# The (minor) saga of John Nielsen's Leuscher grinder



## Dabbler (Mar 8, 2022)

I seem to be batting 1000 these days... John asked me to help him unload the new tool and cutter grinder from his pickup truck...

Some of you know about the giant engine hoist John found for me last year:  I gave it to him because it is too big.  (pictures below)  We moved the hoist to his shop, set it up and tried to unload the grinder.  The porta power pack failed, leaving is stranded.  (sorry no pictures of that lift)

"no problem" JN says, I bought a used 12 ton pump/cylinder combo for such an occurrence!  So we repair the hoist.  We get it just off the truck - and it was leaky, very leaky - here's a photo of that rig:






so now we are in a pickle...  Now I say 'no problem; - all we have to do is to go to princess auto and get a replacement cylinder, which we did.  Now for day 2: the clevis holes in the new cylinder are too small.  John has the right sized bolts, so we dodged a bullet there.  I rig it up and we get it successfully off the truck and into the air.  HOWEVER  the grinder is rigged too tight and we cannot lower it all the way to the ground (big sigh goes in here)... It is about 18" off the deck.   So we back the truck into the garage, and lower the thing back into the truck, and rerig it as high as we can.  When we lifted it, it just cleared the truck bed, and we were jammed solid against John's other crane (the grey thing) [no it couldn't be used for this lift]  Now we lower it and it is still a little too high...  here is a picture of it as we were trying to fix this little problem:






John got the pallet from the truck and he also got 2pcs 3X3 steel tubing for cribbing...  When we lowered it, we had about 1/2 inch to spare - pwhew!






Finally landed, safe and sound.  1700 lbs and needing every inch of lift the giant hoist could give us. Tomorrow is the aluminum box with all the accessories - 200-350 lbs of it.  I have to say that this is one sweeeet machine, hardly used, I am green with envy!


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## CalgaryPT (Mar 8, 2022)

Holy cow John. Nice work. Thanks for the pics. Makes me wish that I didn't get rid of my Porta Pak; they come in great for these situations for sure. That's a big boy by my standards.

You remain the RigMaster Extraordinaire.


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## Susquatch (Mar 9, 2022)

Dabbler said:


> I seem to be batting 1000 these days... John asked me to help him unload the new tool and cutter grinder from his pickup truck...
> 
> Some of you know about the giant engine hoist John found for me last year:  I gave it to him because it is too big.  (pictures below)  We moved the hoist to his shop, set it up and tried to unload the grinder.  The porta power pack failed, leaving is stranded.  (sorry no pictures of that lift)
> 
> ...



That sounds like one helluva ride! Glad you gotter dun! 

And that has to be the biggest engine lift I've ever seen!


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## 6.5 Fan (Mar 9, 2022)

Nice engine hoist, i have a big sucker as well. Nice grinder as well.


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## Susquatch (Mar 9, 2022)

6.5 Fan said:


> Nice engine hoist, i have a big sucker as well. Nice grinder as well.



Just curious. What is the weight rating for yours at min and max extension?


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## Chicken lights (Mar 9, 2022)

Dabbler said:


> I seem to be batting 1000 these days... John asked me to help him unload the new tool and cutter grinder from his pickup truck...
> 
> Some of you know about the giant engine hoist John found for me last year:  I gave it to him because it is too big.  (pictures below)  We moved the hoist to his shop, set it up and tried to unload the grinder.  The porta power pack failed, leaving is stranded.  (sorry no pictures of that lift)
> 
> ...


Is that a steel carabiner? I like the rigging, very well done


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## kevin.decelles (Mar 9, 2022)

Wow.  Having been there recently, I 150% appreciate the effort involved John(s)!  Factor in the tightness of the alley,  the incline to the cement apron, the height of the box once backed in....  the envelope to work 'inside' the shop........

Good job on doing this safely!     Sell me a drill press John N -- I'll make some room for you!


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## johnnielsen (Mar 9, 2022)

kevin.decelles said:


> Wow.  Having been there recently, I 150% appreciate the effort involved John(s)!  Factor in the tightness of the alley,  the incline to the cement apron, the height of the box once backed in....  the envelope to work 'inside' the shop........
> 
> Good job on doing this safely!     Sell me a drill press John N -- I'll make some room for you!


The drill press's in my shop are spoken for. I will keep my eyes open for you.


