flying pizza oven?

[maver]

Nick, I don't think you appreciate how close my house is to my neighbors. To prepare my site for the oven and my patio I rented a bobcat (actually won at an fundraising auction or else would have done it by hand) which barely fit between my house and my neighbors. There's no gradall or forklift that can fit between our houses that could also support the oven. The oven will barely fit between the houses, hence the crane idea. At least a crane should not have any sudden movements, unlike the risk of a slip with rollers trying to pull the oven up the grade.

[CanuckJim]

Maver,

This might or might not work. If you took the oven off the foundation and placed it on a purpose designed floor between the houses (steel plates used in road construction?) could you not use a winch to pull it to the front of the house and then pick it up. Just a thought. This is a tough problem.

Jim

[maver]

Jim, I'm interested in your idea, but am having a hard time picturing it - I understand to prepare for the crane I'll need to jack my hearth off the block stand (plan to support on 3 4x6 8' beams). You are suggesting moving the hearth/oven off to steel plates after jacking it up? Then pull the (estimated) 5000 pound oven up to the front to be loaded by a forklift? I have maybe 12 feet between my house and the neighbors on an approximately 15% grade. There is a fence as well, but that can be moved. He has an air conditioning unit that pinches us to 8 feet at one point. The other side of my house is worse. I think the crane is reasonable, and the cost is acceptable given what I need to pay to replace the oven if I cannot move it. I think my bigger problem is what to do with the old block stand and pad to prevent that being an anchor on the sales price of my soon to be old house. I can look into the cost of renting a small jack hammer. It might be easier to convert the stand into something useful.

[redbricknick]

I reckon with your masonry skill, you could knock up a quick barbie on the old slab in no time. Who doesn't want a barbeque in their backyard? It'll add value rather than detracting from the sale price.. Perhaps a couple of photos of your site will help the forum come up with suggestions..

[Unofornaio]

Originally Posted by maver

Jim, I'm interested in your idea, but am having a hard time picturing it - I understand to prepare for the crane I'll need to jack my hearth off the block stand (plan to support on 3 4x6 8' beams). You are suggesting moving the hearth/oven off to steel plates after jacking it up? Then pull the (estimated) 5000 pound oven up to the front to be loaded by a forklift? I have maybe 12 feet between my house and the neighbors on an approximately 15% grade. There is a fence as well, but that can be moved. He has an air conditioning unit that pinches us to 8 feet at one point. The other side of my house is worse. I think the crane is reasonable, and the cost is acceptable given what I need to pay to replace the oven if I cannot move it. I think my bigger problem is what to do with the old block stand and pad to prevent that being an anchor on the sales price of my soon to be old house. I can look into the cost of renting a small jack hammer. It might be easier to convert the stand into something useful.

With 8' of clearance you have many other low cost options to a crane @ $1,300.00. the average 6000lb rough terrain forklift is only 72" wide... United Rentals - Find Equipment - Forklifts & Material Handling - John Deere 486E 6000 lb. Rough Terrain Forklift
we rent these on large jobs and they would easily lift and move the oven and at 5 miles down the road with the soft tires you could almost drive it there..with an escort of-course. at $250-300 for the day that quite a savings..

[maver]

UF - I followed the link - I'm worried about the size (six feet wide, almost nine feet long) but it might be possible. Then I would have some fence to remove, but I might get away with not disassembling the oven as much to reduce weight (a necessity if I use a crane). I learned a few days ago that someone I've known casually for some time works for a local crane company and could "bring the crane home" after hours and do the work for me at a discounted rate - still need to be damn sure of my weight estimates before getting a crane out there. If I can make the path clear for a rough terrain forklift I'd have less work to do to get a working oven at the new house. Still, I've been looking forward to seeing it fly...

Actually, we have had some increased interest in our house this past week and are hoping we find a buyer, then my plans for the oven will become clear. Once someone makes an offer on the house we'll determine whether to move the oven or sell it and start over.

[Unofornaio]

Keep in mind the turning radius is very small though..
Anyway, good luck with the sale thats most important right now.

[james]

My thought was that the buyer will want the oven, and for the higher price they pay for the house you can build a new one.

You can fix the things you did not like the first time. I think everything I do comes out better the second time.
James

[maver]

Originally Posted by james

My thought was that the buyer will want the oven, and for the higher price they pay for the house you can build a new one.

You can fix the things you did not like the first time. I think everything I do comes out better the second time.
James

I'm hoping...
We've had a lot of interest in the house in what has been a slow housing market lately. We made the decision not to feature the oven in the house ad because I was unsure whether I would be moving it or leaving it. Now if a buyer wants the house I'll ask them whether they want to make an offer on the oven as well - we'll see. This weekend we're making father's day pizza at the old house. I'll take measurements to see if the rough terrain forklift is an option. Thanks for the suggestions.

Marc

[maver]

Update - it looks like we're going to fly!

We have two potential buyers, but neither is willing to pay anything for the oven (I suggested $4000, which I felt was a bargain), so it appears we're going to move it - I may still try to sell it by offering a demonstration. I learned recently that I have an associate who works for a large crane company, he thinks he can do an after hours job for me at a discount. I need to prepare a new site, but probably won't be able to do any work for at least two weeks as we are needing to finish our move and then we're away for vacation for a week. I made a 42" dome oven according to the pompeii plans with a neapolitan dome. I didn't count on needing close accounting for the cost. Does 2500# for the insulating hearth and 2200# for the dome sound right? I think I will need to strip the enclosure entirely for weight concerns to allow the move. If this happens, I think I'll pay to have it finished the second time.