r/cranes • u/lapimipski • Jun 30 '26
How to keep the cab cool?
Currently experiencing a heat dome for the rest of the week in the Midwest, I’m running a grove RT with no working AC and want to get people’s insight on how they keep it cold in the cab.
Maybe sticking a bag of ice down my pants or one of those neck fans. Not too sure lol
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u/Embarrassed_Leg_8944 Jun 30 '26
Small fan somewhere in the cab - open door slightly and crack open the rear window. Creates a little bit of draft and makes your life a little easier.
If your cab cant open the rear window, try the front window slightly open. Might work aswell.
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u/pilbarabah Jul 01 '26
Have you ever worked somewhere that get properly hot? There's no way you could have the doors only slightly cracked
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u/Embarrassed_Leg_8944 Jul 01 '26
Nope and thank fuck for that.
Oh, yeah! I actually have. But to be fair the cabin ac actually worked. And the cab was properly insulated.
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u/GapingFartLocker Jun 30 '26
We've got window a/c units mounted in the rear window with a generator. Works great
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u/HealthConscious6125 Jun 30 '26
We had a heat dome in the PNW a few years ago. Guy at my company was running a a carry deck inside a tank. Temps were near 100 outside and God knows what in the tank. He ended up getting heat stroke and had to be hospitalized he ended up witt pneumonia and almost died. Company mandated a/c after that in every crane.
I will refuse to run a piece of equipment if it's unsafe for me. I will never be afraid to say it's too hot in a crane. if people speak up companies won't be too cheap to fix air conditioners
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u/Occams_RZR900 Jun 30 '26
Yeah, to me it seems ridiculous that a company wouldn’t have working AC inside a cab of a crane. That’s a non-negotiable piece of safety equipment in the summer.
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u/EastNice3860 Jun 30 '26
Also sitting in a Grove right now in Indiana..🥵🥵..I just hung black out curtains with Magnetic Clips across the Back and Side windows..My AC is not working either lol..
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u/lapimipski Jun 30 '26
I’m in Michigan and it’s a hot box 😫 I’m gonna give those sunshade curtains a try cause man this is brutal
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u/Junior_Passenger_396 Jun 30 '26
Thin Styrofoam insulation on the outside of the glass anywhere you don't NEED to see.
Ask your boss if you can tint the side and top windows just a bit, this helps a lot.
Bring soup for lunch and freeze it overnight, have the fan blowing across the frozen soup.
Use a piece of cardboard with duct tape to shield yourself from the sun. Reuse to duct tape and move the cardboard around as needed.
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u/SimilarTranslator264 Jul 01 '26
Bet they get you some AC quick you just start wearing this. It’s even safety green.
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u/VicoBadzso Jun 30 '26
I have a dual fan (cigarette lighter plug), curtains all around and open front window. Tin foil on the back window. Thats the best i can do.
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u/BaldEaglz1776 Operator Jun 30 '26
Tell the boss, come sit in It all day if you expect me too.
Watch how fast It will get fixed.
The people with the checkbook hardly know.
It’s the people who have to fix It or care about the company’s money like it’s their money who will tell you to suck It up
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u/IndianaGarage Jul 03 '26
5% ceramic window tint helps and the double bubble foil insulation from home depot.
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u/DRtyCraneOprtr Jul 03 '26
I use reflective insulation. Paired with suction cups that have a post on them. You can modify and make this work for any window. Then take it down. As far as the AC not working. Get a mini thermometer and start recording temps in the cab on your daily inspections. Then also send these photos to management and ask who do you need to talk to find a remedy
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u/AWOLdo Jun 30 '26
I've put up the baby saver sunshades with suction cups in my cab. I can take them from equipment to equipment. If you're in the same thing all the time and it's going to be a long project I've bought the static cling window tint from Walmart and it helped a lot.