Don't get hurt moving heavy cannons

[cannonmn]

I've had back and hernia surgery, both related to moving cannons in my younger and more careless days.  Now with cheap powerful equipment avialable, no one should suffer those injuries, but they still do.

There are many good ways to move cannons so what's pictured here isn't necessarily the best, but it is one that (at least in the steps shown) puts no dangerous stress on the human body.

The 2-Ton hydraulic shop cranes as shown come from Harbor Freight and are about $180. for a handy type with folding legs, which only takes up a few square feet of floor space when stored. 

Some cautions using the shop cranes:  Adjust the boom length to more than the load you are lifting (there are 4 positions which wll handle various loads.)  Work on level pavement if possible, never work so the crane is inclined to one side or other.  If inclined back or forward, use something to brake the wheels or it will roll on you.  Never roll them with load elevated, they tip over easily.  The wheels are only put on these things to move the unloaded crane around.  Lift the load then back the vehicle up under it, then lower the load.  If you absolutely must travel a short distance with load on crane, lower the load so it rests on the two crane legs, or better, on a pallet you put on top of the legs.

Any rigging scheme is OK as long as straps, chains etc are rated to handle more than the load, obviouosly.  The rigging using straps which is my personal preference takes shape in a form depending on what length strap(s) you are using.  Chains are easier to use but I don't like to mar the paint or the bronze on a cannon.  I like to put a strong piece of steel tubing (not much smaller than bore diameter) in the bore so I have a shoulder formed by the muzzle to hold the strap in position.

Once the cannon is inside the van, I secure it from moving forward by connecting the cannon to the trailer hitch using a strap (not shown in photos.)  If you don't do something like that, the cannon will come up and visit you in the driver/passenger area the first time you have to apply the brakes firmly.

Other methods work also, ramps and winches or come-alongs, etc., and I've used 'em all.   Forklifts are great too but I can't keep one at home.  Be safe.

[KABAR2]

Well it looks like you have Vicky well in hand, Yes safety is a definite must  I have helped load two cannon on carriages other than my own......

with only man power on hand  one was an 18th C British iron gun looked to be a merchant ship's cannon that had been commandeer'd and used at
one of the many British forts that dotted Long Island it was found in an old well when a house was being built on the site of the old fort, it took all 8
of us to get the thing on it's new truck carriage.

the other was helping set a Hern barrel on it's field carriage. that didn't go so well I got two fingers on my right hand crunched between the trunnion and
the front face of the cheek of the carriage,  they were a bloody mess!  since this incident I don't volunteer to help set cannon unless the proper equipment is
available. 

[subdjoe]

That looks like a nice set up.  

For real fun, you should have been at Gettysburg last year.  They had the artillery park on a moderatly steep, grass covered hillside, and with some rain every day it never really dried out.  While waiting in the queue to get our gun back to its spot in the park, I saw two (2) runaways. And heard about one more.  Kind of exciting to see a gun going full tilt down hill, across the road and into a ditch.

[KABAR2]

That looks like a nice set up.  

 .  Kind of exciting to see a gun going full tilt down hill, across the road and into a ditch.

Almost sounds like an F Troop moment......

I imagine it could get kinda exciting if you happen to be at the bottom of the hill. watching a UDO! (uncontrolled descent of ordnance.........)
I hope nobody's cannon were damaged.

[Victor3]

 Good advice.

 About 50% of work related injuries are to the lower back. Where I work, employees are prohibited from lifting over 30# unasissted.

 Another point about moving heavy items that's often neglected is to "stay out of the bite." Don't ever let any part of your body get between the load and something solid. You never want to trust a lifting device, strap, chain or whatever to protect you, no matter how sturdy it may seem to be.

 It's also a good idea to use a vehicle that's appropriate for the load

[cannonmn]

It's also a good idea to use a vehicle that's appropriate for the load

Correct.  The way I've done that is to look on sticker inside the driver' door. There you find the gross axle weight capacities, front and rear.  I actually paid $7. at a truck scale many times ($9. now) when I was in doubt, and sometimes had to move stuff from rear of truck toward front.  When I go over that, I have to get a trailer to distribute the load over the two trailer axles plus adding some to rear axle due to loaded trailer tongue weight.  I really can't work with the general load descriptions they give for vehicles, like the "one ton" for my 10-year-old Chevy 3500 van, gotta use the axle ratings. 

