Wheels on machinery movers

Large diameter really helps, so plan on retrofitting the sort of "upbend" typically seen on piano rollers - the frame hangs low to the floor/ground, but the caster is mounted high, with enough room around it to swivel. Those will generally make the thing with wheels wider or longer, unless you can stick them underneath, but it does keep the CG low, and widening the track makes it more stable, if harder to fit in tight spots.

I've bought and used pneumatic tired casters. More rolling resistance, but not as much as a hard caster buried in dirt. They're tall and not cheap, but you could extend the frame up for caster mounts. On the other hand, I can't imagine trying to move 2500# on dirt with them.

Pete Keillor

Pete Keillor

Same problem here for 10 years, I finally got a broken down 6 tire pneumatic forklift cheap and fixed it up, everything else got stuck.

Ive been looking for a pneumatic forklift. Found a number of hard tired ones, but the wheel wells appear to be way too small to put on pneumatic tires.

Gunner

That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer's cottage is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there. - George Orwell

Im surprised you haven't scrounged some steel and put an overhead trolley in. ISTR there is enough headroom.

michael

Reguler machinery movers for rough floors has wheels with tracks... When the wheels hit a bump the track turns. After the unit gets over the bump the wheels start to turn again... I have a set with no tracks... I would love to have a set with tracks... This is what my set looks like...

Here is a set with tracks and no wheels...

Hi Kevin, I've used these on hard surfaces, and they work great. But they are worthless for gunner's application, which I believe is hard pack dirt.

Jim Kovar Vulcan, Mi

And if you read the fine print, maximum capacity is on steel plate,

Previous poster's idea about something resembling propane tank trailer is interesting.

Pete Keillor

Gunner wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Gunner, The basic rule for dirt - the more surface area you have, the more evenly the load is distributed, the less likely the thing will sink. PSI is the key. One idea: Make a low-boy dolly, on the rear, use an appropriately sized axle the entire length of the dolly. Mount as many rubber tired (wheelbarrow sized) wheels as will fit in the length. On the front, do the same but make a pivot with thrust/roller bearings so the entire axle will turn via a tongue. Thing is, after you build this, the entire thing can be pulled by your lawn tractor or other device. You can also put scallops in the bed, to clear forktruck forks, for easy on-off of the equipment.

Well, you might be able to get some RCA (recycled crushed aggregate) at a very cheap price which would eliminate the soft spots but still not give you a rolling surface for small wheels, although the right mix of aggregate compacted does get pretty hard. I've been considering pouring a concrete area for a combination basketball court/machinery moving area. If I could get some steel traffic plates right now they would come in real handy.

You might look into a Bil-Jax trailer for some ideas. If you could see one, perhaps it would be ?makeable (is that a word). The deck raises and lowers while the wheels are stationary. We have one to move a 2 man Genie and other heavy stuff. Really saves some backs.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Keep the whole world singing. . . . DanG

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Thought about tracks, like a tank or bulldozer? Very low ground presssure, zero turning radius.

Ive got a 30' length of heavy 8" I-beam for that reason..but getting the rest of the steel has been problematic.

Shrug..and I really need to concrete the entire back yard..but thats not in the card$ anytime soon.

Gunner

That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer's cottage is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there. - George Orwell

Changing the subject, but I've just got to tell this story on my knucklehead boy. A couple of weeks ago, he came home for a visit after graduating from fire academy down in Texas. It rained all week. Two days before he headed back for ems training, he asked to borrow my Suburban (box stock '96, 4wd) to go shooting at his friend's farm. I should have known better.

To make a long story long, he got stuck, came back for hi-lift, shovel, etc., but didn't get it out. The next day I went out there with him. He had gone two miles down a MUDDY field road, crossed three low spots that were now creeks. Got stuck to the frame on the way back out.

We ended up hiring a 'dozer. He said it was pretty squishy even for him crossing several places, but got us out easily. Next time Ben wants to borrow my Suburban, I'm going to tell him to hire the bulldozer with his money instead.

Pete Keillor

The only solution for dirt is large tires. I'd say the best bet is go scrounge up some rear spindles and tires from a old front wheel drive car. Bolt the spindles to the end of the legs of the cherry picker. Hopefully it's heavy enough built that you can just bolt them to the outside of the legs. If not you'll need to add some steel to the ends which will allow the tires to sit centered on the legs to prevent the off center loading from twisting the legs.

Two tires on the legs will go a long way to helping it move. Usually the back end is fairly light when loaded so shouldn't prove as much of a problem. If it does prove to be a problem then it'll be a lot more work adding a car tire to the rear.

The only problem with this is the height of the tires will limit what you can get the legs under.

Another possibility is to do the tire thing to your A frame. I've seen them with four car tires on each corner which rolled pretty easily. Be careful though since you're probably not going to be on level ground all the time and it could get away from you.

Wayne Cook Shamrock, TX

Concrete, of course, is the best answer. With, money, always being the big road block. Years ago I read an article (Popular Mechanics, I think) about a guy who wanted a cheap basketball court for the kids. He ran a tiller over the area, poured several bags of dry cement power over it, ran the tiller until it was mixed a few inches deep, smoothed out the top, packed with a hand tamper until it was as hard and smooth as possible. Then wet it all down with a hose. Will not carry as must weight as concrete, but with a little wider tires on your dollies it should help. Also should be easy to repair if a wheel digs in. Not ideal, but better then dirt.

other things. I had some trailer axles laying around from upgrading to mobile home axles on a trailer of mine. I built a 17' X 8 1/2' box on the trailer and it is now my shop. I used the shortened axles and welded them temporarily into a dolly. I moved a 6500 pound K&T Vertical mill by pushing it out of the garage by hand.

Ron Thompson On the Beautiful Florida Space Coast, right beside the Kennedy Space Center, USA

The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.

--Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)

You can also mix cement powder in with blend or concrete aggregate. One of my problems is that turning with the Bobcat tends to churn all the gravel up and undo whatever nice compaction I had going. There is a new product that can be mixed with the right type of soil to make a hardpack pavement- they are actually using it to improve dirt roads in Georgia. It works better with some soils than with others.

It is known as " soil cement ". Will not work well with organic matter in the soil. So that means getting rid of the top soil. After that you really ought to do a little testing to determine how much cement is needed with your soil.

The Army is into this for making roads in a hurry.

You should be able to find a bunch of info on the internet somewhere.

Dan