Working with Large Heavy Slabs in the Shop

[Danny in Houston]

I've got 4 large slabs arriving son at my garage shop. I'm planning on having them delivered, the big one (800 pounds) will be landed on sawhorses while the smaller ones (300 pounds) will be stacked in a corner. How do you move these big slabs around in one man shop? I was thinking about purchasing a hydraulic lift, like for remove car engines, then use some ingenuity? How do others deal with these?

Most of the people living nearby are my age (50's and above) so it's difficult to find young men on a frequent basis.

[Steve N]

Wide base of support, heavy lift capability, using a load spreader and straps from each corner, you have already come up with the best tool I could suggest. Provided you have the room to move it around, and store it.

Because so many people buy these for one or two jobs, it's a great CL toy to look for


Unless of course you have a buddy

[jteneyck]

If you plan on doing this regularly a trolley mounted to the ceiling joists with a hoist would be a good option.

John

[YSU65]

I did slab benches with pieces in the 110 lb range. I was about 70 at the time. I could manage if I planned carefully. You pieces are BIG!!

[barryvabeach]

Danny, I use a hydraulic lift to move tools around on occasion. You will want plenty of straps, and work out the rigging in your head before you do much lifting or moving. Figuring out the center of gravity, and where you will be able to put it down without trapping the lift are best worked out in advance.

[BloomingtonMike]

I pretty much do all my work myself with the help of Johnny (3320 32hp compact utility tractor with loader) and some QA pallet forks. Also have a manual pallet jack, and a couple kinds of hoists, a come along, and an engine lift. Johnny will do 1000lbs at 8' high at the end of the tines. Someday Ill have a true proper fudge truck.

[Steve N]

BloomingtonMike said:

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Someday Ill have a true proper fudge truck.

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Mike like my Buddy Phil, unless you have a warehouse full of stuff to constantly move, then the tractor, front loader, skid loader with attachments at a fraction of the price of the entire machine, not to mention parking space for all the different tools you can buy implements for are the best deal. The numbers you put out are easily going to cover anything a woodworker is liable to run into.

[bennybmn]

Which ever method you choose, I think you're trickiest part will be transitioning from leaning against the wall and horizontal, whether its onto saw horses or in slings from a hoist. The thing that's nice about electric hoists is the go up AND down in a controlled manner. Hydraulic jacks tend to drop quickly. I have one for my motorcycle, and lowering it after doing work is usually a bit of a sphincter puckering job, but I've never had a mishap luckily. I think you're next trickiest thing is going to be getting slings around a slab leaning against the wall securely. So I'd rest them on some 2X stock so you can fish slings under them!

[TDKPE]

My personal preference would be for a beam trolley and manual chain hoist (not chain come-along), but that limits you to travel in one horizontal direction plus vertical. It also requires a beam, which may be a no-starter depending on the shop. If you have one already, perhaps a rolling cart you can put under the hoisted load would work, unless you can position the machines you need under the hook.

I have a 2T engine hoist, and it's very useful in my garage (I even use a long boom extension and counterweights sometimes), but my basement shop is way too small, so I use a cheap come-along from either a wooden beam over my utility bench, or the steel beam that's holding the house up. The cheap come-along is ok for how little I use it for hoisting, and the low overhead clearance, but for a bigger space, a chain hoist would be better.

And as bennybmn admonished, watch that transition. Rig it just above the CG when the piece is leaning against the wall, so a half-ton piece doesn't flop down and squish someone. If you're not sure where the CG is, sneak up on it by slinging it high and giving it a try. Better to have to horse the heavy end up a little to level it than to have it flatten itself unexpectedly, stopping when it hits something (or someone) in the process.

[Herb G]

Gantry crane. Problem solved.