Saw a guy on a mobile crane skip his outrigger pads on wet ground last Tuesday

I was working a job in a parking lot near the river. The ground was wet from rain the night before. This guy sets up his 50 ton Grove without any pads under the outriggers. He was on asphalt but it was soft in spots. I told him it's a bad idea but he said he does it all the time. Has anyone ever seen a crane tip because of soft ground like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

rubys8014d agoMost Upvoted

He said he does it all the time" - yeah, well, I've seen guys say that and then eat their words. The thing nobody's mentioning is how the weight shifts when the boom is fully extended and swinging. A 50 ton crane with a 100 foot boom moving a load laterally while on wet ground, that's a lot of lateral force. The outriggers aren't just holding it up. They're anchoring it against tipping sideways. Soft ground gives way faster when the pressure comes from an angle instead of straight down. I've seen a boom truck tilt just from the ground giving out under one pad during a swing. It doesn't have to be a full tip to wreck your day.

mary_martin2214d ago

My neighbor tried to level his RV on a wet side yard once with stacked boards. The whole thing went sideways and his awning got all bent up. Reminds me, there's a reason they put those greenway signs on soft ground.