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Balz Robotic Vacuum Lift. Horizon Lumber in PA uses one. Most slick lifting device for slabs known to man. I think their's was somewhere in the neighborhood of half a million bucks.
Scroll down to the grading to see one of the robots at the right of the photo.
http://www.horizonwood.com/process/Be careful how you google Balz. That company really need to change their name.
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The problem with an engine hoist is that the small wheels get caught in cracks in concrete floor and take two to three people to move them out.
homo homini lupus
"The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity." Yeats
Si vis pacem, para bellum
Quodcumque potest manus tua facere instaner opere Ecclesiastes
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I don't know all the methods that will work, or even the best method, but I feel pretty confident that an engine hoist will do the job.
I have used mine to move commercial quartz countertops weighing several hundred pounds.
Get some lifting slings and a load leveler..they simplify the job.
-Mark
If I had a signature, this wouldn't be it.
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Thanks for all the replies. Bought some 8 foot slings on Amazon, will be purchasing an engine hoist soon.
I guess this is inspiration:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCvx5gSnfW4
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no suggestion for ya on moving them but PLEASE make sure yer sawhorses are sturdy enough for the load.
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tomsteve said:
no suggestion for ya on moving them but PLEASE make sure yer sawhorses are sturdy enough for the load.
I built four sawhorses today to land the big slab. The heavy plastic sawhorse brackets are rated for 2000 pounds for two. I'll land the big slab on four of them.
I'll start a new thread once the slabs arrive in a month or so and update on the progress.
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Herb G said:
Gantry crane. Problem solved.
That would be a more flexible option.
http://youtu.be/PtPU1pOTLH4
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Got a call from Swift River Pecan, my big slabs were just removed from the kiln. Hope to have them in my shop in a week or two.
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Without some reference, it is hard to envisage the size of those slabs. Care to tell us the dimensions? I am looking forward to seeing what you do with them. Ken
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Top curved slabs are live oak, almost 3 inches thick, top slab is 29 inches wide, about 8 feet long. Bottom slab is pecan, 13 feet long, 3 inches thick, about 32 inches wide.
Making desks from the curved slabs, large dining table for the long pecan one.
