A lifting device for temporarily supporting a trunnion of a paper roll to relieve a bearing and its bearing block of load to facilitate replacement of the bearing. The lifting device includes an arch yoke and a cradle yoke having torque arms which are rigidly interconnected by releasable fasteners and which extend axially alongside laterally opposite sides of the bearing block, thus permitting support members, such as extensible jacks, to be placed beneath the torque arms at laterally opposite sides of the bearing block.