Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Most Difficult Heavy Machinery to Operate?

I've been running forklifts, skid loaders, wheel loaders and boom trucks most of my life. Usually, once you get comfortable with them, they become part of your body and you don't really have to think about which lever to pull or push. It just comes natural. Most types of machinery is basically the same from one unit to another except truck booms. It seems like every crane I own has different controls, so I always try to keep the same driver on each unit whenever possible. They'll be quicker and more efficient that way.

I'm a certified forklift trainer so that when I hire new guys I can train them myself. It seems like every guy has a different learning curve, but most get it eventually. It never fails though, every now and then I come across a guy that's unteachable.

When I was a kid and took out my first load on a boom truck, thought I was hot chitt and forgot to put my outriggers down. It was an old drywall crane where you'd sit up on top. Lifted the 1st pallet off and swung it off to the side and when it started going over, I released the controls and was going to jump. But when I let go, the boom swung all the way out and stopped the truck up on 2 wheels. So I let it down and had to climb down and clean out my britches.

Y'all may see it differently, but it appears to me that cranes get the nod from observers, while the operators vote for the dirt workers.

I've got boom trucks, but real cranes are dangerous. You've got to know the geometry of how much your lifting and how far out. I wouldn't like to do it.

I agree with you, but I can be on the phone this afternoon and have multiple good crane operators here tomorrow at 7:AM. That's whether it's a hydro, conventional or tower. I've not had that luck getting a good blade hand.

Most crane operators don't just operate cranes, last job I was on had to go from crane to semi, to auger, to back-hoe back and forth every day & night through out the job working split shifts 6 on 6 off around-the-clock throughout the week, load, transport and place the rebar cages, drill 6' dia. holes 60' deep, load the dirt and trench, even assist in building forms and pouring the concrete.


Phil

"Talented sumbitch, ain't you?"

I've forgotten the movie that line is from.

I did love rigging and flying iron. It helped that I took the time early on to memorize the hand signals and the geometry placards on the machines. Pretty soon I was the ground guy or high guy on everything. If we had some big reaches, we'd get out the calculators and pencils before the pick started just to be sure.
It was a pretty mental game, which is why I enjoyed it so. Having operators who could respond immediately and exactly, who you could trust with your life, was a grand thing.

One thing not discussed here is the "art" part of the work. My Navy stepdad was all tonnage all oceans rated master. That boat stuff is complicated, and gets exponentially so with the weights and power involved. Ship handling theory is fine, but actual practice is a flipping ART.
Blading is an art. Terrain management is an art. Moving in four dimensions is genius too, just not in words or numbers. Too many people just don't appreciate that.

The trick to it is to make what ever you do look easy, from the guy unloading trucks all day on the loading dock to the one running the pan and not dropping or destroying anyone or anything.Never could get the hang of a backhoe to even bury a cow,but enjoyed running the combines and other equip. on the farm and the over the road trucks. Some of the lift guys at the docks could put the containers on the trailer and never shake the cab ,others would make you pray they didn't wreck the whole dock

When he feels the plastic, it's too late. You poked a hole in it already.

I would go with cranes. Takes knowledge and experience, good depth perception, good touch, etc. Otherwise everyone is runnin' for cover.

Backhoes, loaders and most other such critters are fairly easy to master.

Worked with an old goat in the early 70s that could run hell outta a Cleveland grader. Needed to be a ten armed monkey to operate that thing well and he did it with two arms. I never learned to run it any better than to flatten/spread piles of limestone ballast on street jobs, never wanted to, either.

Most everything thsese days seems to be infested with joy sticks. Watched a kid grade the gravel road past hunting camp a few years ago with a new CAT grader, nice job, good stick wiggler.

Last month hopped up into a new CAT rubber tired backhoe, same deal, joy sticks everywhere. The ol' boy that owns it asked me if I would've liked something like that 30 years ago, when I was running an IH or JD hoe. Hell yes. Worst POS hoe I ever had to fuss with, was an IH 3400A. Great litle digger, PITA to road move. No torque to speak of, break an arm trying to shift the fooker.

Might just be me, but if I haven't run one in awhile, skid loaders give me fits for about the first fifteen minutes.

It's not so much the difficulties of operations of the equipment but the consequences of if you screw up.

Know a cranes limits (geometry) and limitations (load limits) and it's a piece of cake.. Screwing up on a motor grader can easily be fixed.. ain't near the same, danger wise, as screwing up on a crane.

Most any operator you find on any construction site is fully capable of running multiple pieces of equipment and is quite often shuffled back and forth. Most have a preference, but it doesn't take much to screw up, local guy some six or so years ago killed his self with just a short lapse of caution. Started up his back-hoe and left it to warm up at beginning of shift, got off to grease the swing pin and bumped the swing lever crushing his self.


Phil

Cranes are their own thing. Things happen very slowly and in a calculated way. Don't get me wrong you don't put a rookie on one on a big busy construction site it does take skill to be sure.



True that even with tilt blades on today's dozers cutting a slope is something most would be lost at especially today there's less and less cat skinners. Only because excavators have won the day for most everything.

How about the old cat and can? What a freakin gong show they were just a big cat usually a D 8 anyway or a 9 towing a belly scraper frame. The cat's winch was rigged through it to open and close the gate there's your control, that's it. I saw a few work when I was a kid I remember one guy that was cut loose on his own building road along a river out in the boonies, big ranches not much traffic so standards were low. It was rolly country along a river with 20 and 30 foot humps and holes we surveyed right of way only for him. At the end of the week he had maybe a quarter of a mile of sub grade built all on his own. It wasn't pretty as far as nice cuts and such but the alignment wasn't bad for 30 mph the posted speed. The grader smartened it up a bit and then it was ready to be graveled. Slow but pretty impressive.

curdog4570, according to my wife - "that would be the washing machine"! memtb

If used properly, it will move dirt!

just like most things in life - if you repeat it often enough - it gets easier

time spent in the seat of most heavy equipment makes for a more knowledgeable - skilled operator

first timers in cranes are just like first timers on backhoes - graders / dozers etc.- you'll suck at it

to be good takes years of experience and hands on everyday , it doesn't matter what it is

always wanted to run cranes - the "big Boomers" and get away from dirt work - oiled on a few - operators wouldn't let you get a chance running it much - finally figured that one out - they didn't want you taking their job in the future or at a different company

dirt guys where -here you are - get on it - run it - figure it out - just don't f nothing up

a far as finding great grader operaters - anyone can learn to run one - I did -

job site needed some piles rough grade knocked down - here ya go get it done -
I never considered myself a finish hand - finished a lot of stuff but boss always complained I was too slow - once a company has one they never let him go that's why you don't find may around - they don't give guys a chance to make mistakes - if your not fast and get it done the first time - you are replaced.

just like anything times have changed - from old cable rigs to the geared rigs to the hydraulic rigs

now its joy sticks and lasers

hell even cars and trucks now have turn knobs on the dash to shift - no more shift levers

Watching the Korean's rig, lift, transport and set my 6,000 tonne modules via an 8,000 tonne floating crane was a sight to behold. The orchestration of the 3 tugs precisely moving the crane was simply amazing. So I choose this.

just go and google excavator tricks or excavator stunts

then tell me how good an operator you are !?


some are easy and simple - some are quite good

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There's a lot of operators in the world and only a small percentage can jump on a live boom 83 and be good. This is a machine that will bite you and anyone around you in the a$$ when you ain't ready for it. At the end of the day you're just happy you and no one else gets hurt.