Well like most of you know, i work in New York City and shortring is something very common in all jobs sites here.

When i first started pumping i was told that on any shortring sittuation i should allways extend out the outrrigers the most i could. now i've heard alot of people that agreed with this and alot of people that said that if you cant open them all the way, you should leave them in all the way. I read the safety manual and it is true that you should leave them in all the way in you have to shortrig.

Now i know there is alot of professionals here that have been thru this sittuation, and i would like to know what everyone has to say about this?

When you have to shortrig??? 
- Leave the outrrigers in all the way or
- Open them the most you can..... 

Open them the most you can is what i do.I dont know why you wouldnt,if you forget that your short rigged and swing over the wrong side you will have time to recover from your mistake hopefully.Thats what i think is the most common sense thing to do.

Well sir I am curious as well!!

I also open them the most i can. Now theres people that say that i will cause strutural damage by doing this. I like to be very professional when working with the pump but i also like being safe.

 Now if i am a professional operator i'm going to leave those outrrigers in and will not cause damage to the truck. Now i also like to be safe and safe is open them the most you can.

SO AM I GOING TO BE A PROFESSIONAL OPERATOR  AND NOT A SAFE OPERATOR or AM I GOING TO BE A SAFE OPERATOR BUT NOT PROFESSIONAL.

Here in Georgia the biggest pump that you can legally run on the highway is a 28m Putz or a 32m Schwing; ALL THE REST NEED AN OVERWEIGHT PERMIT. So here, it makes no sense to remove all the extra weight… until you try and sell it into a different state with different rules.

Part of the metal that was removed [or never added] to the machine is the bottom plate of the outer box on the ‘X’ style outriggers. If you will go to the ACPA website and look on the left side about ½ way down you will see some safety articles that very clearly explain the logic behind the rule.

Now, against my better judgment, I will tell you how I feel about this rule.

1.      NEVER – NO MATTER WHAT put your boom over a less than fully extended outrigger. Did I mention… NEVER? 

2.      When you find it is necessary to put your boom over a less than fully extended outrigger, please refer to rule #1 and DO NOT DO IT.

Okay, now that we have that clear; let us deal with your question.

I am one of those guys that WILL [on the un-weighted side] put my shortrigged outrigger out as far as I can get it. Here is my reason.

I know that I cannot put my boom over this outrigger, so if I screw-up and do it anyway perhaps the little that I have it out will allow me to get my head out of my butt and slew the boom back where it belongs before it tips over… maybe.  The idea that I would do this is foreign to my thought process.  If it did happen, that little bit might save the day.

Now that I have ruined my credibility as a safety man: Kill me. ;~)

That's exactly how I feel BOB...Well said

I was told to think of it as a pop can, strong on the ends but weak in the middle, so if your in all the way or out all the way you have alot better support, rather than half out it would be more likely to be stressed. I always put them out as far as I can, but never swing past the outrigger on the side im pumping off of. So if im only short rigged on the back left side, I wouldnt swing the boom past the back right outrigger, keeping all the weight off the short rigged side. Just how I was taught.

I want to tell you what we are doing in this situation.

(1) If we have pour for foundation, ground floor, first floor, second floor and third floor that time we are open full outrigger job side and other side depend on remaining place.

(2) If we have pour fourth floor or more height (all boom in height position) that time we are open equal outrigger from all side.

                          Hi Tiago !

Read about it here : http://www.concretepumpers.com/pdfs/05003_shortrigbulletin.pdf

It is some reinforcment in the suportleg so a X-style should be in or out , not in the middle...

It should be written in the manual of your pump...

I know that my Schwing should be in or out , and our pumps of another brand has the same written in the manual....

Call the manufactuer of your pump and ask them , they should know !

if you must short rig your pump get a spotter and have him sign a spotter agreement. I hate shot rigging my pump but i have done it several times but only with a spotter.

