Buy It And Try It: Forearm Fork Lift

When you move, you need muscles, and Musclemen Moving LLC of Sacramento says you should leave the lifting to them, the experts.

You got to have a strong back when you work for a company that moves 120 families a month.

"You need to protect your back, as soon as your back goes, you have many more health problems," said Jeffrey Gooch, Musclemen Moving Owner.

So while out on a job in Lincoln, I gave them my Forearm Forklift to try out. It's supposed to encourage proper lifting, make moving quicker and easier, and heck, the ladies in the infomercial seem to like it.

Let's see if it's really that easy.

First you lay out the straps in an 'X' then, move the furniture on top of it. A person on each side puts their arms into the straps, and you then lift with your legs.

"You hardly feel the weight at all this way. You feel pull on your forearms but you're not straining your muscle like you do if you're just lifting the piece," said Jason Levin, Professional Mover.

Through the house, and into the bedroom. It worked well on a dresser, but let's try something a bit more challenging.

Our movers put a 100 pound sofa right on the X, and head for the house.

It does move easily, but we don't get far.

"Can't even make it to the walkway to get it through the door," said Levin.

They have to ditch the straps to tilt the sofa, and once they get it through the walkway and front door, they don't bother using the straps again as they put it in place.

And now, the heaviest item we've got to move-- a 225 pound wooden TV stand.

They struggle with it a bit especially because it's a long piece of furniture. They say once inside, maneuvering around tight corners with the forearm fork lift is tough.

"That piece was a lot heavier than the previous dresser, and it was larger so we got through the turn, it was harder to work the turn to get through the door," said Levin.

These guys think the product does what it says it'll go, but claim the challenge comes with odd shaped bulky items, and tight quarters.

The price is $19.99, online.

They thought this would be very good in homes with hardwood floors, so you don't scratch the surface sliding things across the floor.