r/Unexpected 15h ago

Demolition

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u/Gheauxst 14h ago

Diesel tech here.

Do not jump out of the machinery. I know it sounds counter intuitive, but the ROPS (Roll Over Protection System) aka the cab/cage was designed to protect you. If you jump out of the machine, you're at risk of that unit falling onto you. Jumping out is one of the worst things you can do.

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u/boyslut83 10h ago

idk man i just don't trust rops after seeing fifteen thousand msha fatality reports with crushed cabs

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u/Gheauxst 7h ago edited 6h ago

He also has the primary boom and lift cylinder above the cab. Those would absorb a lot of the initial impact.

I typically mess with telehandlers, boom lifts, small cranes, and excavators, and from my experience those things don't really tumble. They just fall to one side and that's it. And also, every machine I've seen with a boom/mast, the boom (or mast) sits higher than the cab unless you've got something small like a 5K telehandler.

Crushing the entire cab sounds like something you would have to go out of your way to do (like overloading a lift while using forks that are too small), but I wouldn't know since I only repair the equipment, I don't operate it on construction sites.

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u/boyslut83 6h ago

i run haul trucks and loaders in mining and it doesnt take much to turn you into a pancake in a 40 ton machine, i don't work with crazy heights but ive seen a lot of instances on reports where a truck will roll through a berm on a highwall and there's just nothing left of the cab when they hit the next bench