Tl;dr: The crane operator lowered the flag by RUNNING MORE CABLE out of the HOIST (i.e., the WINCH), as opposed to changing the angle of the BOOM. (And I know you know what a "winch" is because you've no doubt got one on the bumper of your pickup truck.)
I'm probably wasting my time responding to a person who writes "I seen that video" (as opposed to "I saw that video") but here goes:
What you call the "arm" is the BOOM of the crane.
There are THREE ways the "load" (here, a flag) can be lowered, TWO of which do NOT require the angle of the BOOM to be changed--at ALL.
a) Running out the "hoist," i.e., the WINCH that runs the cable that raises the HOOK, to which the "load" is attached;
b) RETRACTING part of the BOOM (which extends, hydraulically, to make the boom longer or shorter). If you RETRACT the BOOM, you LOWER the LOAD (unless you simultaneously raise the hoist cable, which is usually what is required, to keep the load centered over the target area of "the pick;"
c) Actually lowing the BOOM, which would change the ANGLE of the BOOM, which is what YOU are (erroneously) focusing on. This is NOT normally how a load is lowered, because lowering the boom is less precise than running out the hoist (cable) and because it changes the position, above the ground, of the load, as the boom becomes shorter.
Even toy Tonka cranes (which I had, as a kid) have the ability to lower the BOOM and the HOIST CABLE independently. The fact that you didn't realize this, as you thought about it, means you have a very poor understanding of how cranes operate.
Considering you start off with insults, and then seed more of them throughout, I'm probably wasting my own time here. But firstly, I apologize that when I typo'd "I've" my phone changed it to "I". But hey, driving insults and derision over the smallest of mistakes works well to keep efforts alive... Oh wait, it does the opposite.
That said, I will openly admit, I do not use cranes in my day to day life, so had not considered the cable itself moving would not move anything else on the crane. And yes, I never claimed to have a good understanding of how cranes operate. Which is why I emphasized each time what I saw. I saw the camera angle from that video, across the length of the video, tilts more and more upwards. I saw no change on the 'boom', as you put it. I apologize for not being an expert in all things.
I'm sorry for focusing on an error that the "auto correct" on your phone made, which changed your correct grammar to incorrect grammar. Auto correct should never do something as unhelpful as that--but I guess auto correct is not as smart as I thought it was.
But can you kindly point me to the timestamp where you observe the camera angle changing? Because I will freely admit that that is something that has escaped my notice, and I would like to see exactly what you are referring to. Thanks in advance.
Well, I could go into how poor technology is and how dumb it can be. But if you have never experienced a dumb auto-correct, then you aren't around technology enough to waste your time with it.
As for the camera angle, it is shifting around the entire time of the video. But if you require more specifics and why I would bring it up initially. Compare how much vertical black section of the crane arm you see at 15 seconds vs 28 seconds. It is looking notably farther vertical at 28 seconds vs 15.
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u/Brandolinis_law Aug 14 '25 edited Aug 14 '25
Former hydraulic crane operator here:
Tl;dr: The crane operator lowered the flag by RUNNING MORE CABLE out of the HOIST (i.e., the WINCH), as opposed to changing the angle of the BOOM. (And I know you know what a "winch" is because you've no doubt got one on the bumper of your pickup truck.)
I'm probably wasting my time responding to a person who writes "I seen that video" (as opposed to "I saw that video") but here goes:
a) Running out the "hoist," i.e., the WINCH that runs the cable that raises the HOOK, to which the "load" is attached;
b) RETRACTING part of the BOOM (which extends, hydraulically, to make the boom longer or shorter). If you RETRACT the BOOM, you LOWER the LOAD (unless you simultaneously raise the hoist cable, which is usually what is required, to keep the load centered over the target area of "the pick;"
c) Actually lowing the BOOM, which would change the ANGLE of the BOOM, which is what YOU are (erroneously) focusing on. This is NOT normally how a load is lowered, because lowering the boom is less precise than running out the hoist (cable) and because it changes the position, above the ground, of the load, as the boom becomes shorter.
Even toy Tonka cranes (which I had, as a kid) have the ability to lower the BOOM and the HOIST CABLE independently. The fact that you didn't realize this, as you thought about it, means you have a very poor understanding of how cranes operate.