Never thought I'd say this, but I'm a convert on pre-lift walks.

I always thought walking the site before a lift was for the rookies or the overly nervous types. Then my lead hand, a guy who barely says two words, asked me to come down and look at the ground with him. He poked at the dirt with a stick where we were setting up, showing me it was way softer than it looked from up high. I figured he was just killing time, but we moved the crane back a few feet anyway. The pick went fine, no issues, just another day. Later, over a coffee, he mentioned a job where a whole side sank because nobody checked for old fill dirt. Now I make a point to get out and stomp around myself before I even start the engine. It's a small thing, but it keeps the big things from going wrong.

2 comments

2 Comments

murphy.zara1d ago

I wish someone had poked some holes in my confidence early on, saved me from learning a few lessons the hard way. Turns out the ground isn't the only thing that needs a solid check.

jordan_webb1d ago

Yeah that old fill dirt is sneaky. Found a whole buried septic tank once just by poking a rebar rod around where the outriggers were supposed to go. Now I look for old concrete chunks and blacktop patches too, anything that's not solid. It's five minutes that saves a whole lot of headache.