We have two of these. Changing to balloon tires is not as easy as one might hope. They do help quite a bit but it's rare that they can be positioned to just slide on and off. The displays and benches were not designed with that in mind.
Hey Brian. We use industrial hydraulic lifts at the Museum very similar to
@River's Edge suggestion... and move exceptionally large bonsai pots.
There are three modifications that were made by the Curator to help avoid back issues. Won’t solve all, but most. Brilliant idea!
1. Modified with larger tires, which one can get predrilled for the cart. Often have option for the larger tires.
2. A large piece of 3/4-1” marine ply is bolted to the top, long enough so it can fit over the guard rails around the exhibits and go just over the bench and be lowered over the top. (Wet down when loading and off loading trees.)
3. Under the pots each tree has a heavy duty furniture type coaster disc. This allows even the biggest pots to be slid across the display to the edge of the lift. (Also allows on to rotate the trees a couple times a week.)
The only lifting done is to make a slight edge lift onto the edge of the marine ply. Then the bonsai are slid over onto the body of the cart and wheeled away for work. Reverse for return to display. It’s a tad more complicated for off site work, but you can PM me if details are desired.
Here’s a cropped image of the smaller rig and a decent size tree/pot on top . (Sorry unable to show the tree or staff in the actual photo).
Hope this helps.
cheers
DSD sends
