dean wrote:
It can't be as bad a design as I think it is. I lift it up vertically
or just a bit more, slap down the back feet and lift up the front feet.
Then I do a bit of painful gymnastics to get it onto all fours,
spread-eagle myself onto the two front feet, and raise the SOB, which
is nigh on impossible with a vice bolted down to the top.

Tips welcome.

I assume you're talking about a Workmate from your description. I'd
imagine that vise is what's killing you. Why not have the vise mounted
to a removable board? The vise board could be clamped by the Workmate
or you could have a couple of other clamps hold it down.

However you do it, it's a process and one on an awkward object. No
magic here.

R