# Boxes hanging from construction cranes **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 3, 2004, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boxes-hanging-from-construction-cranes/258094 "2004-08-03T05:06:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nonpolar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@nonpolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonpolar)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boxes-hanging-from-construction-cranes/258094/1 "2004-08-03T05:06:50Z")
what are thost thing that look like fairly big boxes/crates hanging sometimes from construction cranes? Maybe workers keep inside them some expensive tools to prevent theft? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boxes-hanging-from-construction-cranes/258094/2 "2004-08-03T05:09:13Z")
Are you talking about the counterweight, which hangs off the back of the crane? Or are you refering to the fact that a number of companies hoist valuable equipment off the ground at night? Either way, this belongs someplace other than the Pit. But in that spirit…what the fuck are you talking about? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boxes-hanging-from-construction-cranes/258094/3 "2004-08-03T05:11:34Z")
lol yer supposed to take the plastic off the cigars before you smoke 'em, bro. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boxes-hanging-from-construction-cranes/258094/4 "2004-08-03T05:19:21Z")
Since this is the Pit, they are called gangboxes, and all of the expensive fucking tools are put in them and then hoisted up in the air such that anybody who would try to steal them is really ballsy or really nuts. Not that that will stop them-thieves are quite inventive. I’ve seen thousands of dollars of stuff disappear on supposedly secure jobsites. ---
**Author:** ![nonpolar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@nonpolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonpolar)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boxes-hanging-from-construction-cranes/258094/5 "2004-08-03T05:19:24Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Are you talking about the counterweight, which hangs off the back of the crane? Or are you refering to the fact that a number of companies hoist valuable equipment off the ground at night? Either way, this belongs someplace other than the Pit. > > But in that spirit…what the fuck are you talking about? 😃 Not the counter weight,I’m not that stoned. So you think they keep inside them some equipment?I knew it. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boxes-hanging-from-construction-cranes/258094/6 "2004-08-03T05:49:40Z")
> [@nonpolar](#): > > Not the counter weight,I’m not that stoned. > So you think \*\* they keep inside them some equipment?\*\*I knew it. Since when did Yoda join the SDMB? 😃 Just teasing, sorry, it’s late, could NOT resist. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boxes-hanging-from-construction-cranes/258094/7 "2004-08-03T06:22:22Z")
> [@nonpolar](#): > > they keep inside them some equipment? Stoned not that much, but stoned you _are_, young Jedi. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boxes-hanging-from-construction-cranes/258094/8 "2004-08-03T12:35:45Z")
Sometimes that box is a portable generator. The portable generators are mounted on trailers and its a little too easy for a bad guy to back up an F250 with a trailer hitch and “borrow”. So it goes in the air where Billy-Bob’s truck can’t get to it. And wouldn’t \*\* Crane Box\*\* be a great band name? ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boxes-hanging-from-construction-cranes/258094/9 "2004-08-03T12:39:02Z")
Couldn’t they just put a mattress on the ground under the box and shoot the cable with a rifle? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boxes-hanging-from-construction-cranes/258094/10 "2004-08-03T12:42:53Z")
C’mon guys. Don’t lead the boy on. We may as well 'fess up. There are in fact chicks in those boxes who want to be banged by [cockausian males](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=269521). ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boxes-hanging-from-construction-cranes/258094/11 "2004-08-03T13:08:50Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > C’mon guys. Don’t lead the boy on. We may as well 'fess up. There are in fact chicks in those boxes who want to be banged by [cockausian males](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=269521). 😃😃😃😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boxes-hanging-from-construction-cranes/258094/12 "2004-08-03T13:15:33Z")
Why is this in the Pit? ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boxes-hanging-from-construction-cranes/258094/13 "2004-08-03T13:24:25Z")
I’ve always assumed that this practice served a dual purpose: first, you don’t want to leave the crane cable unwighted and loose overnight, and, second, you can protect a bit of your equipment by hoisting it into the air. I may be out to lunch on the first item, but I’ve always figured that leaving the cables unweighted runs the risk of getting them tangled in the pullys. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boxes-hanging-from-construction-cranes/258094/14 "2004-08-03T13:25:35Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > Couldn’t they just put a mattress on the ground under the box and shoot the cable with a rifle? 😛 How stupid can you be? The box would bounce and land on the shooter’s head! WTF? Have you never seen a Roadrunner cartoon?! ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boxes-hanging-from-construction-cranes/258094/15 "2004-08-04T06:30:29Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > I’ve always assumed that this practice served a dual purpose: first, you don’t want to leave the crane cable unwighted and loose overnight, and, second, you can protect a bit of your equipment by hoisting it into the air. > > I may be out to lunch on the first item, but I’ve always figured that leaving the cables unweighted runs the risk of getting them tangled in the pullys. actually no. I worked on a job, back in the days before college, where the crane could not have a gangbox hoisted overnight. This was because there was no brake on the crane and it was illegal to leave a load on the cable o/nite. So every night the cable was left empty. No tangles in the AM. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boxes-hanging-from-construction-cranes/258094/16 "2004-08-04T11:07:16Z")
Cool. Glad to hear from one who knows. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boxes-hanging-from-construction-cranes/258094/17 "2004-08-04T11:12:22Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > How stupid can you be? The box would bounce and land on the shooter’s head! > > WTF? Have you never seen a Roadrunner cartoon?! Only if he buys his matresses from ACME. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boxes-hanging-from-construction-cranes/258094/18 "2004-08-04T12:21:27Z")
The boxes are all filled with aspiring escape artists, practicing. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boxes-hanging-from-construction-cranes/258094/19 "2004-08-04T17:51:55Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Only if he buys his matresses from ACME. Damn you, you stole my joke. The only difference is the box was made by Acme, and you beat me by like 10 hours. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boxes-hanging-from-construction-cranes/258094/20 "2004-08-04T20:25:07Z")
A quick glance at **nonpolar’s** posting history inspires me to write a country western. The sumary quotes are lyrical and intriguing. Anybody else? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boxes-hanging-from-construction-cranes/258094.md?page=2)