Wasted $150 on a cheap load indicator last month

Bought a no-name load indicator off Amazon for $150 and it gave me false readings on three different lifts. Nearly dropped a HVAC unit off a roof in Phoenix because it said I was under capacity when I was actually 2,000 pounds over. Anybody else had bad luck with budget crane electronics?

3 comments

3 Comments

gavina7325d ago

Man, that near miss with the HVAC unit is terrifying, I had a cheap gauge lie to me on a job last summer too and nearly dropped a beam.

ryanh5616d agoTop Commenter

Last summer I had a $40 load cell show 800 lbs when it was actually reading a 1200 lb beam, which is a pretty terrifying difference when you're standing underneath it. @jade_singh is right that the system pushes you toward cheap gear, but honestly the real hidden tax is the time it takes to double-check everything when you can't trust your tools. You end up spending more hours on site verifying measurements, which kinda defeats the purpose of saving money upfront.

jade_singh25d ago

@gavina73 that's the thing with cheap tools, they cut corners where you can't see 'em until it's too late... Gotta wonder how many "accidents" on sites are really just bad gear lying at the worst moment. The whole system kind of pushes you toward the cheap stuff too, with everyone trying to save a buck on materials and labor. It's like a hidden tax on the real cost of doing a job safely