Honestly, how many old safety rules are just stuck in the past? Tbh I see it everywhere, not just cranes. We keep better tech and data now but the rules don't catch up. It feels like a lot of these limits are more about avoiding lawsuits than what's actually safe with today's gear.
Wait, did your buddy try to get a variance or special permission first? @harper_white We ran into something like that with a new lifting clamp. The inspector wrote us up, but we showed him the manufacturer's test data and a video of it in use. He let us off with a warning and said to apply for a code change. Sometimes you gotta show them the proof before they'll budge.