when it says 40,000 lbs " max lift " it means it

[windsormw]

some kinda danger today @ work ........

Hot Damn ! Fellas i am a constructiom Millwright & I do alot of BIG lifts & all kinds od stuff that will make ur blood pump .

I am workin @ a local car plant & its brand spankin new ........nothin in there yet , but we are in the press SHOp & we are stacking their presses . Not to big , 2 800 tonners & 2 1600 tonners .

reguardless , here's the story ........

We are doing GANTRY lifts because the inhouse bridgecranes are only good for 44 ton .....So trucks are coming in & the are holding the 800 ton gantry system ( bunch of trucks )
There are rails that the gantry rides on , real heavy ( reinforced H beams ) & a big dirty stack of em on a trailer .
The wheel says , "she'll pick that stack " ...He says that each rail is 5000lbs a peice & there are 8 of em .

u do the math , 40,000lbs in iron VS a 40,000lb fork truck .

With parameters like that I would choose a different route ........But i am not the wheel , just a Mulewright ..

So i pick er , yup feellin good .....If u have ever brought a rig to capacity , u will take care in everythin u do ( a sudden shot of throttle in reverse can trigger ur rig to tip ) Being rammy with the controls can send her over etc.

I grab this monster load off the truck & all is well ....The ass end is on the ground & i am smooth .
As i am backing up ( away from the HIGH BOY trailer) I am waiting for the green light from my signal man to come down on the load .

Keep in mind i have had this load 5'+ in the air for a few minutes now . All is well , so i thought

This 20 , can boom the mast back & forward much more than conventional 3 ton truck .

I get the green light to come down & as the load comes down the mast it moves the center of gravity forward & the 20's rear wheels are air bore .........

thats a problem .......What do u do ? Split second decision time .....fork truck going over & it ain't gonna be pretty .....

I been in this situation before .....The awnser is down ! No body got hurt , no damaged gear ....a couple rails fell of the stack when the load hit the ground .

Bottom line , the wheel was right there . He knows this system not me & he said grab the stack . As an operator , that will not hold up in court . U are the operator & have the VITO card on liftin .......u don't like it u don't lift . That will hold up in court !

I was complimented on my quick decisions & all agree'd ...It could have been worse

lesson learned !

scott

 

[Clive Hugh]

I saw a similar thing on a construction site, the rigger said no and the engineer insisted on it so the rigger asked for it in writing and the engineer walked away in a huff. But as the man said to me after if it went wrong it was his butt in a sling.

 

[HelicalCut]

Putting down the load promptly is IMHO the best desision in most cases as it reduces the load as the load accellerates toward the ground, done carefully as you seem to have managed, it works. Your options were very limited and you chose the right one. I frequently overload forklifts but fortunately it is with loads that I can keep inches from the ground and drag or let down at any time. 5' in the air is another matter.

 

[wippin' boy]

40k or 7
backin off a table with too much sucks
goin down as fast as you can is your only choice
it's the bouncing' at the bottom that compresses the 'ol vertebra
still payin for truck driven 30 years ago

 

[jkilroy]

When the pucker factor is high putting the load down is always a good start. I worked in heavy moving for years (Port work ie cranes, container lifts, ships etc) and saw lots of accidents. The number one reason for accidents is a short circuit located somewhere under the hard hat. Bad rigging was probably the number two reason and that could almost always be attributed to an an earlier application of reason one!

Over the years I got my ass chewed often for *not* taking risks. There is no way I am going to risk my life over a roll of newsprint or a hopper full of scrap metal. I had a gang boss rip me a new one because I wouldn't sling up a container because I felt the rig was damaged, it had a frayed cable. I called for a new rig which was going to slow us down about a half hour. He went NUTS when I said no. He got me called to the carpet over it and the crane driver came to my defense. He said he couldn't see that kind of damage from his seat and was glad I made the call.

If the crane driver had kept his mouth shut it wouldn't have gone so well for me because I was a minority non-union man in a union shop, they were always looking for a reason to get the independants fired.

 

[Ox]

Had the same thing happen when I unloaded my Hardinge Twin Turn. (23,000#)

Picked it off the truck and intentionally tipped the forks forwards to see if she'd hold. Seemed fine. Truck pulls away and slowly down we go ... 'till I felt the back git light!

As you said - there is only one place to go, but I didn't really wunna hurt my machine either....

I let it drop to what I fealt was nearly bottom and stopped short to let the mass of the truck take the shock out of it.

No damage.

However I wanted to move it a few feet and couldn't back up and steer too. Told my chumm to jump on the back. He said "Yeah right! Like me on the back is gunna make any diff on that thing!"

I could doo what I needed to with him on there. He decided that maybe he needed to go on a diet! (200#?) LOL!

