Found out my crane can lift exactly 12 times as much as I weigh

I was messing around on the load chart calculator after lunch and realized this old LTM 1050 can hoist 66,000 pounds, which is basically my whole extended family plus their cars, and now I can't stop thinking about it every time I hook up a pick.

3 comments

3 Comments

claire_davis311mo ago

Wait, does that mean that crane could technically pick up me and like 11 of my other relatives at a family reunion? That's honestly terrifying to think about when you're just trying to lift some steel beams. I'd be too scared to ever let my dad anywhere near the controls after that realization, he'd probably try to pick up his truck just to show off. Makes you wonder if crane operators ever look at their lift plans and just chuckle about the weight of their own problems.

nelson.vera1mo ago

Right, that idea of "lifting your own problems" is exactly why I always have to check my math twice when I'm after something heavy, because the numbers mess with your head more than the actual load. It's like, my brain just can't wrap itself around the scale of force compared to my own body weight, no matter how many times I see it on paper.

lily_torres311mo ago

I read this article about crane operators and how they train on simulators first. They said the mental load is the hardest part, not the muscle. Like that phrase "numbers mess with your head" nails it. One guy in the piece said he double checks his lift plan three times because a single zero off could mean lifting a car instead of a cardboard box. Makes you wonder if they ever dream about those weight charts at night.