Appreciation post: Old timer at the yard changed my mind about pre-lube on mobile cranes

I always thought pre-lubing the swing bearing before a heavy pick was a waste of time. Like the manual says to do it, but half the guys I know skip it. Then last Tuesday I was at the boneyard in Bakersfield fueling up and this retired operator, must have been 70, saw me fire up my 80 ton without doing it. He just said "son, that bearing ain't gonna cry for help, it's just gonna seize up on you during a 40k pick." I laughed it off but later that day I had a 38k steel beam swing and heard a grind I never noticed before. Might have been in my head, but now I pre-lube every time. Anyone else change a habit after some old hand called them out?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_elliot1mo ago

I gotta push back on the "flat spots" story a bit, because that shudder could've been a dozen different things from bad tires to worn-out turntable bolts. Pre-lube is one of those things that sounds good in theory but I've seen guys skip it for years on older cranes without a single issue. Sometimes what we call a lesson is really just a coincidence that got blamed on the easiest target.

sage_green1mo ago

The part about hearing a grind later that day being "might have been in my head" - I actually had almost the exact same thing happen except it wasn't in my head. I was running a 50 ton on a bridge job and skipped the pre-lube because I was rushing. A few hours later I felt this little shudder through the seat when I rotated with a load. Ended up costing a fortune because the bearing race had flat spots. That old timer was right about the bearing not crying for help. They make noise maybe once before they let go completely.

spencer9811mo ago

Bakersfield is where I got my start in this industry (washing rigs, not cranes, but still on site) and I had a similar run-in with an old-timer there. He saw me eyeballing a swing bearing on a 60 ton and told me to quit guessing and just lube it, said the grease is cheaper than the downtime. I didn't listen until I had a 30k pick go sideways with a shudder that shook the whole cab, and I @sage_green was dead-on about the feeling through the seat. That grind you heard was probably the beginning of a flat spot, and the pre-lube is just cheap insurance against a bearing failure that'll cost you days and thousands. I do it every time now, even if I'm running late, because that one moment of rushing taught me more than any manual ever did. Hope that helps you stick with it, because your story really hit home for me.