Had a real sketchy moment with a load swing on a tower crane last month

We were lifting a 12,000 pound concrete panel in some gusty wind, maybe 20 mph steady. The load started to pendulum bad, maybe 8 feet off target. Instead of fighting it with the trolley, I tried something an old hand told me once. I stopped everything, let the load find its center, and then used just the hook rotation to slowly walk it back into line. Took about 90 seconds but it settled right down. Never felt right forcing a swing with the main controls in wind like that. Anyone got a different method for calming a big swing on a tall tower crane?

3 comments

3 Comments

mark_green3d ago

Honestly, stopping all motion like you did sounds like the smart call. That much weight swinging around is no joke, especially up that high. Glad it settled down for you.

fiona_carr263d ago

Maybe it's just me, but does anyone really think about this stuff that hard? Like, it's a crane, they're built to handle some swing. Feels like people overthink it sometimes. Just let the thing settle on its own, idk. Not every little wobble is a crisis.

davis.olivia4d ago

That's actually a solid move for a crane that tall. The one thing that might not be right for every situation is stopping all motion. Sometimes a tiny bit of trolley movement, real slow, along with the rotation helps dampen it faster without forcing it. Depends on the load though, panels can catch wind like a sail. Your way is definitely safer than just muscling it over.