Manhole cover replacement - GIF

[Jon]

Manhole cover replacement. This is really soothing. Almost looks like a scene from a future utopian society where all minor issues with public roads are rapidly fixed to perfection.




Previously:

Python 5000 Pothole Patcher
Thermoplastic road marking

[Frank S]

If only that was the way it's done in the real world we wouldn't need to have our vehicles aligned every few months
My friend who pulls the trailers he and I own together recently had to go to Manhattan. He was complaining about having to drive over all of those steel plates they have temporarily covering many of the streets. Some of the streets were probably the ones covered with steel plates tht I drove over 30 years ago

[Jon]

Magnetic sewer grate lift:

[Frank S]

Magnetic sewer grate lift:

First you have to clean it remove all obstructing ground in dirt and gravel then wheel this contraption in place and push down hoping the rust is not so thick that the magnets will not hold.
What was wrong with a simple hook to lift the grate with?

[PJs]

My brother almost lost the ends of 2 fingers using a hook when he was younger. A 300lb lift Neodymium magnet would get through quit a bit of rust...and I like the ergonomics of it regardless of cleaning around the edges which needs to be done anyway...hook or not.

[ranald]

First you have to clean it remove all obstructing ground in dirt and gravel then wheel this contraption in place and push down hoping the rust is not so thick that the magnets will not hold.
What was wrong with a simple hook to lift the grate with?

Great, I hope that is a storm water grate & not actually a sewer one . Just imagine all the gross road rubbish in the grose flushed rubbish below. I wouldn't want to be around when "blow back" occurs. LOL

Those look like serious wheels = cast steel/iron lined with nylon. cost a bomb; like the ones on my mobile metal working bench. My ones were from a skid pan training device retro style.

Cheers

[Frank S]

ranald; judging by the poor condition of the road surface it is a safe bet it is a storm drain. and most likely undersized for the water flow conditions.

[volodar]

A solution in search of a problem.

[desbromilow]

A solution in search of a problem.

I thinkyou will find that this is a case of removing manual handling hazards from the work place - thereby removing the need for physical strength.
once you don't need brute strength to do your job, it's easier for others to join your work - thiking ladies, older people, and the partially disabled.

[Frank S]

A very long time ago I remember the work crews used something shaped much like a cross tie nail puller to pull those grates. A bar about 6 ft long with a foot set at an angle that had 1 hook shaped toe with a "T" handle. Simply hook the toe in one hole pull down on the bar as it rocked on the heal it would break the grate loose starting with the nearest edge keep pulling down on the handle until the grate came free then pivot on the heal to move the grate from the hole.
That training wheel thing they have there with the magnets on it has no where near enough mechanical advantage to lift a stuck grate and if enough force is applied to overcome the magnets holding strength the person/s pushing down on the handle are going to the ground in a flop probably causing serious injury or at the very least a couple of hyper extended elbows and a forward whiplash to their neck from the weight of their hard hat.
So I still maintain use a hook.
I once worked in a place that used a 4 point cross arm spreader bar to lift large steel plates they had 1000 lb lifting capacity
magnets hanging from chains on each corner. 4 magnets theoretically could dead lift 4000 lbs they were moving plates of steel weighing less than half that.
I asked what is wrong with using wide hooks. Because it requires someone to position each of them this way a single operator can move the plates. Not 5 minutes later a magnet gave way while the plate was being moved over some other steel several feet in the air the crashing sound could be heard throughout the 200,000 sq ft factory. But that sound was nothing compared to the operator's screaming with his foot trapped between to beams that the plate fell on. He was lucky only to receive a broken ankle
I use magnets for a lot of things but not for lifting.