Tried both manual and hydraulic outriggers on a job in Austin

I had a 50 ton Grove on a tight residential street in Austin last month. The manual outriggers took forever to set up on that sloped driveway, but when I rented a Terex with hydraulics it was night and day different speed wise. Anyone else find hydraulic outriggers worth the extra rental cost for tricky residential jobs?

3 comments

3 Comments

rubyschmidt6d ago

Tbh I heard hydraulics are way better on uneven ground. Saves your back too.

gavina735d ago

@rubyschmidt's right about the back saving part, but there's another angle nobody's mentioned. The biggest difference I see with hydraulics on tight residential jobs isn't just speed - it's being able to inch the outriggers around utility markers and sprinkler lines. With manual ones, you're locked into a position once you start cranking. Hydraulics let you tap the controls and nudge things a few inches at a time without breaking a sweat. Plus on that sloped driveway in Austin, the self-leveling feature on the Terex saved me from having to stack cribbing blocks twice. I'll pay extra for hydraulics every time on tricky spots like that.

ruby_rivera764d ago

Nah, @rubyschmidt has a point about the back-saving thing for sure. But the self-leveling feature on some hydraulic rigs, like that Terex, is what really makes the difference on sloped stuff. Manual outriggers on a hill in Austin mean you're constantly re-cribbing and checking the bubble level. Gets old fast.