End of an Era

[CINDERS]

In my early days of operating conventional cranes (Lattice booms) you had a boom angle indicator, a known boom length (As you assembled it), load chart and what boom length will lift what weight at a said radius with varying counterweight configurations minus deductions, no computer all done by your seat of pants and how the crane was reacting.
If in doubt and possible do a dry run with the weight to the said radius over the weakest point for the crane usually over the side if it handles the weight there it will definitely do it over its strongest point usually with the drives (On a crawler) to the rear and the tracks wedged, blocked where the track lifts up to go up to the sprocket or idler.

One thing you never ever do with a conventional crane is come inside the minimum radius for any given boom length as what happens the pennant ropes that connect the boom head to the car body do not take the stress of the load being lifted, this also applies to hydraulics as we said "If it don't bend it will break."
You then get into the realms of compressibility of the lattice boom where all the force is placed directly down the boom itself which has happened the end result is the boom concertina's collapsing on top of you in the crane!

Yes the hydraulic cranes from the early 80's onwards had load cells in them fast forward to the machines I operated and they gave boom length, boom configuration, degrees of boom angle, what winch you had in operation, radius of hook, what you could lift, what load you have on, percentage of SWL which auto stops when you reach the limit at that point you override the computer and carry on.
You learn by experience what a machine will do if we had a lift that was really out there we set the scenario up in the yard to see if the crane could do it, I operated for years on the wrong side in uncharted waters but due to my extensive experience and knowing exactly how much you could push it.
I always informed my riggers prior to a lift where we had a barrel stretcher and where possible kept the load 5" off the deck whilst placing it mainly with tilt panels as they were the biggest baine of all with poor layouts or no access, but those days are long gone for me yep it was wrong with jail time assured for me plus being sued if anyone was seriously injured or killed.
There are a lot more intricacies in the operation of different types of hydraulic cranes of which you have to be proficient in their use understanding how to operate them properly the secret of operating any crane is soft hands your not driving a digger and a very good sense of perception of not only the crane but the task at hand.

The 160 tonne hydraulic crane I operated fully counterweighted 110,231 lbs of weights, with an all up machine operating weight of 242,508 lbs. (110 tonnes)