Level pick. On a slope the low point carries more than this.
Are both pick points at the same height?
About this tool
A two-point pick almost never splits down the middle. This works out what each point is really carrying, and where the hook has to sit for the load to come up level.
How it is worked out
Take moments about one pick point. If the load weighs W, the pick points are D apart, and the centre of gravity sits a along from A:
- Point A carries = W × (D − a) ÷ D
- Point B carries = W × a ÷ D
- Working the other way, if you have weighed each end: a = D × WB ÷ (WA + WB)
The far point carries the share proportional to how close the weight is to the other one — which is why a centre of gravity a quarter of the way along puts three quarters of the load on the near point, not half.
This is a two-point pick in one direction only. Real loads have a centre of gravity in three dimensions — sideways and up as well as along. A high centre of gravity makes a load want to roll over the moment it swings, and none of that is in these numbers. Four-point picks, spreader beams and anything unusual belong in an engineered lift plan.
Finding the centre of gravity when nobody knows it
- Take the load’s weight at each end. A load cell or a scale under each end, then the second mode above tells you where the centre of gravity is.
- Trial lift. Barely break it off the ground and watch which way it tips. It tips toward the heavy end — move the hook that way and try again.
- Look for the obvious. A motor on one end of a skid, a full tank on one side, the thick end of a tapered beam. The eye finds it faster than the maths.
Weights are rounded up. Hang the hook anywhere other than over the centre of gravity and the load comes up on the slant — and the high end’s sling goes slack while the low end takes everything.