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lucky escape

billyboy890 ยท 2012-04-28 04:03

this happened on wednesday afternoon,according to the operator he was just jibbing up and this happened,sounds to me as if he didn't realise the brake on the winch or it jammed,they were very lucky no one was injured and good job the jib stayed upright as it would have gone through the power lines and across a main road.This is gonna be a pain to repair

Replies14
  1. #1Scrub Puller2012-04-28 13:36

    Yair . . . don't know anything about cranes but it looks like it may have been short of a couple of pins through those lugs??? Can any of you crane blokes explain how a jammed or non released winch could cause this? Cheers.

  2. #2billyboy8902012-04-28 13:59

    the pins were not missing they were snapped clean through and also there is a lot of safety stuff missing as some crane opps will notice in the pics

  3. #3Dinale Precast2012-04-29 03:03

    The only way it could have possible happened is if the hook two blocked. And you would then have to ignore the really awful noises coming from the crane to get to that point. edit The more I think about it the more I cant understand how it's possible.

  4. #4billyboy8902012-04-29 14:10

    this is africa,they can bust any thing

  5. #5Phill2012-04-29 18:17

    I would not go as far to say that, more improper training is hte big thing. If the opp had the knowledge i bet he would not have do that or gone that far. Phill

  6. #6billyboy8902012-05-04 14:53

    well if they had not cut the wires to the alarm system because it made a noise then this would not have happened,would it?all l can say is thank god no one was hurt

  7. #7Phill2012-05-04 16:16

    if they knew what that alarm wa for then ....... its a two way street, there are some knuckle heads any were you go, some smarter then others,

  8. #8gostr8r2012-05-04 17:33

    Well, if he was booming up, but he mistakenly forgot the hoist line was knuckled it in, and kept pouring the coal to it, the boom would keep coming up for a ways. He gives it 'more' throttle and finally the belly blew out when it lost the lift advantage and was overcome by the two blocked compression from head to heel. With the load block under the boom he can't see it very well and probably didn't even know he was cabling up. The boom breaks in half, falls, and then the top rocks over backwards allowing the load block to come down only as far as the load line allows it too. An new or relief operator not so familiar with the controls of that specific machine, and also watching a signal man on the ground, might make that simple error. Also, in my opinion, the ooperator shouldn't be standing on the catwalk, because there's nothing holding the top half from falling on back over onto the cab's roof now! He's in harms way next to the cab holding his hardhat in his hand.

  9. #9gostr8r2012-05-04 17:37

    Well, if he was booming up, but he mistakenly 'forgot' the hoist line was knuckled it in, and kept pouring the coal to it, the boom would keep coming up for a ways, after it became two blocked. He gives it 'more' throttle and finally the belly blew out when it lost the lift advantage and was overcome by the two blocked compression from head to heel. With the load block under the boom he can't see it very well and probably didn't even know he was cabling up. The boom breaks in half, falls, and then the top rocks over backwards allowing the load block to come down only as far as the load line allows it too. An new or relief operator not so familiar with the controls of that specific machine, and also watching a signal man on the ground, might make that simple error. Also, in my opinion, the operator shouldn't be standing on the catwalk, because there's nothing holding the top half from falling on over onto the cab's roof now! He's in harms way next to the cab holding his hardhat in his hand.

  10. #10cecil892012-05-05 10:26

    (well if they had not cut the wires to the alarm system) Alarm system? Really!I need to start smoking crack.(the pins were not missing they were snapped clean through) In 30 years of operating i Have seen ugly things,I have never seen pins snapped in half. Sorry I have a hard time believing the pin theory.

  11. #11Scrub Puller2012-05-05 12:10

    Yair . . . cecil89. I'm with you. I don't quite follow the #10 post but in my experience on other gear pins just don't shear like that. Cheers.

  12. #12gostr8r2012-05-05 16:58

    Just saying he might have 2 blocked it while booming up, and it buckled under the strain of the load line trying to pull the head section back over the top. That's all. Not very complicated Scrub Puller. It's also just my opinion too.

  13. #13cranefreak532012-05-10 07:46

    I have a feeling that the pins were not original ones but of a poor quality home made ones. I have never ever seen in my life a situation like this. The boom stops are taken of and the cabin has damage so the boom must have topped in too far. Look at the boom hoist ropes the boom must have been topped in to its maximum. The pins are nowhere to bee seen. Strange !!!! Billy boy is right about the fact that in Africa they can destroy anything. Have my experiances with them. Sadly enough. By the way the crane is a NCK C 41 Andes which is a very strong and reliable crane that is easy to operate so i am still wondering what really happened.

  14. #14classictruckman2012-05-10 21:38

    Wouldn't it 2block while booming down?