Lifting heavy awkward stuff in tight spaces

[Bullwinkle123]

I have a 6' rotary cutter in my garage on cheap dollies because I'm still assimilating a new tractor and attachments in my life.

If the cutter breaks the dolly, I need to use something to lift it up onto a new dolly. Because I was unprepared for this and the rotary cutter was a 90 degrees relative to the tractor in the garage (to the side, and rotated) I used a crappy old car jack to raise it so I could put another dolly under it. At which point I realized I basically have no way to lift heavy things like this.

I have a hook on my bucket. I also have pallet forks. _maybe_, with nothing on the 3ph I could rotate the tractor enough in the garage to lift the cutter with some chains via the forks/bucket and running it through the toplink pin on the cutter.

I'd hesitate to lift the cutter with pallet forks, because the might damage the blades while trying to get underneath the front of the cutter and while lifting. And I'm guessing that lonely bucket hook isn't really for lifting, it was welded on as a seeming afterthought, as well.

Or I could buy a 2 ton collapsible crane from HF, but I don't have experience with these and don't now how well they work for things like a giant rotary cutter instead of your basic engine block. It also might not slide under the cutter if the cutter "front" (with 3ph hitches) is too close the tractor or a wall.

Or I could buy a better basic hydraulic floor jack (as for a vehicle), though it was really hard to get the old crappy car jack under the side of the rotary cutter (not much clearance on the forward sides, had to position it way back).

So I like the crane type options best.

Anyway, looking for tips here. Using my back to hoist any part of a 745lb implement is not an option.

I'm also toying with the idea of this thing, which looks like a pretty neat idea for not much money.
Forklift Lifting Hoist Swivel Hook Mobile Crane 4 lb. capacity lift

Of course that all goes back to whether I have enough room to position the tractor in the garage, I'm not sure if I do.

Tips? What do you guys use to move lift heavy stuff when it has fallen off (or broken) your dollies?

 

[MossRoad]

Would a boom pole on your 3pt hitch work?

 

[countrybumpkin]

If you have pallet forks and can get them to the cutter just use a short chain off the fork to the top link and lift the front of the cutter enough to switch out the dollies.

 

[Peter 315]

I pickup mine from the side with forks I put chains on the top link and the two brackets on the rear to put it on my trailer for the winter.....

 

[Bullwinkle123]

Would a boom pole on your 3pt hitch work?

Interesting, something like this? CountyLine Boom Pole at Tractor Supply Co.
Would also require me to maneuver in tight spaces ... backward. I'm guessing there's something like that for a quick attach loader too.

 

[Bullwinkle123]

If you have pallet forks and can get them to the cutter just use a short chain off the fork to the top link and lift the front of the cutter enough to switch out the dollies.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking, but with the aid of the fork attachment I linked. I'd worry about the chain falling off too easily just looping it over the forks, but perhaps that's fine as long as I'm extra careful with the loader control. On second thought, even angling the forks up encourages the chain to slide toward me with whatever's hanging from it. Though the attachment I linked isn't foolproof either. Those hand-tightened clamps are only going to give marginal slip resistance.

 

[newbury]

Lifting heavy awkward stuff in tight spaces

A lot depends on what you call a "tight space".
I try to keep a couple of little hydraulic jacks and a Farm jack available. If I've room to maneuver and it's on a concrete floor I might go for my pallet jack. Now if I can get a tractor in there chains off the bucket work well.

 

[downsizingnow48]

I put my old HF engine hoist on the FEL. As an engine hoist it was just in the way 95% of the time and awkward to use for most stuff because you have to get the legs underneath. As an FEL attachment it is easy to use and I use it frequently. The B21 is low enough to drive into both shop and garage if need be. Having it on the front of the tractor is much easier to position for lifting than on the rear.

 

[Reb954]

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.

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.

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.
Notice the two safety chains holding the mill back to the mast.

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

 

[IslandTractor]

I use either a tree boom, forks or my backhoe in situations like the OP posted. For heavy but smaller items, a HF 2 ton foldable shop crane is handy too.