Raining this morning, can't do much so thought I would tell the porch moving story....
When we moved our house we hired a building mover with a big roll back truck to move our porch over to the new property. Because I knew it would be a while before the skirting was up and the area under the porch would be ready, had him drop the porch in an open area about 60 feet away from the house. Our porch is 10 foot by 16 foot built out of 2x6 treated lumber including the decking and has a roof. I would estimate it weighs close to 1000 pounds isn't something you just pick up and move.
So come time to move the porch over to the house, had to come up with a way to get it moved. So happens my neighbor owns a fairly large fork lift and says the fork lift could handle it and I was welcome to borrow it. in the next sentence he says "oh by the way the fork lift has a leaky water pump and you can't keep water in it so don't run for more than a few minutes at a time". You have to know this guy to appreciate him, he has many really neat toys but doesn't take care of anything, if it works at all he is content and maintenance is something you do when it breaks or quits running.
Last Sunday was the day for the big porch move, went over to the neighbors and no one home.. Darn I was counting on him to help me figure out how to pick up a 10 foot wide porch with 4 foot forks. Besides I have never operated a fork lift and didn't have the slightest idea of what I was doing. Left his house and drove down to his shop, no one there either but the fork lift was sitting outside with the key in the ignition.
Well heck lets see if it will start, turned the key and vroom it started without a hitch. A few seconds playing with a couple of levers and the clutch peddle and I figured out forward, back, low and high gear. Put it in low, ease out on the clutch and the thing dies. Start it up again, this time I really rev the engine and ease out on the clutch.. It actually moved so I says to myself OK here we go.. Pulled it forward a little then backed up so I could get it turned in the right direction. Put it back in low and eased out the clutch, rear tires spun like crazy but the fork lift didn't move. Looked down and I had backed the rear tires into a little mud hole and thought I was hopelessly stuck. Well darn going to have to wait until the neighbor gets home and tell him I got his fork lift stuck in a mud hole.
Shut it off, crawled off the thing and there it was sitting there with the forks solidly planted on the ground and I was trying to drive the darn thing, well duh... I had neglected to raise the forks off the ground... Got back on started it up and played around until I found the lever that raised the forks..
Walla we are in business, drove it over to my property, eased up to the porch and jockeyed around until it was square with the porch side. Shut it off, went to the shop to retrieved a water hose and all the chain I could find. Ended up with two length of chain one smaller and shorter than the other. Put the short chain around the two front middle legs, hooked the long chain to the center of the short chain and put the other end over the top of the fork lift's lift and hooked it back to itself. The idea is that when I pick up the fork lift side the chain will pick up the other side.
All hooked up, in position and ready to go.. Topped off the radiator, called Pat from the house to help guide and started picking the whole mess up. Surprisingly enough the lift picked up the porch and my chain lash-up worked as planned.. A few creaks and moans from the porch and it wasn't exactly level but we were off the ground. Slowly drove the porch over to the house, wish I had taken a picture but was too involved in the moment to think about a camera.
Eased it up to the house and only missed the proper location by about 3 feet. Backed up and jockeyed around until it was in the correct location, managed to get it within about a foot of the house thinking I could nudge it up closer after I got the chain unhooked. After disconnecting the chains I felt pretty good about my accomplishments so far, it was pretty close to where it needed to be and I hadn't broke anything.
So now we need to move this thing straight towards the house about a foot. Drove around to one end and put one fork under the porch at a pretty good angle thinking if I turned the wheels just right I could ease it up closer to the house. Lifted up a little and tried to drive forward. Well that was a bad plan as I was also moving it sideways which wasn't a good thing.
Shut it down, got off to analyze the situation, Pat pops up and says don't these things move sideways, referring to the forks. I says I don't think so but when I glanced at the front of the thing I see a hydraulic cylinder sitting horizontal behind the forks. Hum maybe that is what that 3rd lever is for.. Got back on started it up and played with the previously ignored 3rd lever.. By golly the forks will move sideways, hey this is going to be a piece of cake.
Backed up and pulled the fork lift straight into the end of the porch, picked up a little and moved the forks sideways. All of the sudden I had hydraulic fluid spewing about 6 foot into the air and all over me. Didn't take long to realize why that horizontal cylinder and 3rd lever looked like it hadn't been used in quite some time. Well it was only leaking when I moved sideways and I needed to get the porch done. Started moving the porch closer to the house about an inch at a tine running from one end to the other spewing oil everywhere. While all this was going on Pat was armed with a water hose and every time I moved to her side of the porch she would top off the radiator. Our antics would have made a great video, kinda like my other brother Darrel except it was me and the wife...
Managed to get the porch within about an inch of the house and at that point I said I am going to run this thing back over to the neighbors before something major breaks. Got back over to his shop, parked it and thanked god it didn't blow up while I was on it.
