Visited a job site in Portland, saw everyone using a 90-ton for work a 50-ton could handle

I was up in Portland last week checking out a friend's project, and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. They had a 90-ton mobile crane sitting there, just barely lifting some steel beams that were maybe 15,000 pounds each. The whole setup was overkill, with extra outrigger pads and a crew of four just standing around waiting. Everyone seems to think bigger is safer, but I disagree. A 50-ton would have done the same job in half the time and saved the company a couple hundred bucks on fuel and transport. The operator was a nice guy but he admitted the foreman insisted on the bigger machine because of some insurance thing. I think we've lost the feel for matching the lift to the load, and it's costing everyone money and slowing down the schedule. Has anyone else seen this trend on their sites?

3 comments

3 Comments

nina_campbell20d ago

Does the insurance actually require a bigger crane or is it just an excuse to avoid having the foreman think about the lift? In my experience, bigger feels safer on paper but it just adds more delays and wear on the machine.

the_richard20d ago

And yeah @nina_campbell, I swear half the time it's just the foreman dodging the load chart homework (which, let's be real, nobody wants to do on a Friday). Had a job once where they brought in a 500-ton to lift a little HVAC unit because the rental yard was running a 2-for-1 special on setup fees.

murphy.abby20d agoTop Commenter

Oh wait, is that really how it works with the bigger crane thing? A buddy of mine was on a job where they had to bring in a bigger crane than what the crew actually needed. The insurance guy said it was for "safety margins" or whatever, but my friend told me the real reason was that the foreman didn't want to do the math on the load charts. So they just went with the overkill option. That bigger crane ended up taking two extra days to get set up and they had to shut down a whole street for it. The crew was just standing around half the time while the crane operator was getting coffee. Idk, seems like it was more about avoiding work than actual safety.