Moving Machines

[madman]

Guys whats youre favorite way of moving Machinery?

[Mcgyver]

depends on whether you mean across the shop or province. In the shop, its no treat, but since i only have one it defaults as the favorite. steel pipes and 6' pry bar. Across town, I've had sod trucks bring stuff in - they are excellent because they've got heavy duty forklifts stuck on the back that detach. Quicker in and out, less attention drawn and no driveways blocked (like those long trucks where the bed temporarily drops off the back so the forklift can drive on and off). probably is off season now for those guys as well

[torker]

Mike...your new shop..did you put chain pockets in the floor?
The shop I have now has them. the new part I added on.. i put them in.
Are they ever "the bomb"... I love these things for jerking heavy stuff around.
Put heavy machine on rollers...pull around very easy with a come along.
Russ

[Mark McGrath]

Up to ten ton,drive Fairy in,pick up machine and away.Over ten ton,drive fairy in,pick up one end and put skates in.Pick up other end with Fairy and away.
Sorry guys,couldn`t resist.
Mark.

[barts]

Depends on the weight of the machinery.... My experience is limited to stuff under 5000 lbs, so YMMV. For moving stuff locally, I've got very heavy duty caster dollies (~5000 lbs total load capacity), a stack of 4x4 and smaller blocking, and a 6' heavy duty pry bar. I've also got 1.5" pipe sections, but don't
use those as much as the dollies. For moving stuff over the road, I use a rented drop-bed trailer and chain falls to pull the equipment onto the
trailer. I use chain and 2" ratcheting straps to hold stuff down....

- Bart

[RPease]

Guys whats youre favorite way of moving Machinery?

Let someone else do it..........

[Scishopguy]

The best way to move stuff around the shop is as McGyver said, steel pipes and a stout pinch bar. Some stuff needs to be jacked up and bolted to wooden skids, like long bed lathes or shears. This gives the pipes a longer working range. The professional machinery movers have heavy duty skate dolleys that make it a lot easier. The neatest thing I have ever used was a device called a "power tugger." It was just a heavy duty gear motor with wide solid rubber tires and a pinch bar tip. On the back end was a long handle with the forward and reverse buttons. You simply stick the tip under the object to be moved, push down on the handle and hit the forward button with your finger and whatever it is will move. We had one of these in our shop at the university that we got on "givmint surplus." Best money we ever spent.

[hornluv]

What about moving them around the country. I'm looking at buying a mill that's about 250 miles from me and my wife doesn't want me to try to go get it myself. Problem is, I don't want to spend more than the mill on machinery movers. The company that's selling it will load it for me onto a truck or trailer, so that isn't a big deal, but getting it off the trailer when I get back home is a mystery to me (that, and convincing my wife to let me do it myself). Do they rent gantry cranes? The mill is a Bridgeport clone, weighs about 2500lbs, and it is already on a pallet, so if I can lift it off the trailer I can move it into the garage with a pallet jack or pipes. I might be able to make enough room to back the trailer into the garage and lift it off in there (if I turn the head to the side). My ceilings might be too low though. Any thoughts? Sorry if I hijacked this thread.

Stuart

[mark61]

Let someone else do it..........

So then you end up with out of specs. head alignment on your lathe cause some lazy "rigger" wrapped a strap around the chuck and moved the carraige to counter balance it. Happened at work and we still curse that jacka$$ long after he retired!


mark61

[MickeyD]

I built a rolling hydraulic gantry crane a couple of years ago and it has made moving machinery so much easier and safer. I have loaded and unloaded full sized mills by myself, moved the 3200 pound lathe around, and moved some very heavy tool cabinets, bandsaws, and grinders with it.



[img] http://www.p1800s.com/images/frame1.jpg [/img]



[img] http://www.p1800s.com/images/frame2.jpg [/img]

The head goes down enough for the crane to fit under a garage (once an office) door, I can use a regular chain fall and trolley for light loads (under about 2000 pounds), but still use lifting slings and the rams to lift heavier items (up to about 5000 pounds). It is only 8 feet wide so it will still fit in my little trailer, but is wide enough to span it or the bed of the truck for loading and unloading. This is so much easier and safer than using an engine hoist.