Track B — rough terrain, leverage, and load charts
8 min read 12 scenarios · 80% to pass
Why this matters
Outdoor festival builds run on Class 7 telehandlers ('shooting booms') across uncompacted ground. The higher and farther the boom reaches, the less it can safely lift — and a single tire sinking into hidden mud is a tip-over.
Module briefing
01
Reading the Load Capacity Chart
A telehandler's rated capacity is not one number — it's a chart.
Capacity drops as the boom extends outward and upward. The load chart maps safe capacity against boom angle and extension length.
Read your actual boom position against the chart BEFORE the pick — a weight that's safe tucked in can tip you when extended.
Hard Rule· Read the chart for the actual position
Rated capacity applies only at the boom's most favorable position. At full reach and height, safe capacity can drop by more than half. Read the chart for where the boom actually is.
02
Boom Extension & Leverage
Every foot the boom extends out moves the load's center of gravity farther from the machine, increasing the tipping moment.
Keep loads tucked in and low while traveling; only extend once positioned and stabilized. Use smooth hydraulic control — a sudden extend or drop at reach can pitch the machine forward.
Core Drill· Core Drill — tuck to travel, extend to place
Carry with the boom retracted and low. Extend only when you're set, stabilized, and reading the chart for that position.
Teaching model · not a load chartThe farther the boom reaches, the less it can lift. Curves from the Safety Engine's teaching model: a 10,000 lb default rating, ground margins ×1.00 concrete and ×0.70 festival mud. Teaching model, not a load chart — the placarded chart on the machine is the authority.
03
Stabilizer Deployment & Frame Leveling
Outriggers and a level frame come before any high pick.
1Position the machine on the most solid ground available
2Deploy all stabilizers/outriggers onto firm footing (add cribbing or pads on soft ground)
3Use the chassis-leveling system to level the frame — a boom is only safe over a level base
4Confirm the frame is level BEFORE extending the boom
5Extend smoothly to the target height without jerking the controls
Hard Rule· No pads, no pick
On soft festival ground, never extend the boom without confirmed firm bearing (cribbing/pads) under every stabilizer and a level frame.
04
The Invisible Mud Tip-Over
Festival grounds hide washouts and soft spots under plywood, ground-protection plastic, or a thin dry crust. A telehandler carrying a generator can tip the instant one tire sinks.
Actively read the terrain — probe questionable ground, watch for sinking or listing, and route over compacted paths.
Tour Reality· The ground lies
A flat sheet of plywood can hide a washout that swallows a tire. Read the terrain actively; if a tire starts to sink or the machine lists, stop before the point of no return.
05
The Grade Rule — It Depends On Whether You're Loaded
The single most-misquoted rule on a festival site. It is not 'forks uphill, always'.
1LOADED, on a grade over 10%: the load points UPHILL — ascending AND descending. You drive up forward and back down. The load stays on the high side so it cannot slide off the forks and the center of gravity stays inside the wheelbase.
2UNLOADED: the forks point DOWNHILL. With no load, the counterweight is the heavy end, and the heavy end belongs uphill. Reversing this on an empty machine is a real way to tip one.
3On any grade, loaded or not: tilt the load back if the machine allows it, and raise it only as far as needed to clear the surface.
4Ascend and descend slowly. Never turn across a grade.
Hard Rule· Loaded uphill, empty downhill
Cal/OSHA GISO 3650(t)(14)(A) states it for the loaded case: on grades in excess of 10 percent, LOADED trucks are driven with the load upgrade. The empty-machine convention follows from where the weight is — counterweight to the high side. If you only remember one thing: the HEAVY end goes uphill, and what counts as the heavy end changes when you set the load down.
Deliberate Practice
Interactive Scenario Trainer
Begin Interactive Scenarios
12 real situations from the floor. Type your decision — the trainer grades it against the named technique and gives you instructor-level feedback. Pass mark: 80%.
