Debate: Should you boom up before you swing or swing then boom?

Honestly, I ran into a problem last Friday on a job site downtown that had me scratching my head for way too long. I was picking a load of steel beams off a flatbed and trying to swing them over to the foundation. I kept catching the load on the corner of the truck because I was booming up first, then swinging. Took me about 45 minutes to get three picks done when it should've been 20. My oiler was telling me to swing first then boom up to clear the obstacle, but my old training said always boom up for clearance. What do you guys do when you're tight on space? Do you swing and trust your taglines, or boom up and risk the extra time?

2 comments

2 Comments

julia_jones721d ago

My buddy drilled a hole in his truck bed learning that lesson the hard way.

palmer.jana1d ago

Oh man, your buddy must have been so mad when he realized what he did. That's like when my cousin decided to "fix" his tailgate by drilling into the side panel only to find out he hit the fuel line. Gas everywhere, no truck bed, and a very expensive lesson in "measure twice, drill once". At least your buddy only got a hole in his truck bed, not a geyser of gasoline like my cousin did. But hey, now he's got a built-in drainage system for when he washes his truck, so that's a win I guess.