S
14

Thought I was a pro at leveling pads until last Tuesday

Been running cranes for 8 years now. Always thought I had my pad leveling dialed in. Just eyeball it, get close enough, call it good. Last Tuesday we had a 90 ton pick at a site in Portland. My operator buddy Dave showed up to spot me. He pulled out a laser level. I laughed at him at first. Then he showed me my pad was off by 2 degrees on one corner. That small angle would have shifted the load center by almost a foot. Never thought that little bit mattered. Now I carry a digital level in my truck. Anyone else skip the fine tuning and regret it later?
2 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In
2 Comments
parkera22
parkera2214d ago
Man I had almost the exact same wake up call last year on a job in Tacoma. We were setting a big HVAC unit on a roof and I just eyeballed the cribbing like always. My foreman walked over with a smart level and showed me I was off by almost 3 degrees on one side. We had to re-do the whole stack and it cost us like an hour and a half. I used to think those fancy levels were just for the new guys who didn't have the feel yet. Now I won't even do a small pick without checking at least two corners with a digital level. It's embarrassing how long it took me to learn that lesson.
3
thomas.parker
Yeah @parkera22 you nailed it, I used to think the same way but now I check every corner too.
1