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Had a weird sway issue on a 200-ton lift in Dallas last week

We were setting a big steel beam, maybe 80 feet up, with a light breeze. I used the standard tagline setup, but the load started a slow circle swing I couldn't stop with just the boom. My spotter yelled up that the tagline was twisted around the hook block from the last pick. Had to set it down and re-rig, which cost us an hour. Learned to always walk the hook back and check the whole rig, not just the slings, before a tall lift. Anyone else run into a hidden twist causing problems like that?
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3 Comments
vera_lewis
Yeah, that "hidden twist" is no joke. I get what @alicej25 is saying, but honestly, that slow circle swing sounds like a breeze issue more than just the twist (though the twist sure didn't help). Seen it happen on a calm day too.
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oliviahenderson
My old foreman in Houston always called that a "corkscrew effect". He said a twisted line acts like a spring, storing energy from the breeze until it lets go. That slow spin you described is exactly what he warned us about.
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alicej25
alicej251d ago
Wow, I never thought a simple twist could cause that much trouble.
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