Picking up an overly heavy load and moving it is one thing - but setting one down from a truck is another totally! Like you say - the center of gravity moves ahead of the wheels more and more the more that you come down - assuming that your mast is tilted back...

Think Snow Eh!
Ox

 

[DouglasThayer]

"Putting the load down in a hurry" did not work for me once. I was taking down a 16" table saw off a loft area 8' high. Lifted the saw, than backed up to lower it. As I slowly start to lower it, The load begins to shift and tilt off to one side. Split second thought, "lower it down quickly" Big mistake. As the fork carriage lowered, the underside of the table hit the top of the forklift mast, which flipped the saw off the forks. Whatching a 1200 lb saw flip over and fall 8' is something you wont forget. There still a hole in the concrete where it landed. Lesson learned. Dont hang items over the pallet.

 

[dkmc]

windsormw + Ox = Winsorox dialect...

Whole nuther lingo I suspect...

 

[WILLEO6709]

what nailed you was load center... most lifts are not rated past 36" off the front of the mast, many 24" rated in the smaller lifts. I assume those beams were at least a 48 inch load center if not more, you got lucky,,,, next time be more careful.

 

[clutch]

I had to read though the whole thread until I figured out that with mast back the load was furthest back over drive wheel and the geometry was getting more and more out of your favor as you lowered it and got closer to your drive wheel axis center.

At first I was thinking you were a bit jerky on the down. Gotta have a smooth hand lowering heavy stuff.

I learned something from your thread. Might save my butt some day.

I'm just a maintenance tech but I've moved a fair bit of stuff that was too close to the limits of what I had to work with. Funny how when the budget is tight, management wants to save a bit by hoping that some guys on the night shift can do the job of professional, bonded and insured types.

The scariest thing I ever moved was a mechanical press brake using dollys and a couple electric fork lifts. Press brakes have all the weight in the wrong place and are very tippy. Couple that with an uneven floor and aisles too narrow to move it the easy way and you have a night of pucker factor. (pucker factor is when your arse is trying to suck up the seat cushion)

Clutch

 

[Greg White]

you all kinda make me glad I am outa the heavy picks,spose a 1000# or 2 mite hurt me in the barn tho.It was mostly die and mold shoes for me,NEVER dropped 1 in over 30 years,but my work mates showed me how.
GW

 

[kilroyjones]

u don't like it u don't lift . That will hold up in court

Exactly! There will be only one person held responsible if a lift goes wrong.

When I worked receiving we had a 7 ton overhead crane we used to unload flatbed trucks. The first thing I learned is not to listen to the truck drivers.

There were a few drivers that wanted to "help" or give advice. A driver in a hurry to get unloaded doesn't make the best decisions. When we ran into a driver like that we told him to sit in his truck until we were done.

 

[Pat Murray]

I witnessed one years ago that went really bad in a hurry.
I was inspecting a job on a pipeline project. The job was to install new 26" pipeline to feed a major population with nat-gas. The job consisted of putting 6 40 foot joints of 26" .687 wall pipe in a ditch at one time, the ditch was about 10 feet below ground. The pipeline had been welded and inspected. The ditch was dug. Everything was approved to begin.

On the far north end was a large Caterpillar Track Hoe(hydraulic). In the mid section a fairly large Caterpillar side boom (machanical). On the tail a 15 ton Grove Hydraulic.

As the Hoe lifted the pipe to about 20 feet or so, the side boom started to lift the mid section, then the grove on the end started to take load.

Just as the pipeline started to clear the ground, it swung out over the ditch. It was at this critical moment that disaster struck. A hose on the main boom of the hoe failed and the main suddenly fell about 10 feet, I think there was some type of safety device on the hoe to prevent a complete collapse, but in this case it didn't help. The weight was too much for the side boom, and was threatening to pull it into the ditch. The side boom operator did exactly what anyone else would have done. He released the load.
The actions of the side boom operator probably saved his life. However, since the little grove on the far south end of a bad lift, was hydraulic, that meant he now had the entire load, and no way to get off quick.

Along with several others I watched as the grove flipped into the ditch... It looked similar to flipping a spoon on the dinner table.

The operator of the grove was pinned with a broken back, pelvis, both femurs, and severe internal injuries, for about 3 hours while the jaws of life cut him out of the wreckage. He was placed in a helicopter and transported to the nearest hospital, then on to a major medical center... He made a decent recovery, but never returned to the workforce...

Everyone learned something... I learned that when a load goes bad, there is seldom time to react. One key is that when making a lift anywhere near the machine limits, one should anticipate failure and treat it as though the load WILL go bad. I've found that this approach can keep you breathing a lot longer...

Pat