Saw a guy thread his boom cable backwards at a job site outside Houston

Was on a small steel beam job down in Pasadena last Thursday, watched this kid spend 20 minutes fighting a twist because he ran the cable over the wrong sheave. That simple mistake nearly cost him a $500 repair after the braid started fraying. Has anyone else caught little stuff like that before it turned into a big bill?

3 comments

3 Comments

brianl5316d ago

Is it really that serious though? I've seen guys reverse a cable on a sheave and run it for months without a single issue. Honestly, a little fraying on the outer braid doesn't automatically mean you need a $500 repair. Tbh, most of the time you can just flip the cable around or put a little tape on it and keep going. Ngl, I think a lot of guys get spooked by minor stuff because they read the manual too much instead of just working the job.

dakota_patel9815d ago

Read the manual too much instead of just working the job" - honestly that's the whole take right there lol. Like yeah, if you're paying attention to how it's actually running (you know, listening for weird noises, watching for vibration) you can catch real problems way before a little fray on the outside becomes anything serious. Most of the time it's just surface wear and flipping it buys you months easy.

the_derek15d ago

Jump in here because I've done the exact same thing at my shop. Had a cable on a hoist that looked rough on one side, just flipped it around and it ran another four months without a hiccup. Better to keep an eye on it than to panic and spend money you don't need to.