• Thank you for visiting HeavyEquipmentForums.com! Our objective is to provide industry professionals a place to gather to exchange questions, answers and ideas. We welcome you to register using the "Register" icon at the top of the page. We'd appreciate any help you can offer in spreading the word of our new site. The more members that join, the bigger resource for all to enjoy. Thank you!

Old conventionals at work

crane operator

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
8,275
Location
sw missouri
They won't let anyone travel like that here. Any oversize/overweight is a "irreducable" load. If it can come off, it has to come off. You'd have to be on your toes cornering in town with that boom hanging back there.

Do you pull both outrigger boxes, or just the rear one? Can you leave counterweight on, or do you haul it separate also?
 

ryanmueller

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2017
Messages
247
Location
oregon
They won't let anyone travel like that here. Any oversize/overweight is a "irreducable" load. If it can come off, it has to come off. You'd have to be on your toes cornering in town with that boom hanging back there.

Do you pull both outrigger boxes, or just the rear one? Can you leave counterweight on, or do you haul it separate also?
Outriggers don't come off and counterweight stays on. Have 50' of boom in it but can go 70'. Weighs 81k lbs all put together
 

crane operator

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
8,275
Location
sw missouri
These guys got a little carried away with a big old american. It put a pretty good scar in the tower when the boom came down. It looks like in the pictures that the house was pinned, outriggers up, with the blade on the hook. Why you would be doing it like that, is beyond me, I kind of like my outriggers down.

Check out the homemade front counterweight.

american homemade counterweight 9.jpg american homemade counterweight 1.jpg american homemade counterweight 2.jpg american homemade counterweight 3.jpg
 

crane operator

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
8,275
Location
sw missouri
We drive ours around with boom in and outriggers up and with pile drivers hanging

Probably not with +200' of stick in? I'm betting that in driving, they tilted a little on the crooked road, the extra weight of the blade side loaded it, and the boom crumpled over to the side. 5 deg of side load can be up to a 50% reduction in capacity. :(
 

td25c

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2009
Messages
5,250
Location
indiana
I'm thinking ….. "Why the hell are they building these subsidized wind farms that will never pay off ? "

One more reason to steer clear of those jobs .

Now if a feller want's to put up a wind mill on his own dime to pump some water to the livestock I'm cool with that .

scan0017[1].jpg
 

renovator

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2011
Messages
69
Location
New Mexico
That outfit is from my hometown (I believe they are now owned by a big corp.). I'm surprised the owner/customer let them rig all that extra counterweight. That's clearly working "off the charts." Lift plans and equipment certification are a big deal around here. Older cranes can't even get close to work at some jobs, like those at the local national lab.
 

td25c

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2009
Messages
5,250
Location
indiana
Keep in mind they are at a wind farm ….. :rolleyes:

Money is tight and the wind mills aint producing anything close to what is invested in them .

Safer & more cost effective work environment would be at a Nuclear , Coal , or Natural gas Power plant as they already know what it take's to power up a community . :cool:
 

ichudov

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2014
Messages
432
Location
United States
The boom on the ground seems to have very little damage! How could it happen that it came down so gently? I do realize that it was, clearly, some sort of a fail, but I cannot imagine what actually transpired. Wire rope broke? Or the brake failed, while still somewhat functioning?
 

HATCHEQUIP

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2011
Messages
1,147
Location
VILLANOW GEORGIA
check out the side lacings their bowed out just a touch :cool: but I know what your saying that it not squished flat from the impact. but it was an older machine therefore it was built heavier . they built in a lot more safety factor back then
 

muzy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2010
Messages
206
Location
Alberta CA
My 2 cents worth, is it possible the load was still rigged when they pulled forward. That or The boom was still loaded and a rope holding boom inclination broke and pushed truck forward as it slid down windmill stand.
 

muzy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2010
Messages
206
Location
Alberta CA
Is it possible for this to happen if they crowned the ball? Hope the term "crowned the ball" makes sense. :)
 

crane operator

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
8,275
Location
sw missouri
Is it possible for this to happen if they crowned the ball? Hope the term "crowned the ball" makes sense. :)

Crane speak for that is "two blocking", basically running the block into the boom tip. Typically if that happens, you either pull the ball through the sheeve keeper pins, and it ends up laying 30' behind you on the ground with 100' of cable around it. Or it folds the jib or boom over backwards, which is easier to do if you have block hitting the boom tip, it won't pull through keepers like a ball will.

In this situation where the boom falls away from the crane, there's a couple scenarios.

1- the weight of the boom with load on, driving away or toward the tower, tips the boom sideways, side loads the jib, and it crumples over, that "load" of jib and blade shock loads the side loaded main boom, busts its pendant lines or welds, and it all comes a falling down. The folded up jib on the end of main kind of leads me to this, as well as the busted off house lock pin tells me he was leaning to the side pretty good.

2 pulling ahead or back, front end got light, and the operator decided better to let the boom hit the ground than to stand the crane on its back bumper and he pulled the dogs and let her free fall. House lock could have broke from the bind the tower put on the boom to the side, when the boom hit the tower.

3 kind of similar to #2, may have not had the boom winch dogs in , and smoked the boom winch brake and then couldn't get it stopped. Boom hits tower, wedges it to the side and breaks off the house lock pin.

#4 Pendant line cable or swedge break, or jib pendant, or boom winch line cable failure , or a pin not secured properly, welds popped loose from a broken chord and the extra side load was too much for it, or any one of another million things that made someone have a no good horrible very bad day. Just hope everyone got to go home.
 
Top