Posted by David Sherman on Sunday, January 15, 2006 at 10:50PM :
In Reply to: Gee, I wish I had thought of that... posted by Jonas on Sunday, January 15, 2006 at 10:35PM :
Having seen that machine I can believe it doesn't have enough power to use the hoe lift itself off the ground. These days everybody's spoiled with unlimited diesel-hydraulic power that can move, lift, dig, and break anything. When you have old machines or no machines, you have to outsmart the load. A good old-time rigger can do amazing things with chain falls, jacks, and blocks. I watched two guys put a pair of 12x12 I-beams under a house and lift it 6' up in the air using nothing more than a tiny winch on the back of a pickup and some bottle jacks. Look at how the miners used to get multi-ton pieces of machinery up on top of a mountain or back inside some remote corner of a mine using nothing but muscle power.
You might be able to lift it a little bit at a time using the outriggers, throwing rocks under the tires with each lift, or just get some bottle jacks and timbers and jack it up. By the way, that picture of the hot-shot showing off his backhoe skills on the rear end of the train is from a Navy safety site that's full of pictures of what not to do.
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