California
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2004
- Messages
- 14,979
- Location
- An hour north of San Francisco
- Tractor
- Yanmar YM240 Yanmar YM186D
A longwinded story just for fun - don't try this at home.
A couple of times a year I have to use my bogus 'forks'. (two 2x6's and some chain).
For some unknown reason Dad had stacked more than two hundred wall tiles behind the barn. They aren't good for anything, too slick and fragile for a patio floor and we don't need any walls tiled. I'm sure Dad got a heck of a deal on them.
I stacked them on pallets, and hope the recycle yard at the dump will take them for free.
The pallet I lifted was initially next to the pallet in the background. It lifted off the ground easily, even though at that time it contained all the tile I had to later unload onto that third pallet in the foreground.
But after raising it, I couldn't move backward. The weight had driven the front tires into the soft ground and the rears now had only a few hundred lbs on them. The teter-totter effect on this minor side slope moved the loaded pallet down toward the lumber rack while the back tires chewed their way sideways to their left instead of driving backward. After some small back and forth motions I was stuck with my load suspended over that pallet by the lumber pile.
I added ballast at the back of the mower, then got a third pallet and transferred half the load to it. No luck, it continued to inch toward to the lumber rack. Still insufficient traction to climb out of its ruts. I had to get out the HighLift jack and force the loader bucket sideways uphill to get past the lumber rack. Finally I got free and backed down the slope, then drove back up and took this picture.
If I had both 4x4 and power steering (or just more rear ballast) this would never have been a problem. As it was, it was one of the few times I have tried something and found it was beyond this antique's capabilities. No harm done, just an hour wasted.
Anybody want a load of tile?
A couple of times a year I have to use my bogus 'forks'. (two 2x6's and some chain).
For some unknown reason Dad had stacked more than two hundred wall tiles behind the barn. They aren't good for anything, too slick and fragile for a patio floor and we don't need any walls tiled. I'm sure Dad got a heck of a deal on them.
I stacked them on pallets, and hope the recycle yard at the dump will take them for free.

The pallet I lifted was initially next to the pallet in the background. It lifted off the ground easily, even though at that time it contained all the tile I had to later unload onto that third pallet in the foreground.
But after raising it, I couldn't move backward. The weight had driven the front tires into the soft ground and the rears now had only a few hundred lbs on them. The teter-totter effect on this minor side slope moved the loaded pallet down toward the lumber rack while the back tires chewed their way sideways to their left instead of driving backward. After some small back and forth motions I was stuck with my load suspended over that pallet by the lumber pile.
I added ballast at the back of the mower, then got a third pallet and transferred half the load to it. No luck, it continued to inch toward to the lumber rack. Still insufficient traction to climb out of its ruts. I had to get out the HighLift jack and force the loader bucket sideways uphill to get past the lumber rack. Finally I got free and backed down the slope, then drove back up and took this picture.
If I had both 4x4 and power steering (or just more rear ballast) this would never have been a problem. As it was, it was one of the few times I have tried something and found it was beyond this antique's capabilities. No harm done, just an hour wasted.
Anybody want a load of tile?