Moving slabs tight quarters

[Brad_bb]

So I loaded a guys kiln near me 3 or 4 weeks ago.  I wanted to fill it again, but unfortunately he was putting a slab load in next.  I asked if there was any extra room for me to put any slabs in.  He had 10' x 5' x 42" high available. Well I had one Ash boule that would come close, but needed a couple extra slabs to get to that height.  Unfortunately the other boule I had at the same length was buried behind a bunch of other stacks.  It would have taken a bunch of time on the forklift to move everything to get to it, but I only had to move one pallet to get the forklift next to the stack.  I needed to move 3 slabs to get to the 2 I needed.  I decided to use the old Egyptian trick.  I probably first saw it here on the forum.  5 years ago or so I had dropped a big cant off the mill on the back side in the shop.  So I cut some conduit rollers to turn and roll the cant under the mill to get it out(it was a heavy sonovagun).  So I found those rollers and it really made it relatively easy to get the slabs out onto the forks.


 


 

[chep]

When i am slabbing big hardwoods on the lucas mill and I'm alone, I insert wee wooden dowels into the kerf as I cut so I can roll them gently off onto the forks. Makes a couple hundred pounds move nice n easy
Got to think like an Egyptian when moving heavy stuff. Good post!

[WV Sawmiller]

   When I was a pre-teen kid Dad had a monument business in N. Fla and we put up many of the largest monuments in our local cemeteries. I well remember rolling  very, very heavy granite slabs and headstones into remote areas of the cemetery with no close road access using 2X12 boards for track, short 1/2" sections of galvanized pump pipe and a big old railroad bar and the drive shaft off an old Model T as pusher bars.