Hoist Helps Move Headstones

Hoist Helps Move Headstones HITCHES Moving and setting headstones is much easier for cemetery workers since John Herren modified a hoist for a small tractor At 92 he’s always up for a challenge to repurpose or make useful items out of scrap materials as seen in past FARM SHOW articles Ex: Cub Cadet cab Vol 38 No 1; pickup steps Vol 42 No 5 For the headstone project he started with a hoist that was donated by someone because it was bigger than they needed Since the winch lifts up to 3 000 lbs it can easily handle double headstones that weigh about 400 lbs The challenge was mounting the hoist so it wouldn’t tip the small Kubota B7500 tractor “I ran 4-in square tubing under the tractor to set the hoist on It’s about 10 ft long and mounted under the transmission ” Herren says He supported the hoist with 6-in channel iron around the vertical part of the hoist and he added a second winch to pull in the tongs that hold the headstone to rest on the bars that he added “I made several holes in the [tongs’] arms to adjust for any size stone ” Herren says The hoist’s boom swings right and left to put the stone in place and can also be flipped back over the cab and secured in place when not needed The person who takes care of the cemetery tested it and it worked well Herren says The modified hoist will save time and labor compared to the tractor forks used in the past It’ll also come in handy for lifting other items up to about 500 lbs Herren says Contact: FARM SHOW Followup John Herren P O Box 72069 Louisville Ky 40272 ph 502-741-7521; jrherren31@yahoo com

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.