gatt writes:

That's because he could probably make the flight safely, and
statistically he could land without significant harm to the passengers,
but if something got bent and the insurance company finds out he
knowingly operated outside of operating limitations they could deny his
claim.

If he could probably make the flight safely, why is the limit below his
weight? At what point does "probably safely" become "probably unsafely," if
not at the official limit? Why should a pilot guess at whether or not
something is safe when a clearly documented limit defines what is known to be
safe?