Is there a safety standard I'm missing?
for cranes its a requirement to have a minimum 3X the square footage of the stock float, on any surface
cant find a rule for bucket trucks, so I just follow crane rules regarding pads/cribbing
I put pads down for every setup, doesnt matter what im on, really soft ground I put cribbing down under the pads to spread load even more on the side im working off of
asphalt is rated for 29PSI
clay soil at 43psi
virgin ground at 22psi and concrete at 1000psi
source: Altec website
working straight off the front of your truck on level ground you might be safe without pads, but still goes against osha rules, working off the side is way more than 29PSI
playing it safe and assuming the outrigger holds 100% of the weight (it doesnt) my truck puts down 140PSI, cut that down in half or so because the tires hold so much weight still, with an empty box and no chipper connected im around 70PSI, and I have found that to be a bit much even on supposedly solid ground, ive sunk outriggers before, after that made it a policy to put pads or cribbing down