Hot take: That "quick fix" for a jammed crane cable cost me a whole afternoon

I was up on a job in Raleigh last Thursday and the main hoist cable got a little kink near the drum. Everyone says just bump it back and forth a few times to work it out, so I tried that. Ended up making the jam worse and had to call the shop for a full reeving job that took 3 hours. Has anyone else found that "bump it out" trick does more harm than good or am I just doing it wrong?

2 comments

2 Comments

tyler_fox411mo ago

Yeah that "bump it out" trick is like trying to fix a snagged zipper by yanking harder. I did the same thing on a Terex last spring and spent two hours unwinding a birds nest that looked like a metal tumbleweed. The shop guys still bring it up to mess with me. Now I just stop the second I feel any resistance, it's not worth the headache.

wendygrant1mo ago

Funny how that "bump it out" move backfires every time. I tried it on a Bobcat a few years ago and ended up with a mess that looked like someone threw a ball of weld wire into a blender. Took me and a buddy an hour to cut it free with a grinder. Now I do the same thing you do @tyler_fox41, soon as the cable fights back I hit the stop button. Learned that lesson the hard way, same as you. Shop guys never let you forget either, do they.