First time I ran a 500-ton crawler solo this morning

I've been working towards my Heavy Lift cert for 8 months and today they let me take the wheel on a big hospital job near Greenville. The load was 34 tons of HVAC unit and I set it on the roof within a quarter inch of the mark. Anybody else remember their first big solo lift that made them feel like they actually knew what they were doing?

2 comments

2 Comments

henry_kelly5410d ago

First solo lift like that, the only thing I remember is the foreman yelling at me from the ground that I was about to take out a dumpster. Never did hit it, but my heart sure did a few laps around my chest. Sounds like you had way better aim than my first try. Congrats on the cert, that's a good feeling.

barbara39910d ago

A dumpster would have been a tough thing to explain to the boss. Glad you missed it. For anyone reading this who's getting ready to try their first solo, @henry_kelly54 and I both learned the hard way that you need to walk the whole path first. Check your boom clearance against everything in a 15 foot radius, not just what you're lifting. That includes dumpsters, parked cars, and low-hanging tree branches. Better to look like you're taking your time than to look like you're paying for a new dumpster.