Originally Posted by
stillldoinit
In the many years I was in the factory setting doing machine repair and millwright type work I saw many machine movers do magic in some of their moves. One time I picked up a machine with forks at what I thought was a good place to swing so all the CG was low. I needed to sit down and get a better pick. As soon as the weight was released from the fork, the machine tipped back and fell over backward. Made one hell of a boom but fortunely it was shop made machine weldment and was still functional. The only thing damaged was my ego. It was near lunch time and when I got back from lunch, there was a rubber chicken hanging from a noose on the front of the machine. For the next 20 years until I retired, anytime anyone made a mistake, they got the chicken until one day it disappeared. What I learned from me dropping the machine, was always have a piece of wood or cardboard on the fork for friction and have the machine chained to mast. The machine movers always said steel on steel is no deal. Lift and tilt back to get CG closer to the machine and move very slow.