I just posted this on another forum in a thread about machinery moves.
Two difficult ones......
A 13,000# steam engine powered generator from the Gold Coast Railway Museum in Miami FL in July.
(While not a big'n for some of you guys, that's a heavy one for me.)
It took almost 5 days (with no help) to get pieces of that thing thru a small door. Temperature in that
building was 140F in the daytime. At nite, wild dogs roamed the facility. As I worked, I could see the
pack's eyes lit up in the distance.
Oh, I did get some help....a couple kids were sentenced by a judge to do community service there
for some mischief. Each stood around for their hour long sentence enduring a lecture on rigging
& safety.
That was tiring. Then I had a 1400 mile drive home.
Advice:
On heat: Drink lots'o water. Eat. Get your electrolytes. Eat. Be safe, slow & methodical. And be sure to eat.
On wild dogs: Don't run. Stand your ground. Tell those b1tches who's boss.
A big ole Fitchburg steam engine in the basement of an antique store (old shoe factory) in NH.
I was helping a friend get an engine he paid too much for.
(He didn't factor in the work & cost of a full week to extract & move the rassin frassin beast.)
The recipe:
Consider all the plans which won't work. Eventually figure out one that will.
Cut a hole in the floor.
Buy a lot of lumber & jack screw posts.
Re-frame the building's central structure to support 4 floors above.
Remove main support structure erected on top of the engine.
(I had the building's owner's permission to do all that. Why on Earth would she trust
someone like me do that? She had no insurance on the building cuz it was uninsurable.)
Take apart the engine.
Rig a gantry crane to lift the parts up to the 1st floor.
Clear a long exit path of all the knick knacks, geegaws, jimcracks, bricabrack, chotchkies, & other fragile collectibles.
Rent a forklift to move parts from loading dock to trailer.
Manage to stay friends with the engine's owner despite his being in a hurry, & getting yelled at for unsafe behavior.
Life doesn't get any better than that, eh.
Btw, I took pictures to document the Fitchburg move.
The owner doesn't smile in any of them.
Expensive learning experiences can do that to a guy.