Spent $1,400 on a fancy load cell and I'm still not sure it was worth it

Everyone in the yard kept telling me I needed to upgrade from my old dynamometer to one of those digital load cells with Bluetooth and all the logging features. So I dropped $1,400 on a reputable brand after a job in Charlotte where I had to guess at a pick weight because my old gauge was bouncing around. The new unit is accurate, sure, but honestly the extra data logging is something I never use on site. The phone app takes forever to pair and the battery dies faster than my old unit did. Worst part is I still mentally double check every reading with the crane's own limit chart before I lift. So I paid four times as much for a tool that makes me feel less confident, not more. Has anyone else gone back to the simpler analog gear after trying the high tech stuff? I'm one wrong reading away from selling this thing and going back to what worked.

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riley_taylor16d ago

Read in one of the trade mags that most load cells on site get used for maybe 10% of their features, and honestly that tracks with what I've seen. Bluetooth pairing is a joke when you're in a hurry and covered in grease.