Ever tried to shift a car with a forklift?

[cosmicpanda]

I'd hate to be the forklift driver who dropped someone else's Maserati on its roof while shifting it illegally.

'A building worker from a construction company tried to move the car by hoisting it into the air with a forklift, but dropped it on the roadway.

Eyewitness Brad Harrison said: "He picked up the car with his forklift, and ... suddenly the car rolled over and fell on its roof. It was a large crunch."'

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/...ectid=10419885

I'd also hate to be the owner of the car

[millencolin]

i saw that on the news!!!!

what a freakin moron!

its called a tow truck buddy... then again maybe he found out that the maserati belonged to a kiwi and thought that this would be good for a laugh

[ShiftingGears]

Saw that, ouch... I hope it was insured...

[Drew]

Ouch, better hope he hasn't been reading the news then...

[luvracin]

Saw that, ouch... I hope it was insured...

Even if it wasn't, the construction company should have to pay damamges as they are not legally allowed to move cars.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Little story here, maybe an urban legend, maybe not. As some of you might know, my name refers to my hometown. In Oshawa, GM has their biggest complex for building cars. Three Assembly lines making pickups, and 4 models of cars. Soon to be the home of the Camaro, but I digress.

About 20 years ago, as the week before the 2 week summer shut down and model change over was on, It was a mad house. Old inventory and parts were being used, things were getting disorganized, people were cranky, it was hot, and space was at a premium because a defective part all the sudden was found that was causing car after car coming off the line to not want to start. Whatever the gremlin was, they kept the line going, pushed the cars manually aside and tried to retro fit the part broken. A Forklift driver, needing to get at some parts had to keep getting these dead cars moved out of the way. Finally, he lost his temper as his foreman was all over him for not getting parts to the line on time. Anyone who has worked on the line will know that every minute that line is down, a ton of money is "lost" and that is why it almost never stops. Anyhow, this guy loses it, decides he needs a car moved. He rams the forks THROUGH the door, picks the car up, puts it down, on TOP of a second car, and not gently either.

The result? Well he didn't get fired apparently,(gotta love the union eh?)....but it does tell you that you can pick up a car with a forklift, and if you dont' care how things turn out, rather easily it seems.....

[janneppi]

It's not the lift power that's the problem, i've operated a forklift which isn't that big in size but can easily lift 2500kg, bigger issue is balancing the car on the fork and how wide can the fork be made.
I would also be careful about things that the fork can damage under the car.

[FrankenSchwinn]

i used to work in the port of baltimore and i would opperate forklifts up to 30 tons (of lift) and a few times i've taken the 60tons for a spin but never really used it. basically, we took care of packaging all kinds of stuff from single crates to entire containers to oversized machines (oversized in the usa means gigantic back home in europe) and we did things like helicopters and rare cars. my favorite of these cars was a 51 cady convertable but recently my friend who is still working there as a manager said that they did a careraGT and he sent me a picture of him in it, what an ass. anyway, i digress, we are told, taught, and know to NEVER lift a car with a forklift: the brake lines or fuel lines could get crushed, driveshaft can be bent or broken, exhausts can be crunched, etc. instead, if it needed to be lifted we would build a little platform for each wheel where you could slide each of the forks through so basically you would be lifting the car by the wheels. some guys would do jeeps by the roll cage with straps and that worked fine too. but there is also another way (just in case anyone ever gets in that situation) is to put a piece of wood in the "lift anchor points", you know, where you would put the jack if you had to change a tire on the side of the road, and put the bades under these blocks so that you are essencially raising the car like it would be raised if it were at a shop. it's a little tricky and you have to make sure you are driving that lift really smoothly, but it can be done. please forward to appropriate construction worker.

[RaikkonenRules]

I'd hate to be the forklift driver who dropped someone else's Maserati on its roof while shifting it illegally.

'A building worker from a construction company tried to move the car by hoisting it into the air with a forklift, but dropped it on the roadway.

Eyewitness Brad Harrison said: "He picked up the car with his forklift, and ... suddenly the car rolled over and fell on its roof. It was a large crunch."'

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/...ectid=10419885

I'd also hate to be the owner of the car

How stupid can some people get.

[bowler]

maybe they should have parked the car in a legal place.