The truck scale communications setup isn't desiged to accommodate small vehicles and even though I'm 6'6" I have to get out and stretch to reach the "call" button to get the weight check started.  Then the scale house asks you questions that sound like "firswayreway?"  Answer is "firsway."  "Trailer number?"  "One" I say.  Then they're happy and say "come inside."  You get your printed weight ticket after paying, and it will show both truck axle weights plus trailer axle.

AFter all that the ultimate limitation is the total weight and the hills on I-68 through West Virginia, and the transmission temperature, more than once I've had to creep up them in low gear watching the temperature gauge, stopping when it got into the red.  A lot of novices have cooked the transmissions in their SUV's trying to haul too-heavy trailers.  Going up the East side of "Sideling Hill" near Hancock MD. on I-68 is the utimate transmission test on that road, I've found.

[brokenpole]

Oh don't I know that "hill" well.  In 1990 the NMLRA held an event at Flinstone, MD.  We had many people coming in for that event only to never make it because they were climbing that hill.

Take it easy cannonmn.

[thelionspaw]

Listen kids; this may be like locking the barn door after the horse gets out for some of you but take it from this Monday Morning Quarterback (BINDAIR DUNDAT), this is a necessary for those of us who aren't into table-top cannons.

After considerable physical therapy and years of pain and incapacity because of just ONE STINKIN' LIFT 3 years ago (The Lion's Paw is 500 lbs), I bought this device and adjust my spine once, maybe twice a week for 20 minutes.  It slips under the bed.


http://www.protherapysupplies.com/pd_comfortrac_lumbar_traction.cfm

I'm telling you true.......it's a good investment......now......before you're a Quasimodo.

[cannonmn]

In the interest of saving someone else from the immensely painful and disabling back injuries Richard and I have experineced, I'm putting in this link to a review of the shop crane I mentioned.  This is in no way meant as an ad for HF, but as a kind of "public service."  If I hadn't had the use of one of those cranes for the past 20 years, I'm sure I'd be totally crippled by now.

In comparison with the out-of-pocket expenses of surgery, even if you have good health insurance, $180. (less on sale) is nothing. I should mention these folding cranes can be tipped into a van or pickup, easily by two people, but heavy and hazardous for one.  Note I said "tipped" as you never want to lift anything you don't have to, just roll it up to the tailgate, boom facing you, you facing tailgate.  and tip the crane back onto the tailgate. lifting bottom front edge of crane until it the thing pivots on tailgate and can be slid onto bed.  Again, two normal-strength people are required to do this safely.   The folded legs want to flop around too much for my comfort, so I wrap bunji cords around them to secure them to the crane mast while transporting the item.

http://www.mini-lathe.com/Mini_mill/Reviews/Shop_crane/crane.htm

[subdjoe]

That looks like a nice set up. 

 .  Kind of exciting to see a gun going full tilt down hill, across the road and into a ditch.

Almost sounds like an F Troop moment......

I imagine it could get kinda exciting if you happen to be at the bottom of the hill. watching a UDO! (uncontrolled descent of ordnance.........)
I hope nobody's cannon were damaged.

  Below is a photo to give you some idea of how the ground slpped.

“F Troop Moment.”  Yeah, that kind of describes it.  You could see people jumping aside as they rolled towards them.

 No one in the CSA artillery was happy with that set up.  Trying to get the full scale guns and limbers back into place on damp, slippery grass was a lot of fun.   There wasn’t the room to get the tow vehicles into the park, and, with the damp grass on the slope, there was no assurance that you wouldn’t just start sliding sideways if you did try to drive closer to the slot for your gun.   So, unhook from the vehicle on the muddy road and get your batterymates to help muscle guns and limbers into position.  I think the ones that got loose happened when someone either slipped, or they dropped trail before the chocks were in place. 

They were real lucky no one was killed or injured by the loose cannons.  One van on a lower road got dinged up.  The guns had scrapes and dings in the wood and paint.  No wheels broke, no carriages broke.  Can you tell I’m still kind of irked about how they had it set up? Especially when they had, on the same farm, a nice level spot that could have been used not two furlongs away.

[dominick]

I built this barrel lifter/mover using a heavy duty boat winch.  I used it mostly for moving a barrel onto the lathe .  The below photo is of a barrel lifting fixture that slides inside the bore. If you use this method, a safety chain should be used to prevent the barrel from sliding off of the tube.  The tubes were parallel when I made this thing [ it bent from lifting a heavy barrel].    It's no fun being injured from lifting a barrel. Been there.