A rigger in El Paso told me to stop booms down in high wind, and his reason was not what I expected

Taylor Wright · 2026-10-01T13:05:08.366205+00:00

I always thought parking with the boom down in big wind was the safe move, everyone around here does it. A rigger named Sal out in El Paso pointed at his 60 ton and asked why I would make the whole machine a bigger sail, then walked me through the chart and the slew brake numbers. Turns out a low boom catches more wind on some setups and the load chart does not cover half of what people assume. We measured my tip height at 42 feet instead of 96 and my sway dropped way off. Anyone here run a boom up or down rule they actually stick to, or is it all site by site for you?

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A rigger in El Paso told me to stop booms down in high wind, and his reason was not what I expected | Crane Operators - nhfree.com