flying pizza oven?

[maver]

I talked with my crane buddy, and the weight and span to reach are just too much. I was planning on knocking off all the finish to make it work, but even then it's too close to risk trying - I could have the crane out here and be unable to move it. I'm going to talk with my neighbor about moving his air conditioning unit to give a full 10 foot path to allow the rough terrain forklift (thanks Uno!). Their company has the same tool, and he thinks he can do it for cheap (he offered free, I'll have to offer something though). I'm going to have to do some locating and make sure the path is clear and pull out about 4 fence posts, but the heavier capacity of the forklift means I can probably move the oven intact from the hearth up.

[DrakeRemoray]

Oh Man, moving his air conditioner...do you think he will say OK? I hope you made him a lot of pizza!

Drake

[maver]

anytime he's home while we're baking he gets some. The AC is nice but not critical this time of year in the NW (more important in late July, August). I only need to disconnect and move the unit for a day, then back in place. I'm pretty sure he'll approve, he's a great guy. Part of the reason we're moving is they put their house on the market, the neighborhood can only go downhill once he leaves.

[jengineer]

sounds like the glue is leaving the hood

[maver]

Progress update:

I just completed my second block stand this morning, the new house is ready to receive the oven from the old house. I have a friend with forklift experience lined up to operate the forklift. I still need to line up the AC detachment from the neighbor's house. I have another friend at a rental outfit who is going to help me out by letting us use the semi flatbed the forklift is transported on to also transport the oven and two pallets of brick left from my unfinished work on the base of the old house. This gets around the added cost of paying to move the forklift as he plans to do this for us on his day off. The biggest concern right now is the forklift that can manage the weight capacity of the oven is 8.5feet wide, and we are only 10 feet between houses. I'm going to owe lots of pizza, but I think I'll be able to make pizza in my new house in about a week!

Marc

[jahysea]

Marc,

Sounds like a lot of fun! Can we get some video of the "flying" oven? Might be more like crawling :-)

[maver]

Well, we did the move today. I have some photos but no energy to work on getting them suitable for post, I think it will be later this week. Moving the oven out of the old house went well. There was a very tight clearance and I had very patient operators. The oven left the old house intact with no damage to either house. My old backyard is going to need some serious work, but nothing technical, just time to repair the brick patio, replace fenceposts and plants.

The new house has much more space, so we anticipated a smooth placement on the new stand. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. After a very mild summer it rained a lot the past 24 hours, and the ground became a bit boggy. The mild slope in my backyard became a morass for the 30,000 pound forklift with some 6000 pounds of pizza oven. Due to loss of manueveuverability, the oven had to be handled from a different side than we have planned, resulting in the oven facing the wrong way. The cement board/stucco siding was irreperably damaged, and the perlite poured all over the yard. The dome also cracked and shifted slightly, and the vent and chimney are standing but in shambles.

The upside? I have very little material cost to rebuild the oven. I also have plans to use a mason for some (maybe all) of the brickwork as I just don't have the same desire right now to do it myself, so I expect I may have it back in action sooner rather than later. Also, I think I may make a separate cover and then just have a stucco dome for a cleaner look and better rain coverage over the front working area of the oven. The perlite scattered in mounds in my yard can be reclaimed for some hypertufa planters (thanks, Chad [Janprimus]) for the inspiration!

A question. If the gap in my dome is relatively small and the floor is still level and reasonably tight, any reason not to fill the gap with a refractory mortar and recure?

Exhausted,

Marc

[maver]

OK, here are photos. First, the oven squeezing between my old house and the neighbors house. This took about an hour to negotiate the gap after an hour or so just getting in position to pick up the oven. I think I aged a few years with the stress during the passage between the houses.

Next a photo of success, the pizza oven crawling up my front lawn.

Third, a photo of the oven on the road, driving to it's new location.

Fourth is a photo showing the result of trying to hold the oven from the side, in retrospect if I had just placed the oven on the stand facing 180 degrees from the direction I had intended it may have been able to be placed without damage. Ultimately it ended up facing that way anyhow .

The last photo shows the dome crack.

This whole sequence would seem very sad, but my number one objective was to retrieve the oven from the backyard of the old house - my buyer just did not want it. Considering it was removed without any damage beyond tearing up the back yard is a success. I would have liked to set the oven on the stand at the new house ready to make pizza, but the forklift was just too heavy with my wet sod to maneuver the way I imagined. I'm sure I can salvage the dome, and the insulating hearth pad is intact. Although it is facing the wrong way I may be able to rotate the dome.

I'll redesign the finish to the oven. I'm trying to work out how to integrate a cover for an igloo style oven that will cover the work area for rain shelter and still gain my wife's approval. I plan to use high tech materials to make all this easier and quicker for the rebuild.

Marc

[El Puaco]

Marc

Amazing pictures and what a story! It's a sad story but it sounds like you have a plan to save the oven. That's the good news. Gave me quite a lurch in the stomach to see the pictures. Keep us up to date on your progress.

We've had several pizza projects in my oven although I'm still building the stud walls and roof. The rain is slowing things down lately.

Again, best of luck in your repairs.

[jwnorris]

While the fourth and fifth photos were painful to look at, the thought of the new owner of you old house taking a sledge hammer to an oven that he did not want is even more painful to contemplate. What a waste that would have been.

Good luck on the re-build.

J W