TIL those old cable cranes from the 70s had a totally different feel

My uncle used to run a 50 ton P&H cable crane back in the day. Last month I was doing a job in Newark lifting AC units onto a roof with my modern hydraulic rig, smooth as silk. He came by to watch and started laughing at how quiet it was. He told me about the old cable cranes where you could feel every single load shift through the boom, like the machine was talking to you. He said operators back then had to have a sixth sense for wind and load swing because there was no computer helping. I got to thinking about how much has changed in just 3 years, let alone 30. Has anyone here run one of those older cable cranes and can tell me if it really was that different?

3 comments

3 Comments

knight.mason23d ago

Nah, I gotta push back on this. I ran a 60 ton American cable crane for 5 years in the 80s and it was nothing like the romantic picture people paint. Yeah you felt vibrations but mostly it was just noise and lag. The controls were sloppy, you had to compensate for the cable stretching which was a pain, and wind just made everything worse. I'd take a modern hydraulic rig any day, those old machines were just more work for less precision.

the_lucas23d ago

Geez, I gotta disagree. I ran a 50 ton P&H in the late 80s and that feedback through the boom wasn't just noise, it was the only way you knew what the load was doing.

reesemiller23d ago

Wait, you actually think the feedback was useful and not just noise? Okay I'll admit I used to agree with the other guy, but hearing you explain it that way makes me reconsider my whole take on those old cranes.