How to pickup and transport a 2000# mill

[k2man]

I'm thinking I'd like to get a Bridgeport or similar vertical mill. If I find one nearby, what are my options on how to pick it up and get it home? I'm in Key Largo - looking in the south Florida area.


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[Old Hat]

Don't lift it by the ram!
The spider inside takes the entire weight of the machine below the ram-turret.
added to the force of the four bolts pulling on the column.
"BS you'll here, it was made to be picked up by the ram, hence the threaded hole on top!"
I've replace a few spiders... Oh! how did that happen?
Transport with the knee about an inch from the bottom of it's travel.
Set it down easy. I've seen three cracked where the foot meets the column from being dropped
or put down hard toe-first.

[boaterri]

I am not a rigger but this is now I did it (twice) Follow these steps at your own risk.

Bridgeports are really quite easy to move. Go to your local rental shop and rent the trailer that they use to move Bobcats or other small earthworking machines. Home depot/Lowes also has this type trailer. Gather up 3 or 4 pieces of black iron pipe 3/4" diameter. The kind used for pipe clamps or gas piping. A come-a-long or two and some heavy duty ratchet straps ( the yellow heavy duty ones, not the little red ones). One or more large pry bars or a Johnson bar. Some 2x or 4x wood blocking and nails

Invert the head of the Bridgeport to lower the center of gravity, put a 2x6 on the bed and slowly raise it until it is in firm contact with the head. Tip the bed of the trailer to the ground. Sweep the floor clean between the machine and the trailer. Use the pry bar to get the machine up on the pipes and slowly roll the machine to the trailer. Turns can be done by pivoting the machine on one pipe centered or by angling the pipes into a fan shape. Try and keep at least 2 pipes under the machine at a time when not turning. The come-a-long can pull the machine towards the trailer or restrain it if on a slight slope. Pull the machine on to the trailer with the final resting spot centered slightly forward of the axle. Secure a large block of wood between the front of the machine and the front of the trailer bed. Use at least 2 straps per side from high up on the Bridgeport to the corners of the trailer. I like to put a strap from the top straight aft to the center bottom of the bed if there is a good attachment point. Add blocking as you see fit.

Plan each step of the move carefully, be sure your help understands the plan and will follow it. Have an escape route away from the machine if it starts to go over. If the machine starts to go RUN!! DO NOT TRY TO SAVE IT OR THE WALL IT WILL SQUASH YOU LIKE A BUG!!!

Plan the work, work the plan and remember.......It's not rocket science, it's Egyptian science.


Good luck, work safe,

Rick

[KJ1I]

Two choices:
1) Hire a rigger
2) Do it yourself

2 - Do it yourself - two choices:
1) Move it whole
2) Disassemble into (more) manageable pieces

Both 1 and 2 depend somewhat on the seller. Some sellers have a dock and/or fork lift available and will be happy to load onto your trailer or truck. Private sellers (non-businesses) will sometimes give you a hand, other times you're on your own. There are a number of videos on YouTube showing how others have transported mills and lathes. At your location, you will need a crane or gantry, so figure the cost of buying or renting one into your budget. Also take into account doorways, ceilings, etc., depending on the mill's final location.

[Weston Bye]

If you have the luxury of being able to take it apart and make a few trips, it's no big deal.

I did it:
http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/thr...worked-a-treat!

[DR]

I'm thinking I'd like to get a Bridgeport or similar vertical mill. If I find one nearby, what are my options on how to pick it up and get it home? I'm in Key Largo - looking in the south Florida area.


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Have a rigger move it.

Top heavy machines like B'ports are not the easiest things to move.

For a recent move of a lathe (not top heavy) I rented an Home Depot truck (2000 pound capacity). Seller loaded machine. I had a local rental outfit deliver a forklift to the shop for unloading. Total cost was around $250, most of it being the forklift rental. For that 25 mile move a rigger would have been $450.

Having the forklift for a couple hours after unloading the lathe was nice. I shuffled a bunch of heavy things around while I had it.

[Old Hat]

Study maritime rigging.
Any object should have a restraint-line secured opposite a point of potencial unintended movement.

