Lifting Washing Machines with an Old Toy

Waiting for a couple of years whilst the planning system ground slowly and while I recovered from my neck event we have hosted half a houseful of family furniture and stuff-in-general, mainly in and around our garage block.   This has meant things have been stacked up in front of the middle garage, very effectively sealing in Gladys Emmanuel, the Ford Model T.

For the past year that has not mattered as I have not felt up to driving it anyway but as summer is now almost here I decided to act and to get Gladys back on the road.   This necessitated moving a tumble dryer (light-ish) and a washing machine (very very heavy) from the garage area to our utility room.

The vintage three-wheeler Geest auto-truck seemed the ideal vehicle.   The tumble dryer was loaded easily but the washing machine was quite a different matter.   It needed lifting bodily from ground level up 20 inches to the loading platform.   Well beyond me and most of my now contemporaries.

Then inspiration struck.  Among my railwayana / playthings there is a magnificent and ancient truck/hoist designed precisely for the job:

here is the machine on the trolley hoist

and safely loaded onto the Geest after a few easy turns of a winding handle, without assistance.

Had it been required the hoist could have lifted the washing machine a good deal higher.

The hoist, besides defying gravity, probably also defies every Health and Safety rule in the book.  But it works.