I needed to move a heavy engine across a lawn, probably 100 ft distance.
So I did research and found a best way would be using roller like PVC pipe.
Another option was using some sort of sliding surface. I was thinking of putting a metal sheet underneath a piece of plywood and pull it.
One more is to just build a cart with large wheels, like a lawn mower wheels. I happened to have a pile of them, but ... I gave them all away. I should have kept 4
I was still contemplating what to do, then ...
I just pulled it. The engine was already mounted on a dolly with 6" wheels. I moved the engine to the highest spot from hard surface, and thinking going down would help. Then I and my family pulled it. We made it maybe 3 or 4 ft. It was just the kind of decision of "just do it", even though it rain the day before.
I know. The reason I did it just because before that, I pulled it 3 feet on soft ground and it did move, so I thought it would work.
Well, now, "what do I do". The wheels sank down maybe 1/3, the longer they sat, the more they sink. If pulling continuously, it sank less.
So I used a 2x4 stick to pry on the back. That went maybe 30 to 40 ft before we're pretty exhausted.
It's now in the middle, no going back. So I put a 2 wheel dolly, and hook it to the under of the front of the flat dolly and having some people "hang" on it, effectively giving the flat dolly 2 large front wheels. Then we pulled it, while I pried in the back. It went very easily.
So the lesson I learn and wanted to share is, no need for anything fancy like PVC pipe, moving a heavy object 1000 lbs across a "soft" lawn can easily be done with large dolly wheels, maybe making a flat dolly with 4 wheels of 10" would do. Or maybe I'll keep an eye on trash tractors and harvest wheels from them (again). Two truck dollies joining to be flat may work, just too narrow and can tip over (and if the handles don't interfere with the ground).
So I did research and found a best way would be using roller like PVC pipe.
Another option was using some sort of sliding surface. I was thinking of putting a metal sheet underneath a piece of plywood and pull it.
One more is to just build a cart with large wheels, like a lawn mower wheels. I happened to have a pile of them, but ... I gave them all away. I should have kept 4
I was still contemplating what to do, then ...
I just pulled it. The engine was already mounted on a dolly with 6" wheels. I moved the engine to the highest spot from hard surface, and thinking going down would help. Then I and my family pulled it. We made it maybe 3 or 4 ft. It was just the kind of decision of "just do it", even though it rain the day before.
I know. The reason I did it just because before that, I pulled it 3 feet on soft ground and it did move, so I thought it would work.
Well, now, "what do I do". The wheels sank down maybe 1/3, the longer they sat, the more they sink. If pulling continuously, it sank less.
So I used a 2x4 stick to pry on the back. That went maybe 30 to 40 ft before we're pretty exhausted.
It's now in the middle, no going back. So I put a 2 wheel dolly, and hook it to the under of the front of the flat dolly and having some people "hang" on it, effectively giving the flat dolly 2 large front wheels. Then we pulled it, while I pried in the back. It went very easily.
So the lesson I learn and wanted to share is, no need for anything fancy like PVC pipe, moving a heavy object 1000 lbs across a "soft" lawn can easily be done with large dolly wheels, maybe making a flat dolly with 4 wheels of 10" would do. Or maybe I'll keep an eye on trash tractors and harvest wheels from them (again). Two truck dollies joining to be flat may work, just too narrow and can tip over (and if the handles don't interfere with the ground).
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