We just moved one of these and everyone said they are just link a late model link belt WRONG..... DO NOT REMOVE THE COUNTERWEIGHT BOLTS BEFORE IT IS READY TO BE LIFTED .....the back weight only sits on a frame stub and will fall on you if the bolts are removed before its rigged. The Linkbelts DO have a frame under the weights and you can remove the bolts early. I have always been one to get as much done as I can to speed things up and nearly found this out the hard way
I don't know anything about the late model Linkbelts but on our old 518 the counterweight hung off the bolts. It fell when the bolts were taken out. I mean no disrespect, however, that is how people get killed. The Crane should have an operators manual in the cab and it should be addressed in the manual. Any time I have to deal with an unfamiliar piece of Equipment I hunt up the manual and look it over. Every Crane has its quirks. More people are killed while disassembling the cranes than any other time. Glad no one got hurt.
Lashlander,You are right about the operators manual.But An extra reminder out in the open might save a life.A decal on the weight would help.I'm a truckie thats expected to help with the tear down. I grabbed the wrench and was doing what I usually do.I did ask what the process was and was told it was like a 138 late model.Anyway the op got me stopped.The main reason this is up here is for the guys that don't look at the book on every machine and we know they are out there.
It's kind of a tough call. A guy wants to trust what someone tells them and get on with the show. Just be careful who you trust I suppose and ask a bunch of questions.
I can understand where your coming from Tiny. It's difficult for a truck driver to know every little quirk of numerous machines, and if an operator that knows that machine isn't around, could lead to a bad day at the office. I second the notion to have your decal maker make some warning decals for these counterweights to warn workers to support counterweight before removing bolts. Pretty simple fix for such a dangerous item.
The operator is the boss ....Quite often I catch a little crap for not swinging a hammer or turning a wrench by my co-workers ..The reason I havent swung that hammer or turned that wrench is because the boss hasnt told me to ....operator is the Captain ..engineroom would look awful stupid doing something that wasnt commanded .. I'm not lazy ..just under-utilized...:tong Theres one man in charge ..one man only ..unless he deligates another man to be his C.O. of sorts ..
But, many times if you want it done right, you just have to do it yourself. Remember, the captain goes down with the ship if things go to hell.