Hydraulic Lift

An unattended manual pallet jack parked beneath a heavy wooden crate behind the grocery store was too much raw machinery to pass up. I scrambled onto the reinforced steering arm, grabbed the thick rubber grip with both hands, and threw my full weight down. The hydraulic pump hissed, ratcheting the twin steel forks up a notch and lifting the whole wooden pallet off the pavement. Pump, hiss, clank—three quick lunges had the load floating. Before anyone came looking, I stomped the release lever on the handle. The valve dumped pressure with an echoing thud as the steel chassis dropped flat against the concrete. Heavy lifting handled in record time.