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## johnnielsen (Mar 9, 2022)

Many thanks John C for the offload expertise and numerous entertaining hours. Everything was safe and the machine got to the shop floor without damage and a good time was had.


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## Dabbler (Mar 9, 2022)

Susquatch said:


> Just curious. What is the weight rating for yours at min and max extension?


At the shortest, 3 tonne, 5' to 9' 6" height  At the longest, 1.5 tonne, 5' to almost 12'  the legs telescope, from 6 feet to 10'6"


Chicken lights said:


> Is that a steel carabiner?


Yes, live load rated at 8000 lbs, thus 32000lbs yield strength.


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## Chicken lights (Mar 9, 2022)

Dabbler said:


> At the shortest, 3 tonne, 5' to 9' 6" height  At the longest, 1.5 tonne, 5' to almost 12'  the legs telescope, from 6 feet to 10'6"
> 
> Yes, live load rated at 8000 lbs, thus 32000lbs yield strength.


Why not use a shackle/clevis as the collector? I’m in no way saying a carabiner is wrong to use, just asking for the knowledge behind the choice. I’m guessing hook size on the straps was the reason why 

I personally hate that style of ratchet strap, for flatbed work, but in this case it looks ideal 

I used steel carabiners for tree work for many years, also part of the curiosity behind using them, they aren’t a common thing to be found in most industries. Rock climbers are kinda snobby about weight and eschew using them


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## PeterT (Mar 9, 2022)

Amazing accomplishment, way to go guys. Threading the proverbial (heavy) needle. LOL


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## YYCHM (Mar 9, 2022)

Where did @johnnielsen find the grinder and for how much?


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## johnnielsen (Mar 9, 2022)

I saw this posting:









						Surface grinder, better hurry
					

Sasksuplus.ca Item 11-532 Located in Saskatoon. Sale closes Feb 9 at 10 am.




					canadianhobbymetalworkers.com
				




I looked at it and saw it was a sealed bid auction. I figured you can't win if you don't play so I bid $5 over the reserve price. I was shocked to find out I had the winning bid.

$755 + gst and then $350 in gas. 17 hours driving 1400km roundtrip on Friday Feb19 with my wife Susan.


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## Dabbler (Mar 9, 2022)

Chicken lights said:


> Why not use a shackle/clevis as the collector?



I prefer to use shackles.  Here I was limited to the style of fork on the beam, which required that exact chain size.  I keep a lot of chain sizes for every occasion   Using that chain prevented me using all but my smallest shackle, which is only rated for 800 lbs.  So in this unusual case, the caribiners fit, are plenty strong, and allowed me to put 2 hooks in each carabiner.



Chicken lights said:


> I personally hate that style of ratchet strap


me too.  this is the first major lift with all ratchet straps.  each of the straps and their ratchets were 'rated' at 4400 lbs, except one which was 2280 lbs.  I knew that this was less than 2500 lbs lift so using 4 points of contact put the load on each strap into an acceptable range.  Marginal, but acceptable.

In this case none of the  holes went through the casting.  This prevented me using a bar through the casting, making the use of the normal looped straps impossible.

There were only 3 holes:  the 4th strap was a wrap-3 with 2 half hitches to secure the non-hook side of the strap to the casting.  I don't own any straps that have hooks at both ends, so that's out and I had no other way of lifting this particular machine.

This was all improvised on the spur of the moment with what was in my  lifting kit.


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## Dabbler (Mar 10, 2022)

so we finally unloaded the accessories that came with the grinder, in a big aluminum box here's a picture of what came with it:


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## PeterT (Mar 10, 2022)

Some snappy looking accessories. When is the The Reveal show & tell date? LOL


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## Chicken lights (Mar 10, 2022)

I dunno if that would’ve fit in the holes, but it would’ve given you an option for lifting, and for securing. Tow trucks have a wide range of T/J/finger hooks that are designed to slip into holes, you can get just an assortment ring with no chain, you can get bridles with chain going to a centre D ring, skies the limit on choices.

Just talking shop, I still like how you rigged it. I carry four “tail chains” that are 8’ with a grab hook on one end, and a slip hook on the other, 3/8” G70. They’re my go to for most machines or equipment, I can hook a blind hole usually with the slip hook end. I like being efficient, no need to wrestle with a 20’ chain when you only need 6-8’

Also knowing your skills I’m sure you could make something similar to what’s pictured without spending on them


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