Twenty years of inspection reports repeat the same short list. Watch these four wear points and most surprises disappear.
Hooks and latches
Throat opening grows before anything visibly bends. Measure it against the table in the manual — a stretched hook retires, no exceptions.
Rope and chain ends
Wear concentrates where rope meets drum and chain meets sprocket at the most-used hook height. Vary pick heights when the process allows.
Brakes that never get asked
Brakes fail silently until the day they matter. A monthly full-load holding check takes five minutes and settles the question.
Wheel flanges and rail joints
Flange wear tells you about rail alignment, not wheels. Shimming a runway is cheap; replacing every wheel yearly is not.
