Snapped a load line on a Liebherr LTM 1050 yesterday

I was picking a HVAC unit off a roof in Arlington around 2pm. The load was only 3,200 pounds, well under the chart. Line just gave out with a pop halfway through the lift. No warning, no fraying I could see. Had to set the load down careful with the auxiliary winch and swap the cable out. Anyone else ever have a brand new cable snap for no obvious reason?

3 comments

3 Comments

jenkins.reese1mo ago

Wait, you had the load on the main line and it just popped? That's wild. I mean, on an LTM 1050, those cables are supposed to be built to handle way more than 3,200 pounds. I've seen them hold up under way heavier loads in way sketchier conditions (like when you have to reach out a bit). The fact that it was a brand new cable and you couldn't see any fraying is honestly scary to me. Something's got to be off with that batch of cable, or maybe there was a hidden kink inside the spool from the factory. I'd be sending that piece back to Liebherr for sure, just to make sure they know what happened.

williamm821mo ago

Wait, are you sure the LTM 1050 is the model you're thinking of? That's actually a smaller crane, the 1050 is a 50 ton class machine, not the big all-terrain one that handles those heavy lifts. You might be mixing it up with the LTM 1100 or even the 1120, those are the ones with the big cables that can take a serious beating. It's an easy mistake to make, the model numbers all blur together after a while. But yeah, either way, a brand new cable snapping like that is definitely not right, and I'd be on the phone with the supplier first thing.

daniel47419d ago

And yeah @jenkins.reese brings up a good point about that hidden kink from the factory. I've heard of that happening before, where a cable gets pinched inside the spool and you never see it until it lets go under load. Liebherr should definitely check that batch.