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Running a Manitowoc 2250 versus a newer Grove for a year showed me what really matters
I spent 12 months on a Manitowoc 2250 on a bridge job in Pittsburgh, then switched to a new Grove GMK5250L. The Manitowoc felt like a tank, slow but you could feel every move. The Grove is fast and the screen tells you everything, but it feels like driving a video game. I miss the real feel of the old rigs. Anyone else think new cranes take the skill out of the seat?
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abby_martin283mo ago
I used to think differently about that "not a driver" point you made, honestly. Before I spent a summer on one of those new Grove models, I told myself the old analog feel was the only way to know your machine. But after a week of the computer handling the load chart and boom angles for me, I realized it freed me up to focus on the bigger picture of the job site.
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leo5055mo ago
Ever feel like the computer's doing the work now? The new ones take the guesswork out, but that guesswork was the whole job. You're just an operator now, not a driver.
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claire9925mo ago
Ugh, my friend just told me a perfect story for this. He's a photographer, and his new camera basically sets everything for him, even picking the best shot from a burst. He said it feels like the camera took the photo, not him. Totally get what you mean, @leo505. He misses the old days of messing with settings and hoping it worked, because getting it right felt like he actually did something. Now he just points and holds a button.
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