Had a crane cable snap on a big removal yesterday in Nashville

We were taking down this massive 80 foot oak that had some rot near the top. The cable just gave out when we had about a 1,500 pound section hanging from the crane. Landed right on the homeowner's driveway and cracked the concrete about 3 feet. My foreman told me right after that we should've checked the cable more careful that morning. Has anyone else had something similar go wrong on a job and how did you handle the fallout?

2 comments

2 Comments

richard_ramirez10d ago

Man, that cable just decided it was done with tree work... Probably figured the crane needed a break too. At least it hit the driveway and not the house, right? "Should've checked the cable" is gonna be the foreman's new catchphrase for the next month I bet.

david_adams10d ago

Reminds me of a job my brother was on years ago where they were taking down a big old oak. The guy running the bucket truck didn't check his safety line and it got caught up in the winch. Took them a good hour to get him unstuck while he just hung there making jokes about it. Foreman never let him forget it, every morning it was "check your line" like a broken record. Cable checks are one of those things you skip once and it haunts you forever.