Ways of getting a boiler into a basement???

[churchillrow]

How DO you move 1400lbs of steel?? Part of my basement is going to be exposed (the entryway above it will be torn off during renovations) and I am contemplating getting a boom truck to drop it in my newly ordered Biomass 40 but....
I am looking at a 400$ bill as they all seem to want around 100$ from the shop and back and I am an hour from anywhere. Any thoughts on simpler (cheaper) techniques.


Thanks,
Augie

 

[DaveBP]

Any local loggers with a clam shell boom?

 

[DenaliChuck]

A 1-ton chain hoist ($50) and a few small timbers and you'll have a lowering rig you can use elsewhere. When on the ground they roll very easily on 3/4" black pipes. Think like an Egyptian!

 

[timberr]

I slid mine down the bulkhead stairs on some 2x10. Used a tractor as a brake. Once In I used a pallet jack and 3/4 inch black pipe to get it home.

Good luck, my trick was getting the 500 gal. propane tank in with only 1" of side clearance.

 

[stee6043]

I lifted a 500 gallon propane tank with two ratcheting tow straps and a couple of floor jacks. Where there is a will there is a way. I wouldn't pay $400 for it....maybe $100....but not $400!

 

[flyingcow]

I'm in the minority i guess. But if you're an hour away from the source, $400 isn't a bad price. A little high maybe, but not unreasonable. If you could get them to rig/roll into place for that price it would be nice.
-
You may have to set it on to blocks in your basement. What are you gong to pick it up with down there? Whatever you use to do that with you should be able to do a little rigging and build an arch over your opening? A decent sized tractor will do it also.I used a chain fall/winch to pick mine off my pickup. Worked good. My boiler was about 1400lbs also.

 

[kevindauch]

I was concerned about getting my boiler into the basement, but that turned out to be the easy part.
I used a mini excavator and a chain hoist attached to the excavator bucked and slid it down. We dropped it down the Bilco doors with a sheet of 3/4" plywood over the stairs. Then a large pry bar and some 1 1/4 inch black pipe to move it into place. In all it took about a hour with two people.

 

[Singed Eyebrows]

I cheat. I have a forklift with 5' forks & my basement slab extends past the house. I just lift heavy items up & drop them down & roll into the basement. Piece of cake, forgetaboutit, Randy

 

[EricV]

I had the farmer next door lowered my new oil boiler into the bulkhead after I took the steps out. He didn't charge me for coming over with his tractor.

 

[Chris Hoskin]

I agree with flyingcow - and if you get hurt or damage the boiler, $400 is going to seem really cheap. If you have your own front end loader, etc. that's another issue.

 

[churchillrow]

I've got an MF 135 from the late 60's with a loader but I'm not sure she's up to the task. The clam shell boom is an idea I'm going to look into. I am a bit uncomfortable trying to muscle it into the basement but there are some very handy folks out this way so we'll see if something can be rigged up.

Denalichuck, can you expand your thought?

Thanks,
Augie

 

[Tony H]

Know anyone with a skid steer ? We used one to bring mine from the street where they dropped it off to the shed about 350' . The driver said he was not allowed to drive on a gravel drive and his truck would hit some tree limbs anyway. We moved it to the exact location in the shed with steel pipe a trick I learned from my buddy the locksmith who told of moving two ton safes around pretty easily.

 

[DenaliChuck]

churchillrow

Its hard to make a plan without a picture of what you're dealing with, but I moved my Tarm by setting it on a 3' x 5' piece of 1-1/8 plywood and rolling it on pipes across flat ground and by lifting it using a chainhoist/timber setup. I saw photos of someone on this forum move a boiler across grass this way by laying 2" x 10" on the grass and leap-frogging them. It's surprisingly easy to move 1,400 pounds like this.

Depending on the size of the hole you plan to lower it into, you could span the hole with some timbers and plywood and roll the boiler onto the temp floor over the hole. From then you lift the boiler using a chain hoist (suspended by a timber held up by two "A" frames), remove the temp plywood floor and lower away.

STANDARD DISCLAIMER FOLLOWS: I've been doing this kind of foolishness for 25 years so I'm confident in being able to do it safely (for myself and the boiler) and it poses a challenge/puzzle to play with. As others have said, $400 is cheap compared to the cost of a wrecked boiler. If I lived nearby I'd come give you a hand for the fun of it!

