Ran an extra tag line off the main hoist cable today and it totally threw off my balance

I was lifting a 4-ton HVAC unit on a tight roof in Phoenix and figured an extra tag line would help with wind, but the extra weight shifted my load chart numbers and I nearly overestimated the radius. Had to abort halfway through and re-rig with a shorter line. Any of you guys run into weird balance issues when adding extra rigging mid-job?

2 comments

2 Comments

marywilson1mo ago

Man that Phoenix heat makes everything worse too. Buddy of mine tried doing something similar with a chiller on a hospital roof and the tag line snagged on a vent pipe halfway up, whole thing started spinning like a top. Had to cut the line and let it dangle there for twenty minutes while they figured out a new plan.

the_wendy1mo ago

... so @marywilson that vent pipe snag is exactly the kind of hidden gotcha I'm talking about. Did you ever figure out if the tag line weight itself was the main culprit or was it more about how it changed the load's center of gravity mid-lift?