26.04.2016
Outrigger beam pinning – a reminder
The Victoria/Tasmania branch of the Crane Industry Council of Australia – CICA - has issued a reminder that while an increasing number of cranes have variable outrigger settings, a large number still require the outrigger beams to be pinned in their extended positions.
Many crane users appear to think that the pins supplied with some cranes are not actually required for safe lifting and that they are merely an additional safety feature. While most western built cranes can operate perfectly well relying on the hydraulic beam extension cylinder for most day to day lifting, the cylinder may well be too small a bore to support the crane, should it lift up onto the outriggers on one side. Even if the cylinder holds, its anchor point might not be up to the loadings applied.
We have plenty of examples where a crane has lifted the non-loaded outriggers so that the loaded ones are carrying all of the weight and no longer horizontal, when the cylinder gives way, the beam retracts and the crane goes over.
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Where fitted outrigger beam pins should be used
So the message is – if your crane is equipped with outrigger beam pins- you should always use them. We will host the document in our bulletins section from later today, but in the meantime here it is.
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The CICA bulletin
ghost
The variobase system that Liebherr have designed is a very good system and I would like to think that with their engineering expertise, Liebherr have used hydraulic cylinders that are up to the job - there is no reason why that if used on decent ground, there should be no issues with not having outrigger pins in place when variobase is utilised. The picture in the CICA bulletin shows a crane rigged on grass, all be it with some form of timber supports underneath - this incident didn't happen because of no outrigger pins being use - it happened for one of two reasons - the wrong capacity crane was used ie - a larger crane set further away from the lift area but on solid ground or two - incorrect matting was used. The ground has clearly given way, causing the crane to tilt, thus resulting in the beam sliding in. If the weight on the outriggers had been properly dissipated by using mats etc, this probably wouldn't have happened. Like wise if the crane was set further back, enabling the outriggers to be placed on the road, this probably wouldn't have happened. Maybe doing the job on the cheap is to blame.......?