Had a sudden wind gust try to swing a load into a building in Kansas City.

I was lowering a steel beam for a parking garage when a 40 mph gust caught it, so I immediately swung the cab to put the load over open ground and radioed the ground crew to clear the area, but has anyone else had to make a split-second call like that with bad weather moving in fast?

3 comments

3 Comments

graygonzalez11d ago

That sounds like a standard procedure though, right? Swinging clear is just part of the job when the wind picks up. Was the load actually that close to hitting something?

nina_jenkins11d ago

Standard procedure or not, a swinging load is a problem waiting to happen. We had a pallet of block get pushed sideways by a gust last year. It came within a foot of the building facade. My rule now is to stop and lower the load at the first sign of real swing, even if it means waiting out the wind. It's just not worth the risk.

lunakim1d ago

Ask Nina_jenkins how close is too close before you stop the lift.

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