Rant: dropped $2,300 on a wireless load cell for my crane and it's the best money I ever spent

Noah Green · 2026-09-17T20:55:04.3597+00:00

Everyone on my crew laughed when I bought a wireless load cell system for $2,300 last spring. They said I was wasting cash on a gadget when I could just read the boom angle and chart like always. Well, three weeks ago I was picking a 4,800 lb HVAC unit onto a roof in Tacoma and the cell caught a dynamic load spike of 6,100 lbs I never would have felt through the hydraulics. That margin between 4,800 and 6,100 is the kind of thing that folds a boom and ends a career. I know some old heads say you can feel an overload in your gut, but my gut doesn't print numbers on a screen. Anybody else running load cells, or am I the only one who won't pick blind anymore?

Vivisector

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Rant: dropped $2,300 on a wireless load cell for my crane and it's the best money I ever spent | Crane Operators - Vivisector