Can I tow a BP down the street on the shop crane?

[Tinkerer]

Does the tractor have four wheel driver? Weight on the bucket reduces weight on the rear wheels. Do the rear wheels have directional treads? Reduced weight and trying to back down the street might just spin those wheels.

Otherwise, I too would go for a skid if the tractor is up to it. My father and I moved a quite large two floor wooden farmhouse about 5 miles over farmland using nothing but timber skids and two tractors and we didnt break even one window.

Beats me but the OP'er said the thing could push or pull it so going off his info I take it it has enough ass to do the job... just not lift in into the air. And with the bucket on the ground I don't see any real weight loss to the rear wheels. The idea of placing the front edge of the skid in the bucket is two fold one keeps it from snagging and two stability. If for some reason it does not have the power I'm sure hooking a lawn mower or an atv ahead of is will get the circus moving. Which still sounds better then using an engine hoist as a transporter.

[gwilson]

I hired a tow truck to move my 16" x 40" lathe,and my Bridgeport clone on separate occasions. Both worked out well,and cost was low. The tow truck even managed to get the lathe most of the way under my garage door at my last house,to where it was on smooth concrete,and I could manage it from there.

[The Artful Bodger]

I hired a tow truck to move my 16" x 40" lathe,and my Bridgeport clone on separate occasions. Both worked out well,and cost was low. The tow truck even managed to get the lathe most of the way under my garage door at my last house,to where it was on smooth concrete,and I could manage it from there.

Yes, a tow truck is the best alternative to DIY, after all a tow truck is not much different to a big engine hoist!

[Ron of Va]

Another vote for a tow truck, the ones with an engine hoist, not a roll back.

I used a u-haul trailer to move a mill 40 miles to my house. When I arrived home I realized that there was no way I was going to get the mill out of the trailer with my 2 ton engine hoist. Waaaay too dangerous, somebody could easily get hurt. (I have a $100 deductable for the emergency room at the local hospital. I have been there many times, and don’t want to go back.)

I paid a tow truck driver the $100 bucks to take the mill out of the trailer, and back down my driveway to my garage. He took the mill out of the trailer with the boom, and then lowered it down on the lower lift for stability, the one that clam shells under the front tires of a car. Piece of cake, well worth the $100 so no one gets hurt, and the mill does not fall over.

[38_Cal]

I'm in a little town in the sticks, three years ago I got the local skid loader dealer to come over with one of his machines with forks on it instead of the bucket to get my mill off of the trailer when I brought it home. Placed it on 1" pipe, the rest was easy...moved it to where it would live in the garage and built the shop around it. He was happy with a $20. I've got a line on a 13x40 lathe, have to do the same thing...if I get it. When I built the shop, I put in a 4'x8' door into the garage area, in case I ever moved or had to get machinery in or out.

David

[HSS]

Do you guys have skip trucks in the US ? or is it a European thing ?



These are awesome for moving machines as once hanging from the chains they CANNOT tip over.
They lift vertical, move over the bed horizontally and lower vertically.
No inclined ramps that give you heart attacks.

Once on board you strap the machine to the lift arms and again it can't move, fall over etc.

At full extent they finish up with the top only about 5' off the floor.
I have even had them poke the arms into the shop, grab a machine and move forward until they are clear to lift.

They are plentiful around here, 15 pages of entry's in the local yellow pages and that doesn't cover builders merchants who run they for their own needs.

Nice thing is the people who operate these offer the lift / load as a service when you hire a skip, they do not have the same mindset as riggers who charge by the hour.

That one in the picture can handle about 14 tons lift but you can get them based on small trucks classes as mini skip.


One similar to this collected and delivered my Victoria U2 universal mill with no bother.

The scrappy here where I stays, uses some that looks like this one.
So they are around here and not just over the pond.

[rohart]

No one has mentioned my favorite transportation method. I like a box van with a tail lift. You can more or less roll a machine onto the lift platform with the rollers.

Unless there's an ignition interlock you can drive with the tail down, so all you need to do is rope it firmly, lift 6" and drive.

Cost marginally more than a similar van, unless you know a delivery driver.

When I transported my lathe I winched the machine out of the van with a chain hoist hooked to the back of the van. A very flexible solution, and easy to reverse the lowered tail into the garage.

[mike os]

Come on guys it is down the street not 5 miles away....

pallet truck & pallet...strap machine to pallet & lift 1" of ground. if it rocks, just drop it down. Moved a 650kg(1450lb) lathe on my own lke this, no worries

[mike4]

The scrappy here where I stays, uses some that looks like this one.
So they are around here and not just over the pond.

I use a tilt tray which can pick up and deposit machine door to door ,all insured and professional ,anything from a single pallet to twenty tonne machines.

As once that machine tips and bites the bitumen it may as well be scrap.

Michael

[RobbieKnobbie]

Speaking from VERY costly experience, do NOT use an engine hoist to move loads a single inch. A lot of good ideas have been offered here, all of which are better than risking dropping your machine if one of those brittle cast wheels gives out on you.

[Machtool]

Can I tow a BP down the street

David Bowie knows about that. Take a look at 1min 50 seconds into this video. Nothing more than a pallet jack and a rope. Probably best if you didn’t do it in peak hour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4d7Wp9kKjA

Regards Phil.

[Rustybolt]

Whatever you do please post pictures!

Yes! Lots of pictures! Better. Video!!

[Liger Zero]

David Bowie knows about that. Take a look at 1min 50 seconds into this video. Nothing more than a pallet jack and a rope. Probably best if you didn’t do it in peak hour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4d7Wp9kKjA

Regards Phil.

So apparently... towing a bridgeport down the main drag... gets you chicks.

[PeteF]

Not sure about towing the Bridgeport, but I can say I've been awfully pissed* in the pub where that video was shot!

*that's the Australian version of pissed btw

[vincemulhollon]

drop it if it speeds up.

Come on guys it is down the street not 5 miles away....

pallet truck & pallet...strap machine to pallet & lift 1" of ground. if it rocks, just drop it down. Moved a 650kg(1450lb) lathe on my own lke this, no worries

I moved thousands of pallets of salt at that weight when I was a kid. That would only be 18 80 pound bags and I believe we stacked up to 32 80 pound bags per pallet. Don't forget that when (not if) it gets away from you, drop it long before you get above walking speed. Once its moving too fast it'll slide quite a distance or even find a way to tip.

Balance is important and don't just center the load on the pallet but center the center of gravity on the pallet and also center the pallet on the jack.

And whatever you end up doing, don't hurry.