Trying to get a smooth swing with a long boom in tight spaces

I was on a job in downtown Seattle last week, working a 200-ton crawler with a 180-foot boom. The site was packed, and I had to swing a concrete panel between two existing structures with maybe 10 feet of clearance on each side. The usual way of just easing off the swing brake was giving me a wobble that made me nervous. So I tried something my old foreman mentioned once but I never used: I kept a tiny bit of power on the swing motor while also feathering the brake, almost like they were fighting each other a little. It felt weird at first, but after a couple tries, the load just glided through that gap without a single jerk. I mean, it was way smoother than any dead swing I've ever done. Has anyone else tried this kind of counter-pressure method, or do you have a different trick for tight, precise swings?

3 comments

3 Comments

lindal133d ago

Precision matters when you're inches from a building. That's not just a crane, it's someone's property you're swinging over.

kellys783d ago

Way smoother than any dead swing"? It's just a crane, not surgery.

jana_hart182d ago

Read a story where a crane operator saved a window washer, so @lindal13 has a point about needing that skill.