The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest How to move non running truck around the shop/yard

My garage is pretty tight, and I'm about ready to bring in an non operational truck for an engine and driveline upgrade. Knowing I'd have to move it in and out and around numerous times before it's done, and I have to much of a hill in front of the garage to roll it around myself; I had to come up with something.

Couple hours cutting and welding Saturday morning and here's the solution:
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2746033370080251109nQAvDj
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2806074490080251109BTXuUe
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2780902280080251109dsEuyY
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2798336710080251109VdnhST

And in action
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2648343640080251109NWAokq

Works quite well, but takes a little getting used to how to drive it, kind of like backing up a trailer, but harder... probably because the forklift is already driving/steering backwards, then throw in the trailer sort of thing and it's not the same as backing a truck with a trailer (which is really easy for me)

Grigg

good job! I can relate to that - I've got a little forklift, sure handy, and will hate to be without it someday! I don't get so elaborate tho', just have holes in the ends of the extra long forks to peg big U-bolts in and 'hook' things to moose them around

Bill

Kinda like a fifth wheel hitch, very nice.
I have a Kubota mini-excavator thats great for moving stuff around and then some, most versitile machine I've ever had.
Does everything.

I needed to move my 35 1 ton around a lot of times.I put some eye bolts in the front and rear frame holes with some chain and used my tractor bucket to lift and move mine around I wanted to work on the truck more than spend a lot of time building a complacated rig

We rebuilt wrecks for many years and still move non runners with a forklift. When you back, you just need to remember that the point of the hitch has to go the opposite way you want the vehicle to go. We even use a forklift to back empty trailers into the shop. We carry an air tank on the forklift to charge the trailer air system. We find that much quicker than waiting for the yard truck to build up air pressure.

I've used the chain and tractor or forklift method, but there's a pretty good chance of screwing something up. The little axle cradle/swivel thing I made about eliminates that chance. Makes it much more maneuverable and predictable, which is helpful because I've got only an extra foot or so room in the garage where the truck fits.

Grigg

I need a forklift.

I like it,

Ours works on the same principle, but is a whole lot heavier. In fact it is so heavy, we set it on the ground and stab it with the with the forklift. I think this one should be light enough that one is able to carry it to the forklift. The main thing to have the swivel in the setup so it can turn.

Crenwelge,
Can you post a picture of your heavy duty one? Is it something you made or bought?
correct, mine is really easy to pickup with one hand and slip on the forks.

Grigg

p-u-s-h

I use the red truck on the right,
Scott

Grigg, ours is something we cobbled together out of truck frames. We have 2 parallel pieces of truck frames with a strap on the end for the forks to slip into. We have a truck frame with the flanges down welded to the 2 parallel pieces. Then we have a piece of truck frame truck frame on top of that of that with the flanges up. That is the cradle to either put under the steering axle or under the drive axle. The swivel is about a 1" bolt with torched holes instead of drilled holes. We use it mostly the front end because there is nothing else to hook onto without screwing up the aluminum bumper. I have always had a lot of pieces of truck frames laying around and we build all sorts of things out of them. Not that they need to be that heavy, but we have the old frames around. On the rear we use a factory thing that clamps on to the 2 forks and has a swivel clevis. We then hook a chain around the back cross member. But we have used the homemade thing on the rear when we couldn't find the factory made lift. I like your idea of having it small enough to slip on the forks. We have too many things laying around that we have to stab with the forks and if we don't hit it just right, we just push it around.

Sounds like for your shop though you'll need a stouter setup and forklift than I have.
Could still be easily portable, but you need forks that are both long enough to keep the mast out of the bumper, and strong enough at the tips to hold the weight you'll be lifting.

My forks are just long enough to make it work on an AD bigbolt, and might not be strong enough for a complete truck with engine, haven't tried that yet...

It is easy to install/remove and tote, just unhook the chain, remove the T shaped thing with the grab hook that slips behind the forks, lay it on the front part and wrap the chain around it all once, then you've got a nice handle, and I guess it weighs about 20 lb or so.

Grigg

I put a Big Tex grill guard on my pickup and strap a tire on the front and push them around by myself.

We use fork lifts for all kinds of things that they really weren't meant for. Here's a picture of us unloading a wrecker I bought a couple of years ago.

http://picasaweb.google.com/crenwel...6KG8-e3vEQ&pli=1#5375134413975744466

We usually just use two fork lifts and set one end on the ground and then pull the trailer up and set the other end on the ground, but the wrecker seemed a little heavy in back, so we added a loader to the circus.

Man that is a cool pic!