There is a machine shop less than a mile from my place closing its doors and are auctioning everything off. They have four old mills. I have no idea what they are going to go for, but I figure that the issue is going to be moving them more than price.

So, who do you talk to about moving one of these suckers? I'm assuming that even though it is less than a mile the cost is in the loading/unloading more than the mileage rate. Any ballpark figures for such a move?

Ask here -
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi Bound to get a couple of answers...


Andy

I don't know any machinery movers in your area, but down here I use Able. These guys are sharp but not cheap.

http://www.ablemachinerymovers.com/

Machine movers out here average about $100.00 a hour .
The clock starts running when they leave their yard .

We once moved a Bridgeport mill using a car trailer and Bobcat , but that thing might be to much for a car trailer .

What on earth would you do with that monster? It's gotta weigh 3 tons!

Your probably looking at at least $1,000 to rig & move that machine.

Then you'll probably need 3 phase or a RPC to run that. Just make sure it runs. I don't think spares are readily avaialble?!?!

i was even thinkin of just get a car trailer and one guy did move it around in his shop with pipes and roll them around.. not easy task but doable i read it somewhere before.. so maybe simlar concept wtih a smooth ramp to car trailer wtih pipe or they might will help you load it but for unloading just use pipe with smooth ramp to your garage from car trailer to save u the coin.. my input here..

i was even thinkin of just get a car trailer and one guy did move it around in his shop with pipes and roll them around.. not easy task but doable i read it somewhere before.. so maybe simlar concept wtih a smooth ramp to car trailer wtih pipe or they might will help you load it but for unloading just use pipe with smooth ramp to your garage from car trailer to save u the coin.. my input here..

Those guys didn't use a ramp to get it on the trailer.

I don't remember where the thread is, but I want to say that they used a rollback tow truck to move it. Then to get it off the tow truck they rigged a chain hoise.

But that mill IIRC, was MUCH smaller.

I would be VERY careful about trying to use a ramp to get the mill on and off. it's going to want to roll VERY easily on any grade and you don't want it to get loose, roll, hit the ground flip over and break either the cement, the mill, or a person.

Most likely you will have to use someone to move it. Every auction I go to requires the rigger and mover to have a huge insurance policy. There will be riggers onsite to give you a bid for moving it to your location. You can usually get a quote before the bidding starts so that you will know where to cut of the bidding. Don't forget about buyers premiums.

ok, if I were to attempt such a feat myself:

1) I'de get some sections of 3/4-1" pipe to roll it on
2) Some long prybars

Prybars to get it up on pipes, then roll it close to trailer. I know my trailer could handle the weight of that... but your typical car hauler with two 3500# axles is going to be overloaded. I bet that thing easily weighs 3 tons - the deck looks to be 3-4' wide.

Next to get it on the trailer:
3) Up my life and disability insurance to max. (maybe this should be step 1) Keep ALL appendages away from the thing as much as possible.
3) Construct a tripod chain hoist like this:
http://www.vestilmfg.com/products/mhequip/tripod_hoist_stands.htm
But I would use 3 20' sticks of 3-4" tube probably 3/4-1" thick. I'm probably paranoid on thickness...

Then get a 5 ton chain hoist. rig it up to lift it just high enough to slip the trailer underneath.

After that it's tie it down, etc.

Get it to it's home and reverse the process.

I helped move a 9x42 JET vert mill using an engine hoist and flatbed trailer. The hoist couldn't handle the entire mill so we unbolted the head from the body and moved them separately onto the trailer. Same when moving it into the garage. The only downside is the mill needs to be trammed now to get it aligned but it probably needed to be done anyway. The mill you're looking at is a monster compared to the one we moved. I'd pay a rigger to do it.

If it is less then a mile rent a pnuematic tire lift truck and must move it with that.

Call around to lift truck companies, often you can find one that will move it for you buy comingout with a rental machine and then letting you load it on the machine onto their truck and take it to your destination where you inload it with their machine.

