Talk me out of it? Real steel hybrid.

[mannytheseacow]

Yes, I'm really looking forward to pictures! And how your experiences go with them!

[DrewInToledo]

[pa_friendly_guy]

Was that picture just a teaser? Do you plan on letting us hang? Details, we want details. Oh, by the way, Those packing crates look big enough to build a cabin on Walden Pond, they certainly packed them well for shipping.

[TruGrit]

.. awesome Drew! .. looks like enough kindlin' for the first few burns .. can't wait to see it!

[matt walker]

YES! Man, yeah, comes with a free cord of wood, what a deal. I imagine Drew is breaking his back right now, hopefully you have beer and friends there.

[DrewInToledo]

You're right!! I have tons of wood to burn! I ended up saving the large crate to place on my porch and toss seasoned wood in so I don't have to run around back to grab a couple pieces during the cold weather. I'll probably end up trimming one side down so it's easier to reach in and grab a piece when needed.

So guys... Here's the deal. This thing is . At 6'3" around 230#, I'm a fairly big guy and I have moved upright pianos and such. No sweat! But this? THIS.. I'm having a problem with.... it's damned heavy and awkward!!

And of course, it HAD to downpour when I was trying to get my trailer backed to the door which ended as a huge FAIL. After a few attempts, I ended up putting a couple nice muddy ruts in my yard. Gee, I wonder what the neighbors are thinking? The local grade school bus stops at my corner and lets the kids out. They got off the bus and I heard them say "What the heck?!??" I almost told them I had monsters in the crates but I decided to ask them how school is going instead.

Now, here I am with a dilemma... did I mention this crate is HEAVY and AWKWARD??

I need to get this beast off of my trailer but it's far further from my door than anticipated and into my house... Hmmm... I decided to squeak the crate off the trailer onto a wooden dolly so I put a couple of jacks under the trailer to keep it from sinking as I inched it off. To pull it into the house, nailed 2 2x4's together for strength, then I wrapped the ends of this brace with towels and put it behind the door frame in the dining room to use for leverage. I ran a tow strap from this brace all the way out of my house and wrapped it around the crate. I had a come along "winch" in series with the tow line. When inching off the trailer, tension would build in the towline and cable. Then, the crate would violently thrust forward a few inches. And this is on a wet trailer from the rain.. I repeated the process.

One thing I didn't care for is that the bottom of the crate has no cross slats (as seen below) and my dolly was too small, so I had to cut down and rebuild a palette that fit the dolly and supported the crate. Otherwise, the center vertical "leg" of the bottomless palette under the crate would land on the dolly and break/teeter/fall/fail.

I wasn't too comfortable doing this... especially raising the center of gravity.

But.... I live in a ranch style home and only had to go up about 1 foot rise to get inside, then another foot from the mudroom into the hallway... right?

Dang! If I can only get this beast inside.... Here's a picture of the scariness:



Ummm...

yeah.....

You're right...

It's scary and its a bad idea...

This crate is HEAVY and AWKWARD!!

Don't worry though..... no one was hurt!!

The tension built up when the crate was near the end of the trailer and the crate shot forward and landed on the dolly where it proceeded to crush the dolly.

I did have a slat of wood chocking the wheels, but the weight was no challenge for that beast.

The stove came crashing down, somewhat to a slow tune that set me at ease a little. I am certain there is no damage.



WHOOPS!!!

I placed a anchor below the crate and gently jacked up the crate a scotch and removed the dolly, wrapped a tarp around the crate and went inside somewhat frustrated to think about the next day....

I have access to very large cardboard tubes from a local envelope company that I can roll this thing in on. The tubes come in loaded with a gigantic rolls of paper that can only fit on a semi truck. They're BIG!! (As a matter of fact, I was thinking that they would be perfect for my next core mold.) They're about 6-8" in diameter and the walls are about 1/2" thick. Hmmmm... Maybe I can roll the crate into the house on 4-5 of these tubes? After all, the weight would be distributed across all of the tubes, and the Egyptians did it, right??

I tested the theory and it works just fine and the spooky part of getting it off the trailer is over. Honestly guys, I'm somewhat relieved this failed immediately instead of waiting until I'm in my house trying to get up the step or something...

[matt walker]

Holy crap man. I'm sorry, but I did laugh at the last photo, you did such a nice job with the build up. There's only one thing for it Drew, beer and dudes. Go get three more dudes, promise them beer. You guys will have that thing in place in a few minutes, minus some door trim and maybe a toe. Still, there will be beer.

[pa_friendly_guy]

Using roller of some type under the stove would have been my suggestion. I guy I know moves huge rocks what way by getting them up onto logs and rolling them forward with his tractor. If the cardboard tubes don't crush under the weight you should be fine with your plan. Getting through the door might be a bit tricky, but once it is inside it should be easier. Did you ever think of asking for Help?? Just a thought. Doing a job like that by yourself is a killer. Good luck with getting it into place, We are all pulling for you.

[pa_friendly_guy]

By the way, if you have a bunch of those tubes I would suggest cutting a bunch of rollers. You will need to move the ones from the back to the front so that the crate is always on the rollers. Do not hurry the process, take your time. That guy I mentioned that moves 5 ton stones with logs and his tractor only moves then a very short distance before he has to get off the tractor and move the logs. Patience is a virtue with this type of project.

[mannytheseacow]

See Drew, it's just like I told you, if you had that rocket in the truck of your low-rider you could have totally had more traction to back that thing right up to the door.....

The last time I moved a big box stove I was living in this place that me and a bunch of guys were rebuilding.... We just put the stove in the bucket of the tractor, cut a hole in the wall, and set it in place.

None of this helps you, though, does it? I'm lifting in spririt!

Go get some friends and some beer! Or can you just flip it end over end?