best procedure to turn a large air cooled remote condenser
Good morning to everyone.
Last week I had to go to a remote rural area in order to inspect some new equipment which is to be installed in a refrigerated wharehouse. One of the equipments is a large air cooled vertical discharge remote condenser which is about eight feet wide by 23 feet long. It has 10 fans and weights nearly 5000 pounds. I was surprised to discover that this condenser was shipped on a wooden platform standing on one of its sides. The supporting legs were not installed but inside another box. We were able to pull the platform out of the container with a tractor, and laid it down on a flat surface. My question is: is there any standard procedure for turning this size of a condenser 90 degrees in order to have the fans pointing upwards? To complicate things, there is no way to rent a forklift or a mobile crane in this area, so the job has to be done manually. Any advice welcomed.
What I would do it to haul it up and over past 45º with nylon chokers (or chain) both pulling and hold-back. Where it is going to be set upright I would stack something - like old tires - so that it could fall past / over-center - but not crash down suddenly. Once it was sitting on the tires I would jack up the side on the tires and install wood blocking. Then gradually jack and remove the blocking until it was setting on it's feet.
In fact; maybe I would just pull it over directly onto the blocking - I'd have to be there to say which.
Use two large trucks or tractors or dozers for the pull / hold-backs.
Two guys, two drivers, two hours or less.
PHM
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The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking.
Then you will need some long levers to bolt/chain/attach to the bottom of the unit - picture that these would be vertical initially. Four or five levers - each maybe triple the width of the unit. Then with lines to the top ends of the levers - both pull and hold-back - use four or five guys on each line to pull it over onto something just past over-center. Old tires or the actual blocking.
The levers could be full lengths of 3" sch. 40 iron pipe I would think.
Where is the job located? Does "rural" mean: a farming area? Because . . . what else would they be storing in a refrigerated warehouse? A tractor or three would make it a cakewalk to turn the unit - but I could get it done with a full platoon on site.
PHM
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The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking.
For safeties sake, your not gonna like this, load it back up. Take to a crane, set uprite and attach legs. Set it back on trailer take it back to site. Get 2 gantries and set the unit in place. 5000lbs, 23ft long? Trying to man handle that could get someone killed or crippled. Be smart not brave here.
Rural recovery tow truck....Been there and done that. Should be a fairly routine job for them...
That's an awsome idea!! I never thought of that. Some of those are pretty stocky and can definitely get in where a crane can't. Thanks for putting that out.
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Originally Posted by 2sac
