Spent a whole shift just trying to get a level lift on a sloped site

Last month I was on a job in Tacoma, setting steel on a site with a nasty 5-degree slope. I thought I had my outriggers dialed in, but the load kept swinging about an inch off true when I lifted. I spent nearly 7 hours messing with it, adding cribbing, adjusting pads, even re-checking the load chart twice. Turns out, the ground under my front right outrigger had a soft spot I didn't feel during setup. A guy from the concrete crew walked over, suggested I dig down a foot and pack it with some crushed rock from their pile. Did that, and it was solid in 20 minutes. Felt like a total rookie move. What's your go-to method for checking ground conditions on uneven sites before you even start setting up?

2 comments

2 Comments

ryan_flores19d ago

A five-degree slope in Tacoma sounds like a nightmare.

ellis.felix18d ago

Absolutely, that grade is way steeper than it sounds. Had to drive a moving truck up a hill like that in Seattle once and it felt like the engine was going to quit. The brakes were smoking by the time we got back down. Makes you wonder how anyone parks on those streets without rolling away.