Finally stopped fighting my crane's load chart and started using the app

For the first 4 years I was running a Grove RT540E, I printed out the load chart and kept it laminated in the cab. I thought I was being old school and reliable. But last spring on a job in Memphis, I spent 15 minutes squinting at tiny numbers trying to figure out a pick at 42 feet with a 30 degree boom angle. I nearly miscalculated and would have been over the limit by 800 pounds. My foreman saw me struggling and showed me the Load Chart app on his tablet. Now I punch in the boom length and radius and it spits out the max lift in seconds. It even accounts for outrigger position and jib length. Has anyone else made the switch from paper to digital? I still keep the laminated one as backup but I don't think I'll ever go back.

3 comments

3 Comments

knight.dylan1mo ago

Ha! 15 minutes squinting at numbers? Brother I spent 20 minutes once trying to read my own handwriting on a sticky note I'd crammed under the visor. Looked like a doctor's prescription for a heart attack. I downloaded the app after I backed my truck into a low-hanging branch because I was too busy flipping through a crumpled manual. Now I just yell "Alexa, can I lift this thing?" and the app tells me no, usually in a very condescending tone. Yeah the laminated chart is great for keeping the sun out of your eyes. But the app is the only reason I haven't been fired yet.

lilyp371mo ago

YES! Dude, the laminated chart thing was my life for like 3 years. I was on a Grove TMS900 in Houston and spent a good 10 minutes trying to figure out a pick at 50 feet with a 50 degree angle and jib extended. I was so close to maxing out and didn't even realize it until @wade871 pointed out the app to me. Now I just punch it in and it tells me exactly what I can do. My old trusty chart is still under the seat but I'd be lost without the app after all those years of squinting. Plus it saved me from looking like a total idiot in front of the foreman.

wade8711mo ago

That 42 foot pick at 30 degrees is a classic trouble spot. @knight.dylan mentioned Alexa, but Ive found the voice commands are hit or miss if the jobsite is noisy. What really sold me was the app's ability to factor in the jib length automatically. I used to have to do that math in my head and double check it three times. Now I just look at the screen and know exactly where I stand. Still keep that laminated chart under the seat though, for when the tablet dies or I drop it in a mud puddle.