On 142b, we find that it would have been permitted to remove the stone on the barrel of wine by hand, if not for the fact that it is easier to move the barrel with the stone on it than to first move the stone and then the barrel. This is presumably because one may move Muktzah to get at the food that is under/behind it.
Yet on 142a Rashi told us (DH u'Temei'ah l'Ma'alah) that one may not remove the Terumah Temei'ah from the top of Terumah Tehorah by hand, since it is Muktzah, and instead one must carry the Temei'ah on top of the Tehorah. Isn't it easier to remove the Temei'ah and leave it where it was, and to carry the basket with Tehorah alone? If so, it should be permitted to take off the Temei'ah by hand!
Q. Reese, Atlanta, Georgia
If you look at Tosfos (142b, DH "she'Ochel") and most other Rishonim, they understand that the reason that the Mishna does not allow the stone to be moved (according to the Gemara's final answer) is because the stone's presence on top of the barrel precludes benefitting from the wine in the barrel. This makes the stone more important, causing the case to be classified as "Pesoles Merubah Al ha'Ochel," in which Rebbi Shimon ben Gamliel (who the Mishna is according to) rules that one should only move the Ochel (the barrel), not the Pesoles (stone).
A case of Terumah Temei'ah would be classified in the same manner, as one cannot get to the Terumah Tehorah before removing the Terumah Temei'ah. Accordingly, one would not be permitted to move the Terumah Temei'ah in order to get to the Terumah Tehorah.
Have a good Shabbos,
Yaakov Montrose