Said line gets one or two turns around a post / beam / tree / what-ever.
A man is stationed, who's only task is to "take-up" or "feed-out" just enough slack.......
that a tippover or run-away is prevented by his takeing "a bite" on the lower turn
of the restraint-line.

[k2man]

Very good information. I have moved things by rolling on pipes. It works well! I think I'll plan to do this. I know a guy with a bobcat, I'll see if he'll loan me the trailer. I totally understand "get the hell out of the way" if it starts to fall over. I've seen some "mentally challenged" individuals try some stupid stuff - amazing I haven't witnessed any deaths or dismemberments.

This mill I'm looking at is not in a good part of town, so if I buy it, I want to be prepared to pay and take it with me then.

Taking it apart sounds like a good idea, as it will be easier to load and unload in pieces. I have some dollies and come alongs, lots of ratchet straps and lots of 1" rope (for my boat), so I'll tie it down good.

I'll check out youtube videos - love youtube, lots of good info on about anything there. I even learned from a little girl some tricks to throwing a bait cast net on there!

[Old Hat]

Very I have some dollies and come alongs, lots of ratchet straps and lots of 1" rope (for my boat), !

You own a boat big enough to have 1" rope? ROPE!
That's a landlubber's term Dude.

[flylo]

Great ideas but I don't take them apart. If there is no forklift or other device I have a low trailer with a ramp, a pallet jack, a real shop crane that will lift it on a pallet or the trailer, plywood, a 7' railroad bar & jack, pipe, a forklift jack, toe jacks, hand winch and a helper. crane
Let me add 2 things use 2" trucker type straps & put an extra strap around the head or someplace high then to the rear of the trailer or around the trucks hitch if hauled in the bed in case some idiot makes you hit the brakes so it doesn't turn over forward. Go slow, think first, be careful.

[justanengineer]

If its in the same town as you I'd suggest checking with the local towing companies. When my Bport needed moving from the rental to the bought home across town, $75 to a rollback operator got the job done quick and easy. Just make sure they use straps over the machine to tie it down good. Inverting the head and lowering the table also do wonders for keeping it upright when the operator "shakes" it off the truck bed.

Failing that, a 6' tanker's bar and 1" iron pipe for rollers are good to keep on hand. You'll be surprised how easy it is to push around on rollers. My other personal favorite is a pallet jack. Pry/lift an edge of the machine up, lag some 4x4's underneath, and its on its own semi-permanent pallet.

[KiddZimaHater]

When I bought my mill, I just called a Towing company and requested a Flat-Bed tow truck.
The driver backed up to the mill, tilted the truck bed down to the ground, hooked up the winch, and pulled the mill onto the flatbed.
He strapped it down in about 8 different locations, drove it to my house, backed up to the garage, then reversed the process.
He even helped me roll it (on pipe) to the final location.
I paid the towing fee, and gave him a nice tip.
The towing fee isn't much more than renting a trailer, engine hoist, pallet jack, and your time.

[gzig5]

Moving it on a concrete floor with pipes is very straight forward. It is sometimes easier if the machine is bolted to a pair of 4x4's with the tips angled. Lowboy tilting automotive trailers are pretty easy to get loaded without scary moments. I've also moved machines by hiring a flat bed car hauler that tilts down. They connect the winch cable low on the machine and the 4x4 skis allow it to be pulled right up. Above all else, use heavy duty load straps (2-3" wide) and use twice as many as you think are needed to keep the load from tilting forward under braking or sideways in a turn. Removing head or table makes it easier and lowers center of gravity but I've just lowered everything and blocked them up so the screw and nut aren't taking the shock from potholes.

[Old Hat]

A complete novice should not attempt to take a machine appart
untill he's done it once, with someOne who knows what he's doing.

Too many understandable assumptions, too expect that one poorly thought out move
may mean it all goes to the scrappers.

[flylo]

If you need to rent a trailer get a "drop deck" that drops the deck flat on the ground until loaded & secured & for unloading, no incline, no need to lift it onto the trailer.