"bigiron" wrote in message
oups.com...
| Steel plate + compressed air method?
|

I second this motion. Where I work there are a couple tools that when
unloaded are (guessing) 15 tons apiece. Loaded, each carries well over 30
tons for a total load of about 90 tons on the floor. They use compressed
air and a number of smaller plates underneath with little rubber skirts.
Takes a couple 2" air lines and two forklifts to pull them along, but they
do nicely. It goes without saying that it does use up lots of air, and are
noisy as hell on the polished and epoxy floor, but it solves the problem.
One PSI on a five foot square plate theoretically will pick up 3600
pounds, and at 60 psi 108 tons. Leakage of course will burn up most of
that, so if your tool fits on a five square foot plate your shop compressor
will be able to move it. There's a learning curve with flex, air flow
control, skirts, and so forth, but that's part of the fun of it, isn't it?
As far as the $100 rule, that all depends on what tools you already
have, the condition of your floor, and the rating on your compressor, but if
you have this particular tool, you likely have a good compressor.

Oh, and it sweeps the floor of whatever you failed to pick up!