 

[muncybob]

Good luck!! We lowered my boiler into the basement bulkhead with a large front end loader and onto a pallet jack. Cost me $60 for 1 hour on the loader and $10 for the pallet jack. A few friends and a few beers(when we were done) and she was in place.
I'm lucky the rental place is nearby. I was going to try sliding it down and onto pipes but took the "easy" way out.

 

[Gooserider]

Do the search, there have been some other discussions on this topic in the past which had some good suggestions...

My own thoughts, for whatever they are worth...

1. STRIP! - lighten the load by taking off any readily removable parts - doors, covers, motors and control parts, non-glued in refractories, etc... Every pound you take off before moving is a pound you don't have to deal with in the big lump... (Take photos so you can put it back together later!)

2. Most boilers can be laid on their sides or fronts and angled to slide down stairs and such - I seem to recall one of the industry types who said he actually had built pallets just to lay the boiler on while sliding it down bulkhead stairs...

3. Plan for the future, make sure your construction will still allow you to take the boiler out in 20-30 years when it finally needs replacing...

4. Think safety! Snapping lines or chains can be deadly, and getting squished under a loose boiler isn't going to make your day either... Make sure if disaster happens that nobody is in a position to get seriously hurt!

Gooserider

 

[sgschwend]

My two cents:
Make your choice based on what you are comfortable in doing. It is no fun to be doing a job that saves you a few bucks and at the same time your wife or even yourself is terrified. Where is the fun in that.

However here is another method using stuff that you no doubt already have. Method of sliding on uneven or slopes. Trailer home method, used to navigate hair pin turns that would seem to be impossible. It goes this way:

Place two sheet of plywood under the stove, and make sure there is always two sheet there. The sheet will act like a multi direction bearing and will slide against each other. Then you can slide the unit down your stairs around a corner to a level surface. I like the idea of holding the stove back with some lines, tie them so they hold both the top and bottom.


As to the cost, $400 is not that bad, in some placed a crane would be well over $100/hour. In my area a dump truck runs $125/hr.

 

[CaddyUser]

Not exactly the same issue as you, but I was faced with our 400+ lbs furnace going down into the basement with only myself and my wife.

As gooserider stated, first thing is to remove whatever you can to lighten the load. I was fortunate enough to have an ATV with a winch that I used to slide the furnace down the steps. I used plywood between the furnace and the steps, and used a series of straps to connect the furnace to the winch.

In your case, the 1400 lbs is substantially more than I had to deal with. I would be very concerned about the structural integrity of a stair system, especially wood. Most stairs are going to have a hard time supporting that type of weight.

As it was mentioned before, perhaps the $400 might not be a bad investment at all. Damage to your house is one thing, but injury or death from a cobbled job to save some $$ would certainly be something that most of us would not be willing to consider.

Be safe!

 

[shoeboxlen]

I used covered trailer on the back of our neighbors diesel 1500 truck to get our eko 25 home. it was put in the trailer with forks on a front end loader. we used a couple of 2x4s to slid it out on and a skid steer to pull built a ramp and used the skid stear to get it in the basement and musled it the rest fo the way with 3 guys and alot of cursing. in the end it made it to its new home in a bout 2.5 hours.

 

[churchillrow]

Safety is high on my list, I've got 4 kids under 7 and can't afford to be smooshed. I can see something like denalichuck is suggesting work for me as I don't have stairs to go down, just an 8 foot drop straight down. Egyptian style once I get it down for sure though. I'm still calling around to see if I can apply the three M's (men, money and machines) judiciously but I may end up going old school. I will post pics either way.

Thanks,
Augie

 

[91220da]

If you have any excavation companies in the area, they often have what is referred to as a "service truck". Most trucks are equipped with a lifting crane that can lift, extend, rotate and drop the arm right to the ground. They are used for removing heavy components on excavators, dozers, and earth moving pans. In these economic times they might be happy for a few bucks to help. Much more versatile than a loader, backhoe or bucket forks. The friend that ran mine had the boiler up, down, and half way in the building before I got the beer on ice.

 

[stee6043]

The friend that ran mine had the boiler up, down, and half way in the building before I got the beer on ice.

Where is the fun in this???? Gotta make it a three beer job no matter what technology is being employed!

 

[91220da]

Not to worry, guaranteed we had more than three before the move was totally done. Your signature cracked me up

 

[Tony H]

Another idea I read about was to use 2-3 beams with a thick plywood sheet use them as a ramp to slide the boiler down on it's side with a sling around the boiler tied to a truck and slowly back the truck down to lower the boiler down the ramp. You can use a floor jack to tip the boiler on it's side against the tension of a rope tied off thru the top of the boiler and on to the truck.