I used to put them out as far as I could until I read what problems it could cause later, a damaged outrigger is nothing to mess with,so, would I rather have to keep my head out my a-- while I'm shortrigged and not damage my equipment or one day when I've done everything rite a outrigger break or fail on me,I know I've got to be careful when I'm shortrigged,but when there spread all the way and I'm in my comfort zone and the outrigger breaks it could be catastrophic so I either put them all the way out or just put them straight down,and there is a difference between outrigger styles most front outriggers should not be deployed if shortrigged and rear ones that extend should not be deployed but the swing out rears can be deployed partially because theres no housing to cause damage to,its another one of those preferences and I prefer not to damage the equipment and to pay attention to my situation while shortrigged

Next time you have your leg fully extended take a look inside to see what is there to support it.

Your outriggers work like cantilever beams when fully extended. The force at the support is equal to the force being applied at the point. When the leg is kept in the force applied is supported by not only frame above the leg but also by the frame at the opposite end.

Now if you move your leg to half extension the frame above becomes a pivot point which needs a force from the end of your beam still in the machine to equal that which is applied to the ground. Now if there is nothing in there which can provide this support except for the chain on which your leg travels, then your pivot point ( truck frame ) is being forced to take the brunt of this weight.

The last time I was in a structural class if you do not have equal forces being applied to both ends in opposite directions then failure can occur at not only the pivot point but also at the ends depending on what is there for it to hit against.

I know I don't have the experience most of you have on here, but that is what I was shown and have applied from my schooling. 

To answer the question: If I short rig I keep the leg in close, but I try to fully extend all legs whenever possible 

Answer, "machine stability must be more important in an operators mind than trying to preserve the outrigger from deformation by keeping it closed all together - and run the risk of tipping your machine over".

Every Milimeter you can gain from a short rigged leg is benefitial and may get you out of trouble should tragedy beckon at your door esp if it happened on the loaded fully stretched outrigger side.

The idea is not to overly load that short rigged leg unecessarily with the way you use your boom. As the center of gravity of your machine is constantly variable you should practise using boom placement techniques that minimise forces upon the short outrigger - without comprimising your safety.

Whats the problem with shortrigging ?

If you do what the manufactuer says ? And have the boom in the safe area?

If it says that the shortrigged side should the suportlegs DONT be out why  should You put it out and maybee damage the suportleg so it would break one day ?

And when most of the new pumps has some kind of "OSS" I dont know what Schwing or concord calls it ? (I run a Schwing...)

In my OPINION THE WEIGHT GAIN/ LOSS MAY NOT BE WORTH THE SAFETY CONCERNS CAUSED..

 A GOOD FRIEND SUCCESSFULLY RAN A MINI-STOCK RACE CAR FOR YEARS AVIODING REMOVING THE STOCK WINDSHIELD AND REPLACING WITH LEXAN. BECAUSE HE SAID HE'S RATHER BE ABLE TO SEE(THE LEXAN GETS PITTED QUICKLY). LEXAN WAS STRONGER IF YES IF PROPERLY INSTALLED.

While we are in this short rigging mode let me hit on another danger.

Way too many operators “high-side” their pumps to excess. High-siding is a job to job judgment call and should not be done too excess, if at all. I wish I had a dollar for every pump set-up I have seen with the front tires swinging in the air and the set-up at (measured with an electronic level) 15 to 20 deg’ out of level.

The real potential for danger comes when you are short rigged on the light side and at the same time high sided on the boom side. You do not see too many of the older operators do this. I think that the reason is that most of them have had a slewing brake or gear failure at one time.

If you have any kind of slewing problem while set up short and high you have a 100% chance of turning over your machine.

Right on Bob! Saw a rookie set up in a steep driveway in Austin. 28m Schwing (1-2 locked, 3 pointing down) when slewing let loose and saw it swing to the back and damn near took the cab off of the redi-mix truck parked behind him. The look on his face was priceless. Cab crushed, I think he was lookin' for a taxi. 

Mitch

Must admit that I have finished a pour with a bigass rope tied to my tip so that the crew could do the boom left & right thing. I was lucky, but I sure got the message.