Most likely you will have to use someone to move it. Every auction I go to requires the rigger and mover to have a huge insurance policy. There will be riggers onsite to give you a bid for moving it to your location. You can usually get a quote before the bidding starts so that you will know where to cut of the bidding. Don't forget about buyers premiums.

I'll have to see what happens. That is the largest of the four that they have. I was at an auction some time ago where a number of the machines didn't even sell because nobody wanted to pay to move them. Due to the proximity, if there was any reasonable way to get it moved I may be in a better position than most.

If it is less then a mile rent a pnuematic tire lift truck and must move it with that.

You know, I had that thought... I can just imagine the flashing lights behind me as I'm driving it down the street and the conversation that followed after getting pulled over... "Son, what in the everlovin' hell do you think you are up to???" :laughing:

What the hell would you do with that if you found a way to move it? World's heaviest tubing notcher? Call Belger, I'm pretty sure they are nationwide and I know that they know what they are doing. Anyone who thinks they could move this on pipe rollars are kidding themselves and it's unlikely the machine shop would even humor you and allow the attempt. I moved a 14x48 Clausing lathe in the back of a 3/4 ton pickup and it just about flattened it and that lathe weighed WAY less than the pictured mill. BTW that shop's floor in probably a lot thicker that your shop's is.

Anyone who thinks they could move this on pipe rollars are kidding themselves


Any idea of how much that thing weighs?

I'm just curious.

I'll second a vote for Belger if they're in your area. There are companies that specialize in transporting heavy machines like that and can make quick work of it for under $1000 probably.
Everytime I've had to have a mill or comparable machine moved we've just used a forklift. Trying to roll one on pipe is just asking for serious injury.
If I were you I'd go after the mill visible in the background on the right. That monster mill will be way more trouble than it's worth.

We drove a forklift from the place I got my used mill to my shop. It was about a mile. Worked great. Sorry I don't have any pics of the move but here is the mill.

Also make sure that the mill runs on the Power you can provide. Ie. Single or Three Phase.

I did a writeup about how one of our members moved a Bridgeport. There might be a thing or two that could be helpful.

Moving a Bridgeport Mill (http://toolandfab.com/forum/showthread.php?t=240)

That looks a little easier that drivin a Forklift backwards for like a mile. We couldn't see forward when moving my mill so we drove backwards really slowly. I think the mile trip took about 2 hours. I have seen a local fab shop move their mill with a simple metal rack they set under it and strapped it to the forks of their forklift. They were driving it down the main road thru town. It was a small enough mill to see while going forward.

We hired a truck to move the mill from the auction to our house. We have a John Deere 2010 utility tractor with a bucket. Since we can machine, we adapted the bucket holder to hold forks at various widths. I can't remember if we used the bucket or the forks, but we offloaded it with the tractor. We then rolled it on pipe (like Travis recommended) to the final spot. Just roll it slowly and feed it the pipe it rolled off of. When it came to the final spot, just pry off the mill with big ass spud bar/pry bar. This was a Bridgeport mill by the way. We used a Rotary Phase Converter. Between that and the Southbend 13" lathe, we can make damn near anything. All we really need is some Proto-Trak CNC or something similar.
Aaron

just rent a forklift, thats what i did when I got my new lathe, only issue was the rental place was all out of pneumatic tired lifts so I ended up with a lull..the old lathe cam out easy but the new one was about 6000k and the lull would not fit in door, good thing my friends lent me some skates. Are there any other mills left?? Pm if so, i would be interested, it helps if you can find some skates too..i borrowed these
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=247409&d=1148952761

Lulls are fun 4x4 4 way steering. When we moved our mill to our new machine shop on the farm we loaded it into the back of a dump truck with a fork lift and when we got it home we used an excavator to place it on pipes and roll it into the shop.

pipes are great if you dont have skates...:smokin:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=247410&d=1148952855

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=247411&d=1148952932