Walking slightly less like an Egyptian...

[BobWarfield]

I am getting ready to go on the hunt for a bigger lathe, and have a compressor in a big crate on the way. My gadgetry for moving around heavy items is near non-existant and I can never get the big trucks to get all the way up my driveway. I thought about heading over to buy a cheap palette jack, but didn't find the idea very satisfying.

I have seen some very handy looking machinery dollies floating around in various styles, and they gave me the idea to draw up this version:



It's built around a bottle jack (the blue cylinder) and made of 4" square tubing riding on 3 1/2" square tubing "rails". The plate components are 1/4".

The theory is you make up 2 of these, roll 'em up under the big crate or machine to be moved, wrap some load straps around to hold it all in place, give a couple of pumps on the jacks, and the heavy load has now sprouted wheels and can be moved.

It certainly would be easy to weld a couple up and wouldn't cost all that much. I found some heavy duty casters at SurplusCenter and bottle jacks are certainly not expensive.

What say ye? Does it seem a passable idea?

Best,

BW

[HWooldridge]

Your idea seems plausible but why not cut several pieces of pipe and roll the offending piece of machinery. I have moved a couple of lathes and a mill with a come-along and a few pieces of pipe. If it's dirt floor instead of concrete, lay down some plywood for a flat surface.

[Milacron of PM]

Those already exist in the marketplace.....pretty much just like you drew it. (most material handling catalogs have them) They are ok for machines that have a sort of box shape where you can get in close to the outside edge and wrap the straps around to connect them. Most of the machines I deal with are not like that and I find pallet jacks and skates way more versatile. (using toe jack(s) to lift machines high enough to place on skates or pallet jack) Those things were mostly designed for heavy cabinets and office furniture, but for some machines they would work well I suppose.

[Mcgyver]

yeah I like the idea of those, pick the machine up right off the floor and then wheel into position. I would take a machine with straight sides (more or less) though if the two halves of it are just held by strap clamps. what about having a bar at the top that was adjustable in and out such that you could hold a trapezoid shape while keeping the upright vertical...

side view of what you've got:

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side with adjustable bar , the "---o" part could be adjustable to "-o" or "------o" etc so you can put it against an angled side but keep the leg of the L vertical

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needless to say you want to make sure nothing can slip

of course you'd want to err on the side of caution, but it would be worth doing some engineering calcs rather than guess at the sizes of tubing. too much overbuilding will add a lot of unnecessary weight and dollars, ie why use 4" if two 2 with a gusset would work

[cmiller231]

Take a look at the cinn yahoo group home page . I think this may be what D Thomas was talking about. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cincinnati_machine_tool/
Chris

[torker]

Bob...nice drawings as usual! (I'm jealous!) I roll all my stuff around on pipes or rods. We've moved a couple of REALLY big machines (debarkers and such ...25,000 pounds) with levers and rollers. Good idea you have there but for how many times will you use it...will it be worth the effort? Pipes/rollers are very efficient and cheap. I'm still moving my 3500 pound Ohio mill around the shop. Still using pipe or whatever is round. Very easy to turn around corners etc.
Oh ya...I had to respond to this...I'm walking very much like an Egyptian....just spent 11 hours laying ceramic tile...the guys who do this for a living...are NOT gettin paid enough!
Russ

[BobWarfield]

Yep, that gizmo on the Cinci group is a "Rol-A-Lift". 'Bout $3000 for a pair of 'em. Here's a similar gizmo in use to move a shaper:



McGyver, some bumpers on screws would make the dollies more versatile. Another approach I have seen would involve connecting the two together with pipes and clamps that can slide to fit various loads.

My reticence about pipes is I'm rolling up a hill. I want something slightly less random.

Best,

BW

[J Tiers]

Due to the unbalanced load vs support, the type you pictured relies on 2 things to stay upright and not drop the load.....

1) friction between forks and bottom of machine

2) A flattish part of the machine for the top to lean on.

The trailing wheels can be spun right out from under by hitting a bump on the floor, if the meachine inertia is large enough that you can't stop it, which is probably true if you need those. Then the load gets dropped. Longer heavier forks are good, help prevent disasters like that.

[Your Old Dog]

I'm betting the casters on the unit pictured are worth the better part of $250-300 heavy enough to hold the load and still take the punishment of sidewalk cracks and small stones. I'd buy me some nice 2" round pipe and keep the equipment tithered to a come-a-long. If it wants to roll on the pipe you won't be able to stop it by hand.

[TECHSHOP]

I made something like that out of wood, car "screw" jacks and wheelbarrow wheels. The machine weight was ~1500 lbs, and any roller/wheel with a smaller diameter just sank into the hot asphalt. I had to move the machine up an incline and over a few (about 3/4 in) "steps" along the way. A "come-along", a "johnson bar", two chocks and a whole lot of choice words, I was done in about 5 hours.