It was a fun day....
When we moved our house we hired a building mover with a big roll back truck to move our porch over to the new property. Because I knew it would be a while before the skirting was up and the area under the porch would be ready, had him drop the porch in an open area about 60 feet away from the house. Our porch is 10 foot by 16 foot built out of 2x6 treated lumber including the decking and has a roof. I would estimate it weighs close to 1000 pounds isn't something you just pick up and move.
So come time to move the porch over to the house, had to come up with a way to get it moved. So happens my neighbor owns a fairly large fork lift and says the fork lift could handle it and I was welcome to borrow it. in the next sentence he says "oh by the way the fork lift has a leaky water pump and you can't keep water in it so don't run for more than a few minutes at a time". You have to know this guy to appreciate him, he has many really neat toys but doesn't take care of anything, if it works at all he is content and maintenance is something you do when it breaks or quits running.
Last Sunday was the day for the big porch move, went over to the neighbors and no one home.. Darn I was counting on him to help me figure out how to pick up a 10 foot wide porch with 4 foot forks. Besides I have never operated a fork lift and didn't have the slightest idea of what I was doing. Left his house and drove down to his shop, no one there either but the fork lift was sitting outside with the key in the ignition.
Well heck lets see if it will start, turned the key and vroom it started without a hitch. A few seconds playing with a couple of levers and the clutch peddle and I figured out forward, back, low and high gear. Put it in low, ease out on the clutch and the thing dies. Start it up again, this time I really rev the engine and ease out on the clutch.. It actually moved so I says to myself OK here we go.. Pulled it forward a little then backed up so I could get it turned in the right direction. Put it back in low and eased out the clutch, rear tires spun like crazy but the fork lift didn't move. Looked down and I had backed the rear tires into a little mud hole and thought I was hopelessly stuck. Well darn going to have to wait until the neighbor gets home and tell him I got his fork lift stuck in a mud hole.
Shut it off, crawled off the thing and there it was sitting there with the forks solidly planted on the ground and I was trying to drive the darn thing, well duh... I had neglected to raise the forks off the ground... Got back on started it up and played around until I found the lever that raised the forks..
Walla we are in business, drove it over to my property, eased up to the porch and jockeyed around until it was square with the porch side. Shut it off, went to the shop to retrieved a water hose and all the chain I could find. Ended up with two length of chain one smaller and shorter than the other. Put the short chain around the two front middle legs, hooked the long chain to the center of the short chain and put the other end over the top of the fork lift's lift and hooked it back to itself. The idea is that when I pick up the fork lift side the chain will pick up the other side.
All hooked up, in position and ready to go.. Topped off the radiator, called Pat from the house to help guide and started picking the whole mess up. Surprisingly enough the lift picked up the porch and my chain lash-up worked as planned.. A few creaks and moans from the porch and it wasn't exactly level but we were off the ground. Slowly drove the porch over to the house, wish I had taken a picture but was too involved in the moment to think about a camera.
Eased it up to the house and only missed the proper location by about 3 feet. Backed up and jockeyed around until it was in the correct location, managed to get it within about a foot of the house thinking I could nudge it up closer after I got the chain unhooked. After disconnecting the chains I felt pretty good about my accomplishments so far, it was pretty close to where it needed to be and I hadn't broke anything.
So now we need to move this thing straight towards the house about a foot. Drove around to one end and put one fork under the porch at a pretty good angle thinking if I turned the wheels just right I could ease it up closer to the house. Lifted up a little and tried to drive forward. Well that was a bad plan as I was also moving it sideways which wasn't a good thing.
Shut it down, got off to analyze the situation, Pat pops up and says don't these things move sideways, referring to the forks. I says I don't think so but when I glanced at the front of the thing I see a hydraulic cylinder sitting horizontal behind the forks. Hum maybe that is what that 3rd lever is for.. Got back on started it up and played with the previously ignored 3rd lever.. By golly the forks will move sideways, hey this is going to be a piece of cake.
Backed up and pulled the fork lift straight into the end of the porch, picked up a little and moved the forks sideways. All of the sudden I had hydraulic fluid spewing about 6 foot into the air and all over me. Didn't take long to realize why that horizontal cylinder and 3rd lever looked like it hadn't been used in quite some time. Well it was only leaking when I moved sideways and I needed to get the porch done. Started moving the porch closer to the house about an inch at a tine running from one end to the other spewing oil everywhere. While all this was going on Pat was armed with a water hose and every time I moved to her side of the porch she would top off the radiator. Our antics would have made a great video, kinda like my other brother Darrel except it was me and the wife...
Managed to get the porch within about an inch of the house and at that point I said I am going to run this thing back over to the neighbors before something major breaks. Got back over to his shop, parked it and thanked god it didn't blow up while I was on it.
It was a fun day....