Moving Heavy Stones

A friend of mine wrote recently.

"Do you know a good way to construct a portable gantry crane?
I need to lift, move and lower stone in the one thousand pound size.
I'm cladding my friend's new indoor fireplace with six inch thick slabs of stone.
I have planed to drill the hearth and columns and use a slip lewis connected to a fall chain, to a hook, to an I-beam to lift and lower."

I wrote back.

" I have a tripod contraption that consists of three 4 by 4 cedar posts connected at the top with a three way metal bracket that pivots and spreads enough to adjust how far the legs are apart, but still stay connected at the top. "

This thing called the ‘Smartripod' allows me to attach a pulley. To move/walk a heavy stone, I strap or chain it and lift it with the hoist just to the point where there is almost no weight on the ground. Then I swing/slide the stone a foot or so over, lower it and then move the legs over one at a time, lift the stone and do it all again until it's where I need it "

Two summers ago Mark and I used the tripod to lift heavy stone treads off my truck, walk them over to where the stairs were being made and lower them exactly where we wanted them to go

Here is a closeup of the fabricated metal Smartripod

All you need to do is add the wooden legs (and a hoist)

Below is the link where you can order it

       http://www.vispieux.com/vispieux-tools/Smartripod.html