looks like the first crane was at about his max weight he could lift the whole time by the way the truck is sitting. maybe he jerked the controls and the load got a little bouncy and took him over.

on second thought, i zoomed in on the picture and anyone that would but their stab. where this guy did deserves to go in ***

[nedly05]

Man do I feel dumb, I guess I need to analyze pics a little more.....:Pointhead

[Wulf]

Looks like the first crane was at about his max weight he could lift the whole time by the way the truck is sitting. maybe he jerked the controls and the load got a little bouncy and took him over.

What happened to the guy pulling the crane controls? Hopefully he was standing on safe side of the lift out of the the danger zone!

Although its in Ireland, it looks like a scene from Hamish Macbeth...

Incredibly when the second vehicle went in there is only one cop in attendance and he's just standing in his day-glo jacket with his hands in his pockets. In light of the situation you think he would have cleared the area for the trucker to do his job safely :)

[Grader4me]

Man do I feel dumb, I guess I need to analyze pics a little more.....:Pointhead

You? ;) I posted the dam things and I never analyzed them at all:Banghead They are part of a joke about having a bad day. Guess I am going to have to look at my pictures a little closer...Ah well ...created a little discussion any ways. :waving

[digger242j]

Don't either of you feel bad. I've seen them posted elsewhere, and until sombody else mentioned it, I never thought to look closely enough to see that the last one was faked either, but it obviously is. (Which begets another whole discussion about whether you should believe everything you are shown on the internet...)

Although its in Ireland,..

Look out--another opportunity for Squizzy to tell an Irish joke. :)

[Lashlander]

I had to get told the last pic was a fake myself when I first saw those pics. A person has a tendency to want to believe what he sees with his own eyes. :)
Mobile crane capacities are rated 85% of one of two things, either structural integrity or tipping. Without looking at the chart on this crane I wouldn't know which one would govern this pick. If you notice the crane twisted over before the car leaves the water at a very minimum he's 15% over capacity. If the chart is governed by structural he's way over that. The boom being down as low as it is will increase radius as it is raised, which just compounds the problem. I can't tell if the outrigger broke or it just tipped over but at this point it doesn't matter. The result was the same.
The outrigger on the wall, lack of outrigger extended on the left side, people all over the place including in between the truck and the water, not to mention not using his load chart tells everyone this guy has no business operating the crane.
Boom trucks are an excellent place for crane operators to learn load control and technique, but their still a crane and need to be treated as such. This type of stuff going on only brings more and more regulation. Sadly I can't argue with the need.

[Grader4me]

Boom trucks are an excellent place for crane operators to learn load control and technique, but their still a crane and need to be treated as such. This type of stuff going on only brings more and more regulation. Sadly I can't argue with the need.


I have some experience on a boom truck, and yes you have to go by your load chart and you should be able to do the math when figgering out how much an object weights. (I suck at math by the way)

But what it boils down to is a "feel" for what you are lifting and good "common sense" on how you achieve it. The so called "operator" in the pictures (real ones) should consider another line of work.

[Ford LT-9000]

I have seen those pictures before too.

Most hiab or knuckle boom cranes have limit switches on them I know any of them I operated the hydraulics power out when you get boomed out that far.

With that car being in the water it has some boyancy but soon as the car breaks the water the crane has full weight of it. Then you have to consider the amount of water still in the car.

Single axle hiab trucks are the worst there isn't enough weight in the truck to keep them from tipping. The local buiding supply has a 5 ton lumber truck with a decent sized hiab on it. You get 2000lbs at max extension which is around 30' the truck can't stay on the ground.

B.C. is coming out with new regulations that anybody that runs a Hiab (knuckle boom) crane has to have a crane operators ticket just like anybody that runs a Pitman (Stinger) truck. These building supply stores are hiring the cheapest employees posible with no crane experience. This new law will put a end to that.

[OzDozer]

The pics are genuine, apart from the last one .. although several years old. I recall seeing them posted on a BB not long after the event. The place is Ireland, and I searched and found the story in a local newspaper at that time.

The episode was due to a pure and simple lack of operator skill and training. They sent the first truck with a gorilla who could only pull levers, and who had no understanding of the difference in weight between an object in the water, as compared to out of water.

[Lashlander]

Single axle hiab trucks are the worst there isn't enough weight in the truck to keep them from tipping. The local buiding supply has a 5 ton lumber truck with a decent sized hiab on it. You get 2000lbs at max extension which is around 30' the truck can't stay on the ground.

B.C. is coming out with new regulations that anybody that runs a Hiab (knuckle boom) crane has to have a crane operators ticket just like anybody that runs a Pitman (Stinger) truck. These building supply stores are hiring the cheapest employees posible with no crane experience.

Single or double axle, the crane will have a load chart. If the truck is tipping its over the loaded radius for that truck. The charts are there for a reason. Your first statement explains the reason for your second statement.

[Ford LT-9000]

Most hiabs on the single axle trucks here are not derated. The hiab on the one lumber truck here that is a single axle is a Hiab 200C its good for 7 ton in close and 2200lbs at max extension 33 feet. They wanted a crane that size for doing trusses. Any time they do heavy lifting they will put a couple lifts of 2x10s on the deck.

Knuckle booms are no where near as good as a pitman. If you need heavy lifting with some reach a truck crane or a truck with a stinger works better.