Over the Wall, Onto the Pad, Old Tub Out the Same Trip

There Is No Gate Wide Enough

Nearly every yard in this town is walled, and the gate was built for a person and a trash bin, not for something the size of a spa. That is the whole reason this job exists. The tub goes over the wall, or over the house, and lands on the pad. No fence panels come out, no block gets knocked down and rebuilt, no pavers get lifted to make a path.

The lift itself is short. Most of the work is in reading the site first: where the truck can stand, what the boom has to clear on the way over, and whether the pad is actually where the drawing says it is.

Old Tub Out, New Tub In, Same Call

Replacing a spa is two picks, and there is no reason for them to be two visits. The old shell comes over the wall first and goes onto the truck or trailer that is taking it away. The crane stays exactly where it is, the new one comes off the delivery vehicle, and it travels the same route in reverse.

Split into two bookings, that job means a crane on site twice and an old tub sitting in the yard in between, usually right where the pad work needs to happen. It also means two schedules to line up and two companies to chase. Booked as one call, the yard is clear by the end of the visit and there is one crew and one number involved.

Haul away of the old shell is your arrangement unless we have agreed otherwise before the day. We will set it on a trailer, a truck bed or a spot at the curb where a hauler can pick it up.

Rigging a Shell Without Squeezing It

A spa is not a solid block. The weight sits in the shell, the frame and the equipment bay, and a bare hookup with two straps meeting at the hook pulls inward on the cabinet from both sides. That is what cracks a corner or pops a panel. A spreader bar holds the sling legs apart so they pull straight up and the tub keeps its shape the whole way over.

Weight is worth being honest about. The dry figure on the sticker is shell, frame and equipment. Full of water it is a completely different lift, which is why a tub is always moved empty. Send the model number and we will work from the manufacturer's figure instead of a guess.

The landing gets protected too. Pad edges, coping, decking and any tile along the path get covered. The spa comes down slow and gets nudged into final position by hand once it is close, never dragged across a finished surface.

What Has to Be Ready on the Day

Timing with the dealer matters more than anything else here. If the delivery truck runs late, the crane is standing in the street waiting on it, and that helps nobody. Give us the delivery window and the dealer's number and we will talk to them directly so both trucks show up in the right order.

Beyond that, the list is short:

• A clear spot in the street or driveway for the truck with full outrigger spread and nothing parked in the swing circle
• The pad poured, cured and level, or a set of runners ready if the tub is going onto decking
• Gate, patio and yard cleared along the flight path, including anything that can be knocked off a wall
• Power drops, misting arms, patio covers and shade sails pointed out before setup starts
• The spa model number, so the weight is a known figure and not an estimate
• Somebody on site who can make the call on final position