Thorg Young discovers the lever, 2×4 shim, pipes, pvc wheels and ladder to move concrete blocks.
Thorg aka "me" needed to move three concrete parking blocks from one side of the barn to make a border in the garden. Also because they needed to be moved away from the barn so repairs can be made. More on Barn repairs in another post later.
My updated caveman tools worked well- Crow bar, 2x4's and other assorted wood scraps for shims, long boards and plywood,pipes and pvc tubing and a ladder to move/roll the blocks.
When I was 22, I was working for a little light manufacturing operation outside Philadelphia. The owner had figured out a sweet deal: many of his production staff were retirees from local industries, who were permitted to work up to so much income or so many days (can't now remember which) without it affecting their Social Security. He paid them well, and they got a chance to get out of the house, do something productive, B.S. with their coworkers, and generally have a good time. Most of the men in the production operations had worked for the heavy industries around Philadelphia; the women working there had come from a variety of places.
Probably the worst job in that company was held by the woman in Payroll whose job it was to go to someone who was about to reach his/her annual limit and say, "No more work this year as of next Tuesday. Hope you can come back next year."
I was the young sprat, hired to help someone work on design and build for a new machine. At one point, we had to move a sheet metal brake from one side of a small building to the other, to make room for our machine. The brake probably weighed 4,000 pounds, maybe more. Under the tutelage of several experienced production workers, and using a crowbar, three lengths of pipe, and scraps of wood, I picked up that brake, set it on the pipes, and rolled it 20 feet to its new home. My tutors in this project didn't break a sweat, but I was amazed to find that neither did I. And they sure had fun amazing me with their knowledge.
Yes, it's pretty amazing what's possible with simple tools and an understanding of the forces.
I wonder if your ancestral Thorg bought his crowbars at Home Desperate, Lower's, or Menards?
I was amazed at the strength of the PVC-The static pressure was bad enough-but several of my maneuvers allowed the concrete to"drop with gravitational force on the tubes- They never cracked!
Yes, PVC makes great rollers. I came across some scrap 3” schedule 80 that I use for skidding big logs onto and off my car hauler / log trailer. The little bit of resilience works much better than steel. With steel any small rock Or chip of wood becomes an effective chock.
Hello, The Barker House on the water front in Edenton, NC a three story historic site was built in 1782 two blocks from where it is now located. In 1952 it was jacked up and rolled the two blocks on poles right down the main street to its location now.
