Liebherr vs Grove load charts, I found something that surprised me last week

I was cross checking specs on a 100 ton Liebherr vs a Grove for a job in Portland and noticed the boom length difference changes the pick radius way more than I expected. Like, the same hook load at 80 feet of boom, the Grove had a 15% smaller radius on paper. That seems backwards to me since everyone always says Liebherr is the conservative one. My old operator buddy swears the charts are padded differently between the two, but I'm not buying it without seeing a real load test. Has anyone actually run both side by side and seen the charts lie in practice?

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elliot_roberts18d ago

Honestly, I think you're reading the charts wrong. Your buddy is probably onto something, but not in the way he thinks. The Grove isn't lying, it's just rated at a lower structural capacity at that boom length, so the chart gives you a smaller radius for the same load. Liebherr pushes more steel into the boom to handle more at full extension, which is why their chart looks generous. That 15% difference isn't about padding, it's about how each company defines the tipping point. I've run both on the same job, and the Grove will fold its boom before it hits what the chart says is safe. So yeah, your paper comparison is backwards because you're assuming both charts mean the same thing when they don't.