On large jobs, we sometimes hire subcontractors to help us out. Other times, we will do all of the work in house. Often, we rent tools that make the job easier.

We looked at a job last fall at a building that was built in 1905. The older steam system was in need of some attention; most importantly, the boiler was leaking and needed to be replaced. We examined the entire building, looking and measuring every radiator in the building. We also looked at three abandoned air handlers that were once fed with steam.

Much to my surprise, we got a call last month from one of the members that is in charge of buildings and grounds. The non-profit organization had numerous fundraising events and now had the funds required to proceed with the boiler replacement project. We filed for the required permits, placed a large order with our suppliers and scheduled a start date with the club.

As fate would have it, one of my employees would need to take off for a funeral in a foreign country. He would be away for the duration of this project. As soon as I learned this, I called the contractor we use occasionally for boiler removal and deliveries. The contractor was busy and could not come for a few weeks. I called another contractor who is a former employee for help, and he is recovering from shoulder surgery. It would be my son, myself and a high school kid that has helped us a few days over this past winter.

We rented man lifts, boom lifts, fork lifts, Lull, scissor lifts, telehandlers, excavators, backhoes, skid steers, etc. On this job, there were five steps made of bricks that appeared to be original to the building. We have dragged and carried many cast iron boilers up and down stairs. I must admit, many of the stairs get some damage, especially stairs that are made of one hundred and twenty year old bricks. In order to prevent damage, we knew we did not want to drag four thousand pounds of iron section out and twenty five hundred pounds of cast iron in.

I called the two places we normally rent machines from. It looked like an excavator would be our best bet. The idea was that the bucket would extend into the boiler room and we could hoist/drag the cast iron sections to the base of the stairs. From there, we would lift the sections one at time up, rotate the machine and lower the sections onto our flatbed trailer. I had a few concerns; the doorway is painted wood (white paint) and is narrow. I could picture the bucket getting stuck on the doorway and doing some serious damage. I am also aware that when an excavator is fully extended, it does not have that much lifting power.

My son stopped at a new local rental place. He spoke to the owner, and he suggested a forklift with a boom extension. He explained how it worked, and we agreed it might be the best for this job. The next morning the brand-new lift truck, fitted with the boom, arrived at 7am. I have not driven a fork lift in years, but it came back to me pretty quickly. My son is better than I am at driving fork lifts, so we decided I would do the rigging and he would drive the machine. By eleven o’clock in the morning, we were able to get the old boiler removed from the boiler room and had all of the sections on our trailer. In the middle of removing the old boiler, the new boiler showed up. We used the forklift after removing the boom and unloaded the delivery truck, very easy with the right tools.

By twelve o’clock, the new boiler and all of the related components were sitting on the boiler room floor. At two thirty, the new boiler block was assembled and ready for a hydrostatic test the following day.

Yes, the cost of renting a lift is not cheap. And, yes I am well aware they do not always have the tool we need in stock. However, I suspect this lift saved us at least ten man hours of backbreaking labor, possibly fifteen hours. Our backs and legs were not exhausted, bruised or sore. My clothes were not ruined from getting ripped, stained, etc. The doorway is still bright white, the stairs were untouched. All kidding aside, it looked like we were never there.

Oh, I almost forgot about the kid that graduates tomorrow from high school. He showed up after school (half day). He helped us get the new section into the boiler room and build the boiler. He also ran and picked up pizza for us for lunch. I knew he played center for a local high school football team. I asked if he went to the awards dinner that typically takes place a week or two before school ends. He said, yes I went to the football awards dinner. Then he says, “however I did not go to the awards dinner for the other sports that also includes the video gamers.”

I said, “What do you mean, ‘the video gamers?’” Apparently, you have to earn the school letter for sports by keeping your grades up, showing up for practice, not getting in trouble, etc. or you could earn a letter for playing some video games. We asked what kind of video games, but he did not know. Imagine that you could “earn” a high school letter for being a “gamer.”