Was working with a guy taking turns driving one of those large, extendable forklifts.
We were lifting multi-ton concrete blocks into place on a makeshift wall being used for a large ice salt depot for front loaders.
I was standing up on the wall, helping the other guy guide the blocks onto each other. He set one of the blocks on the others and we both noticed that it was slightly uneven, the guide groves weren’t perfectly matching up, so the block was crooked.
No problem, he backed up a few feet, and then slowly and gently guided one of the forks against the crooked block, trying to push it on one side to straighten it out.
Neither of us noticed that the crooked block was wedged against one of the other blocks on the back side.
He keeps pressing with the fork, slowly pushing harder until, bang!! a sound like a gunshot goes off. I flinch and jump backwards, not sure what just happened. The other guy yells, “Get Down!! Cover your head!!”
I throw myself against the interior wall of the depot, grab onto my hardhat tightly and crunch down in a ball, glancing around trying to see what just happened.
A second or two later I hear a faint but heavy, “thud.” The pressure from the fork shoving that concrete block while it was wedged against the other blocks had caused a chunk of concrete about the size of a bowling ball to break off and explode into into the air, probably 80+ feet.
The thud was it hitting the ground about 50 feet away. It made a nice little crater in the dirt. Would have certainly killed me if it had come down right on my head. Definitely got some pucker factor from that one.
I’m impressed by how many good forklift-stories there are here, I never would have guessed how much crazy shit you guys go through! But this one wins the prize- that sounds sketchy as fuuuck…
Was working with a guy taking turns driving one of those large, extendable forklifts.
We were lifting multi-ton concrete blocks into place on a makeshift wall being used for a large ice salt depot for front loaders.
I was standing up on the wall, helping the other guy guide the blocks onto each other. He set one of the blocks on the others and we both noticed that it was slightly uneven, the guide groves weren’t perfectly matching up, so the block was crooked.
No problem, he backed up a few feet, and then slowly and gently guided one of the forks against the crooked block, trying to push it on one side to straighten it out.
Neither of us noticed that the crooked block was wedged against one of the other blocks on the back side.
He keeps pressing with the fork, slowly pushing harder until, bang!! a sound like a gunshot goes off. I flinch and jump backwards, not sure what just happened. The other guy yells, “Get Down!! Cover your head!!”
I throw myself against the interior wall of the depot, grab onto my hardhat tightly and crunch down in a ball, glancing around trying to see what just happened.
A second or two later I hear a faint but heavy, “thud.” The pressure from the fork shoving that concrete block while it was wedged against the other blocks had caused a chunk of concrete about the size of a bowling ball to break off and explode into into the air, probably 80+ feet.
The thud was it hitting the ground about 50 feet away. It made a nice little crater in the dirt. Would have certainly killed me if it had come down right on my head. Definitely got some pucker factor from that one.
I’m impressed by how many good forklift-stories there are here, I never would have guessed how much crazy shit you guys go through! But this one wins the prize- that sounds sketchy as fuuuck…
Forklift driving isn’t as easy as it looks, and in some cases makes your job more stressful.