Lifting heavy awkward stuff in tight spaces

[Bullwinkle123]

No one method is going to work in all situations so you will need more than one option for moving things.

The HF crane is the least likely to work. The boom does not extend past the legs so if the mower is on the floor you can't get the legs under it. I have been rebuilding a Bridgeport mill using a HF crane like you mentioned. I ended up putting a pallet on the legs to set the parts on, then wheel it to a point I could get the tractor to, then used the tractor forks to take the pallet off the crane legs.
View attachment 652164
If space allows, using the tractor with forks or bucket works well. You can always weld more hooks on the bucket and beef it up as needed. I use a slotted angle iron which gives me a number of places to hook and beefs up the bucket a bit.
View attachment 652165
If using my forks to move my mower (no pictures) I just stick one fork in the crotch of the upper 3 point assembly and run a chain off the other fork to the wheel frame work. Practice will help you learn to keep the forks fairly level so things don't slide off but you can run a safety chain to the frame work if needed.
View attachment 652166 Notice the two safety chains holding the mill back to the mast.

Your imagination is the primary limiting factor in getting something done.

Very useful tips, thanks.

 

[3Lfarms]

Can you use a come along to drag it out of it storage location so you can pick it up with the forks?

I store my ditch flail mower in the back corner of the barn. I turn it sideways while hanging in a chain and kind of crank the front wheels and the mower will roll on the rear roller until it’s in the corner 90 degrees to the way it would hang on the tractor.
To get it out, I just hook up the chains off center and slowly pick it up. It pulls the mower sideways and when it’s clear will pick it up and I can back out.

 

[jmc]

Just to be a heretic on a tractor board- fastest way to replace a dolly under your cutter (if I understand it properly) would be to grab a crowbar and a few short boards; pry it up one board thickness at a time.

For general lifting with your loader, I would modify whatever attachment is on it most of the time. I drilled a ball-hitch hole thru one fork tip for moving trailers and that hole can be used to mount a chain hook of some sort too. Unless you need both forks for strength...

About everyone has, or wishes they had, chain hooks or slotted angle iron on their buckets. An easy way is Ken's Bolt On Hooks.

Ken's Bolt on Grab Hooks <<Home>>

 

[Bullwinkle123]

Can you use a come along to drag it out of it storage location so you can pick it up with the forks?

I have a come along, but no place I could attach it to in the garage, and I wouldn't want the heavy tractor attachment scrapping or cutting into the cement on the floor (as I already done in my foolish newbie activities with attachments in the garage). So when dollies or other things fail, I need a way to lift up and off the floor, and nothing in my garage is particularly designed for additional heavy stresses.

 

[jeff9366]

Why not get an 48" X 48" aluminum alloy pallet on rollers with 4,000 pound load capacity for <$400 ?

VENDER: MAGLINER PDN48486 Pallet Dolly,Non-Tilt Model | eBay

You could add two planks 72" in length to support the mower, if necessary.

 

[ericm979]

The easiest fix would be to make your sturdy permanent implement dolly soon. That is simpler than putting work into fixing the results of the temporary dollies' potential failures.

I made mine out of 2x6s and 2x4s, using 5" HF casters because the 1890s concrete barn floor is not smooth.

 

[Bullwinkle123]

Why not get an 48" X 48" aluminum alloy pallet on rollers with 4,000 pound load capacity for <$400 ?

VENDER: MAGLINER PDN48486 Pallet Dolly,Non-Tilt Model | eBay

You could add two planks 72" wide to support the mower, if necessary.

Heh, well, if one pallet solved all my heavy lifting problems then $400 for it probably is money well spent.

No, this is more a "stuff happens" thing. Heavy attachments fall off pallets, fall over, get bumped and moved, whatever Murphy's Law brings into play. And my little car jack from the dump didn't quite feel like the right thing to be using

 

[Bullwinkle123]

The easiest fix would be to make your sturdy permanent implement dolly soon. That is simpler than putting work into fixing the results of the temporary dollies' potential failures.

I made mine out of 2x6s and 2x4s, using 5" HF casters because the 1890s concrete barn floor is not smooth.

Yeah. I have casters for the dolly I'm planning on building for the scraper (but I haven't finalized on the design). I haven't developed much of a plan for the rotary cutter, I was hoping just to stick small dollies under the two front corners and be done with it, though clearly I'd better upgrade my dollies. As noted elsewhere, I'm also trying to handle the "stuff happens" factor. For example, my new grapple is something I haven't got the hang of yet, storage wise. Left partially open it likes to tilt and move. Left closed it looks like it would roll. Those claws also look like they'd be happy to poke a hole through the surface wood as well, in the open position. In fact with all these new toys my garage seems to be one big room of breaking things. I have much to learn.

 

[jeff9366]

Have you collided tractor ROPS with garage trim entering?


While my 1,000 pound Rotary Cutter is stored outside, under a cotton-canvas tarpaulin, a good case can be made for inside storage of this implement with a PTO shaft and many bearings.

Yeah. I have casters for the dolly I'm planning on building for the scraper (but I haven't finalized on the design).

Whatever scraper you have, its function will not be denigrated by outside storage under a cotton-canvas tarpaulin.

No, this is more a "stuff happens" thing. Heavy attachments fall off pallets, fall over, get bumped and moved, whatever Murphy's Law brings into play.

You are focused too much on the equipment. Focus on the danger of getting a foot or other appendage crushed under an implement when lifting. Better rolling pallets. Better outside storage.

 

[Bullwinkle123]

Have you collided tractor ROPS with garage trim entering?


While my 1,000 pound Rotary Cutter is stored outside, under a cotton-canvas tarpaulin, a good case can be made for inside storage of this implement with a PTO shaft and many bearings.



Whatever scraper you have, its function will not be denigrated by outside storage under a cotton-canvas tarpaulin.



You are focused too much on the equipment. Focus on the danger of getting a foot or other appendage crushed under an implement when lifting. Better rolling pallets. Better outside storage.

So far the things I'm prioritizing for inside are tractor, grapple, and rotary cutter, so the other things have all taken turns outdoors. However I intend to fit them all inside at some point.

Re: safety, yes.

Re: ROPS + door, I've managed not to do that ... yet. Sadly, I'm just about exactly the door height with ROPS height, so a ROPS collision is nearly down to tire pressure and any upward momentum I might have. Not gonna test it, deliberately at least