A guy at the yard told me to skip the daily check on the old Manitowoc, and I almost paid for it

I was on a tight schedule for a foundation pour in Tacoma, and this older operator, Frank, saw me doing my morning walk-around. He said, 'Kid, that old 3900W has been sitting for a month, she's fine. Just fire her up and go, save the ten minutes.' I mean, I was rushed, so I almost listened. But my gut said no, and I did the check anyway. Good thing, because I found a hairline crack starting in one of the main boom pad eyes. It wasn't huge, but under a full load that day, who knows. It would have been a real bad deal. It shook me up, idk, maybe it's just me but I'll never skip a pre-op again, no matter what anyone says. Has anyone else had a close call from taking a shortcut on inspection?

4 comments

4 Comments

hollyl2514d agoTop Commenter

What did Frank say when you told him about the crack?

valellis14d ago

Honestly hollyl25, he just stared at the wall for a full minute. I don't think he even heard me, he was so busy figuring out if it was a structural issue or just the paint.

lee84714d ago

Oh my god, the "stared at the wall for a full minute" thing is so real. My partner does the exact same thing with every little house noise. A floorboard creaks and he'll just freeze, totally zoned out, diagnosing the imaginary termite colony. It's like they enter a different world. You just have to wait for them to come back to the planet.

michael6692d ago

My ex once spent twenty minutes listening to a dripping faucet like it was giving him the meaning of life. They get fully lost in the puzzle.