Pro tip: Old crane hand told me to stop "babying" the boom and I was dead wrong

This guy Jerry, been running cranes since the 70s, watched me feather the boom on a lift at a job site in Tulsa. He said I was working the hydraulics too soft and it was actually making the load sway MORE. I thought he was crazy. Tried his way on a 12 ton pick of HVAC units last Friday. Gave it firm, steady inputs instead of those tiny adjustments. Load stayed dead steady. Felt wrong but the results were night and day. Any of you guys run into advice that went against everything you learned?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_angela14d ago

That thing about feathering actually making the load sway more is wild. I used to think gentle was always better too but this totally flipped my thinking around.

caseyfox14d ago

Right? Same thing happened to me with a little 10 foot jon boat. I was feathering the throttle trying to be smooth in a narrow channel and the whole thing started doing this sideways wiggle that almost put me into the bank. Now I just give it a good solid push of throttle and hold it steady, way more stable.