weight of MK4 chassis / body / panels as delivered?

[Martin]

I'm struggling to get hold of a fork lift or boom crane to unload my kit when it arrives. Nobody will let me hire one as they all want me to be a business, and have 12 months trading history with them.

So, trying to think outside of the box, would I be able to use an engine crane with some clever strapping to help keep it stable?

I was thinking of something like this:
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/cfc1000lr-1t-long-reach-workshop-crane

I haven't got an engine stand or engine crane yet, so I could get a bigger engine crane than I need for the sake of lifting it off.

How heavy is the chassis / body / panels as delivered? Is the reach of that engine crane far enough? The truck will be about 5ft off the ground, with the kit on about a 4" trolley wheel? All I have to do is get it off the container and onto the ground, I can wheel it after that.

Any thoughts? I can't help but think the idea is a little bit bonkers and will most likely result in my kit crashing to the ground.

Martin

[Dave Howard]

Take the body off first and set it on your body buck. The frame and panels can be lifted by two average guys. With four guys its a cake walk.

[Gordon Levy]

Everything together is under 1000lbs. The body/chassis as shipped is around 350lbs. If you get 4 strong guys and 2 long pieces of tube you should be able to move it arounf pretty easily.

[SCFFR]

Martin,

Here's a thought. Use a engine hoist with an extension to get a longer reach. They are relatively cheap and you will need one to install your engine and transmission. The extension is simply a piece of square metal tubing that will fit in place of the shorter one that comes with the hoist. As Gordon mentioned the body and chassis is around 350 lbs which the hoist can easily handle.

Ron

[Drop Zone]

When my kit arrived I had to get it down the side of my house which isn't paved. The driver used his crain to lower it on a wooden dolly with large tires and he helped me and a friend roll it down and into my shop. He then loaded up all the boxes on the dolly and brought them to the shop. He delivered it at 0800 and after he finished I took him out to breakfast and treat was on me. Great driver from Stewart transportation.

[Olli]

Bit of a stretch here, but I think Martin's issue is getting the chassis/body out of the shipping container which when delivered will be fairly high since it would be on the truck trailer. Martin's chassis/body was also fixed to some sort of dolly. Some extra weight there. Mark D. had a thread in which he posted some pictures of loading the shipping container.

Martin, how about getting a flat bed tow truck to back up to the container, winch the chassis/body off. Then he tilts the flat bed and lowers the chassis/bosy with the winch to the ground.

Olli

[montyals]

Martin...you don't need a forklift or any heavy equipment that requires renting. You'll only need about three friends to push it to the tail of the lorry, then stand on each side, and lift it off onto the ground. .

[Martin]

I had considered that. Sadly, this is the UK, and my friends are all about 90 miles drive away, and would have to take a day off work to help out.

90 miles away = 2 hours drive on a good day. With all the snow at the moment (it's not much, but 1 inch of snow brings the country to a stand still) it might not even be possible for them to get here.

This is going to be a one person job.

If it is 350lbs, I could probably lift it off by myself, but given the consequences if I lose balance or it goes a bit wonky, I'm not prepared to take the risk.

I think we're going for the engine crane/joist solution. Either way, it's going to make for some entertaining photos for everyone!

Thanks to everyone for all the tips and suggestions.

Martin




Martin...you don't need a forklift or any heavy equipment that requires renting. You'll only need about three friends to push it to the tail of the lorry, then stand on each side, and lift it off onto the ground. .

[CraigS]

The only problem w/ the engine crane is they typically need a near perfectly flat hard surface to roll on. The wheels are usually only about 4 inches in diameter so a step or other obstruction over about 1/4 inch just stops it rolling. I have used one in a garage w/ bad concrete w/ home made patches and it was terrible to roll.

[NHRed65]

If you are able to have it moved to the tail of the truck (lorry), you can lift it onto long lumber ramps and easily slide it down onto your dolly. I've used this technigue many times and the trick is to attach a metal plate on top of the lumber (I used two 2"x10"x12 foot long pieces of kiln dried construction lumber laid flat with a 1/4" thick 8" square plate) that hangs over the ramp. The metal plate had a bent end that will need to grip the tail gate and lay flat too. It was made to be bolted to the ramps and once the item is slid on top of the ramps, the weight of the item held them in place. You can weld or attach a piece of thin metal to grab the tailgate lip. Use pipes to roll the box, crate or chassis onto the ramps and then slide them down onto the dolly. Long pipes can be used on the ramps if the dolly needs to sit between the ramps and you need to spread them out. This is a 1 or 2 man job and can be done safely and at very low cost.

[tdw3684]

I just had to unload a large commercial sewing machine that weighed around 1500 pounds and what I did was hire a flat bed wrecker. The driver backed up to the tractor trailer and we slid the machine onto the wrecker. Then he backed down to the door of the shop and tilted the flat bed down making it easy to slide the machine onto the floor. Only cost me 60 bucks and felt very safe doing it.

[Martin]

Good news. I've managed to find a forklift & operator that will deliver the forklift on the back of a truck, unload my container, then load his forklift back up and drive off. They are an hour away from me, but they are willing to do it.

And to make it even better, the shipping company have agreed to give me a date/time of delivery so I can co-ordinate the two of them. I'm also buying a 2 tonne engine crane as well just in case.

Thanks again everyone.

Martin

[Someday I Suppose]

Good news indeed, doing it by yourself without the forklift would be a rough one. Look forward to seeing the build come together.


Good news. I've managed to find a forklift & operator that will deliver the forklift on the back of a truck, unload my container, then load his forklift back up and drive off. They are an hour away from me, but they are willing to do it.

And to make it even better, the shipping company have agreed to give me a date/time of delivery so I can co-ordinate the two of them. I'm also buying a 2 tonne engine crane as well just in case.

Thanks again everyone.

Martin

[Chris Canning]

Hey Martin
That sure is a special build you've got going there.
Nice to see someone else driving on the "right" side.