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QUESTION:I stuck my forklift in the back yard a couple of months ago. Same situation - soft ground from recent rains. I unstuck it with my 4WD
3/4 ton pickup, which weighs less than the forklift. Engaged 4WD low range, and once I got the forklift's wheels pointed in the right
direction it rolled right out. Same principle might apply to your situation. The wrecker or tow vehicle should stay on pavement.
If you absolutely have to traverse soft ground, get a lighter forklift, with wide, pneumatic tires (or dual front tires). Put down
some heavy plywood sheets. I don't think you need a 21,000 lb. forklift to move that lathe.
ANSWER: Yes, I know! But, the smaller lift trucks were all in use already, so they
had to give me this one. But, I suspect almost anything without big
tracks would have been trouble in this ground. 3 days after the rain,
and there's now a big puddle where one of the dents in the ground was!
But, the machine (a Lull reach forklift - more like a small crane with a
set of forks on the end of the boom) is actually pretty versatile. I was
able
to boom all the way out and pick up the lathe, which raised the rear wheels
enough to refill the holes and put plywood across the area. Then, I was
able to push down on the ground with the boom, and lift the front wheels
enough to mostly do the same up there. The machine has a pressure
relief which caused it to bring the machine back down unless you kept
the engine running and held the boom down handle partly on. Certainly
a bit of abuse of the hydraulics, but it got the machine unstuck without
much additional expense. I did, however, turn $150 in plywood into
matchsticks.
I got so excited when i got the machine out the first time, I promptly ran
off the end of the plywood, and it immediately plopped into the mud again.
It took another day (when we could see what we were doing) to get it
out. this time I was REALLY careful to keep that plywood under the wheels.
We got the lathe just barely in the door, and then winched it the rest of
the
way in.
Pictures should follow tomorrow, just too tired today!
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