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Oops!!!

11K views 59 replies 26 participants last post by  mad_machine 
#1 ·
This is Canoe Cove Marina's travel lift yesterday. Not sure what exactly happened yet, but it did have a boat in the slings at the time. Apparently no one was hurt.:eek:
 

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#42 ·
Not sure if what happened has been posted accurately:

My understanding is it was a combination of issues, the main one being an issue with the remote control system.

Unfortunately, while one of the benefits of the remote control is allowing the operator to operate the machine without standing on it, one of the downsides is that the control is no longer directly manual, and computer errors can have serious outcomes.

In this case, the lift was rolled out and the boat lowered.
While the operator was doing his final checks, the machine independently rotated one of its wheels to the wrong direction, on the opposite side of the lift from the operator after he'd checked that side.
When the operator moved the travel lift forward to push the boat out, the wheel that was facing perpendicular to the desired direction rode up over the edge and down went the lift.

It's not so much a pendulum type move(swinging the boat around) as using the forward sling to give the boat a gentle nudge out of the bay. It's SOP here as well, the boat is totally floating, the forward sling is just touching the hull is used to move it in the right direction. I had no idea the lifts here did it either until the operator explained it to me.

It seems like it didn't really matter what they did, if they'd reversed the machine towards land, or rolled forward to push the boat out, one wheel being 90 degrees out would have sent it over the edge either way.
 
#44 ·
It seems like it didn't really matter what they did, if they'd reversed the machine towards land, or rolled forward to push the boat out, one wheel being 90 degrees out would have sent it over the edge either way.
While that may be true. If they had pulled the boat out manually, they hopefully would have noticed the one wheel turned once the slings were free
 
#43 ·
If the boat was already floating then why did they not pull it away by hand?
If they had pulled the boat away from the lift by hand the operator would more than likely had noticed that the wheel was not sitting correct and would have been able to take the appropriate actions and stopped the machine long before it fell in the water.
If he was not swinging the boat out with the lift this would never have happened.
 
#45 ·
One thing that should be noted here is how unusual this sort of accident is. I've never seen or heard of a lift going in the drink in this area before and there are lots of them in operation.

A few years ago I had to get a basic forklift ticket for work. I figured "what a waste of time - what could be easier with a little common sense".

WRONG!

I couldn't believe how restricted your vision is when you have a load in front of you - it's a lot more difficult than it looks.

A strad hoist is a couple of orders of magnitude more difficult. A 40' yacht blocks a whole lot more than a couple of pallets of paper does. A boat is moving around too - swinging in every direction if you are just a hair too quick with your movements.

I'm surprised these incidents don't happen more frequently.
 
#46 ·
I couldn't believe how restricted your vision is when you have a load in front of you - it's a lot more difficult than it looks.

A strad hoist is a couple of orders of magnitude more difficult. A 40' yacht blocks a whole lot more than a couple of pallets of paper does. A boat is moving around too - swinging in every direction if you are just a hair too quick with your movements.

I'm surprised these incidents don't happen more frequently.
Hence the wireless remote.
 
#47 ·
I talked to someone that was directly involved after the fact, as was told it was the operators fault. The operator was tring to use one of the slings to move the boat.
The lift was badly damaged but was fixed well enough to move under its own power.
 
#48 ·
I talked to someone that was directly involved after the fact, as was told it was the operators fault...
Pretty much what everyone here was saying from the observations that we had available to us.
 
#49 ·
We also have spoken with many people involved in the incident as our boat was being worked on at the time, one of the masts in the background of the photo on page 1 is ours, and every one of them has said it was a problem with a solenoid not the operator.
Whatever the reason it is a terrible blow to all the businesses that rely on that travel lift.
 
#50 ·
Over my 30 odd year career as an operating engineer I have been involved with a few heavy equipment incedent reports and the first question that gets asked is always, "What was the operator doing with the machine at the time of the incident".
If the operator was useing the machine in an unintended fashion, then the operator has already made the decision to operate the machine beyond it's designed parameters and it is the operator who is at fault.
The decision to operate the machine in a unintended fashion was made before the machine malfuctioned and therefore it is the operator who is at fault, not the machine.
Blameing a machine for your poor judgement is no excuse.
Let alone the repair costs of the travelift I am going to guess the lost revenue due to his incedent will be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It's a very sad time for Canoe Cove and I would like to encourage people to still use there services as much as possible during this time as they are really a great bunch of guys to deal with.
 
#59 ·
If the operator was useing the machine in an unintended fashion, then the operator has already made the decision to operate the machine beyond it's designed parameters and it is the operator who is at fault.
The decision to operate the machine in a unintended fashion was made before the machine malfuctioned and therefore it is the operator who is at fault, not the machine.
Blameing a machine for your poor judgement is no excuse.
I love the "Dog Ship" lynch mob. BURN THE OPERATOR!

I do like your leap from "If the operator was using the machine in an unintended fashion" to "The decision to operate the machine in an unintended fashion". Using a true statement followed by an untrue or unproven one is a good way to make it sound believeable.

I read this whole thread and I don't see anywhere where the operator is said to have used the machine for anything other than hauling, launching and moving boats. I am not trained in the use of Travel Lifts and have not found any documentation saying that giving boats a nudge out of the travel lift hole with the lift is a use for which Travel Lifts weren't designed. Perhaps that is the case, but before we string up the "cowboy" operator with the rope that Dog Ship is giving us we should first find out whether or not he was using the lift in an unintended fashion.

Either way lets look at facts, and not rely on my opinion, or that of Dog Ship, when I admittedly, and he clearly, doesn't have a clue.
 
#54 ·
Latest I have heard, from Brent Jacoby at Blackline, is that the new 75 ton travel lift will be operational by August 31.

Meantime another travel lift collapsed - with a boat (tug actually) in the slings. This was at Shelter Island yesterday. I was emailed the pic below and I assume it is Shelter Island B.C. I can't find any other information about this incident yet.
 

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#55 ·
....Meantime another travel lift collapsed - with a boat (tug actually) in the slings. This was at Shelter Island yesterday. I was emailed the pic below and I assume it is Shelter Island B.C. I can't find any other information about this incident yet.
Yes, Shelter Island.. I was out at Thunderbird Marina last week and got splashed yesterday.. the lift operator mentioned it just has he was picking up our boat... In this case it looks like an overweight lift..
 
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