lathe/mill moving

[morpheus]

hey, I'm looking to buy a small lathe, 11" or 12" by 36" and have found some good deals but shipping is generally a deal killer. I've run across a few semi-local (read a couple of hundred miles away) and they can load but how do you unload something like that when you get it home ? I've got a shop crane but I'm not sure it's up to the task ...

[Brian468]

how much do the ones you looked at weigh? better make sure the bed of your truck can handle that much of a load first, disregard that if your using a trailer. I used an A frame hoist and a cherry picker to take my bridgeport outta my truck, used two cans of wd40 to slide my turret lathe off the trailer onto some cheap ass one use dollies I made. dollies were made an inch lower then the trailer, we slide it onto them then used a floor jack to take it off when I got it positioned where I wanted it.

[PTSchram]

I've had machinery moved using tow trucks. Depending upon distance, it might be worth it to have the machines moved this way, Otherwise, just have the towing company remove the machine from your trailer. Cheap and safe.

[Eric]

You will want to rent a drop bed trailer. These trailers have a hydraulic ram that lowers the trailer deck flat on the ground. I used one of these when I bought my bridgeport mill. I kept my Bridgeport on a pallet and loaded/unloaded it with a pallet jack.

Here is a pic of the trailer I rented.

[lsloth]

Originally Posted by Eric

You will want to rent a drop bed trailer. These trailers have a hydraulic ram that lowers the trailer deck flat on the ground. I used one of these when I bought my bridgeport mill. I kept my Bridgeport on a pallet and loaded/unloaded it with a pallet jack.

Here is a pic of the trailer I rented.

How much did that cost to rent?

[big97redtj]

Our mill being moved in.

[jelbehai]

I was just going over this with a buddy this weekend - here's what he's done numerous times: load it on a regular trailer, throw $40 at a local tow truck driver, tell them they just need to lift it up, and set it down. Set it down on a bunch of pieces of pipe, and roll it to where you want to put it (replacing the pieces of pipe in front of the machine as it rols - duhhh). Have to be crafty with where you set it, and roll it, but he swears he "kicked" his 5000 lb bridgeport 4 feet proving to the truck driver he had it under control after it was unloaded...

[PTSchram]

Originally Posted by jelbehai

I was just going over this with a buddy this weekend - here's what he's done numerous times: load it on a regular trailer, throw $40 at a local tow truck driver, tell them they just need to lift it up, and set it down. Set it down on a bunch of pieces of pipe, and roll it to where you want to put it (replacing the pieces of pipe in front of the machine as it rols - duhhh). Have to be crafty with where you set it, and roll it, but he swears he "kicked" his 5000 lb bridgeport 4 feet proving to the truck driver he had it under control after it was unloaded...

BTDT, but, if your floor isn't exactly flat, restrain the machine as they can get away from you and either hurt you or the machine.

[PXJ]

We loaded ours where bought it with a fork lift, easy enough, when we got it back to the shop, I backed in between the post's of one of our hoists and carefully chained and slung the lathe with the 9K hoist, lifted it and pulled the trailer out. We then used floor jacks on the "legs" of the lathe and extreme caution with 5 guys to position it where we wanted it. Ours is an older LeBlond, 8' Bed IIRC about 3000lbs. We used a car trailer to haul it, putting a few sheets of 4x8 1/4 diamond plate down on it to spread the weight on the wood deck helped.

[d.d.machine]

you don`t need a forklift for a small lathe,,,, use use a motor hoist and a good chunk of rope...... there is holes in the lathe beds and go down thrue them with a loop then slide a 2x4 thrue the loop and lift the sucker up ..... I have moved lots of small 10"-12" lathes that way... thats how I pick up my 5,000 LBS lathe is with two strapes and my big forklift,,,,,

P.S. the guy picking the bridgeport by the base,,, you have more balls than me I pick them by the ram ( like bridgeport tells ya to)

[Eric]

Originally Posted by lsloth

How much did that cost to rent?

I think it was about $75 for 24 hours.

[morpheus]

Originally Posted by Eric

I think it was about $75 for 24 hours.

where did you rent it from ?

[Eric]

I rented the trailer from Dahl's Equipment Rental in Santa Clara, CA. You should be able to find a similar trailer at any equipment rental place.

Here are some pics of the mill and trailer.

[lsloth]

[QUOTE=Eric]I rented the trailer from Dahl's Equipment Rental in Santa Clara, CA. You should be able to find a similar trailer at any equipment rental place.

Here are some pics of the mill and trailer.


What style phase converter did you go with that? Are you happy?

[yager]

Originally Posted by jelbehai

I was just going over this with a buddy this weekend - here's what he's done numerous times: load it on a regular trailer, throw $40 at a local tow truck driver.......

Yup $40 well sepent... did same thing one time, had guy swing buy had nice extend-a-boom worked well...

-mike

[YJRockBuggy]

I just bought a used Logan 11 x 36 engine lathe. I offered the guy 150 bucks to bring it up and he took it becuase he was layed off work. Plus this one came with a table with removable tray. It all fit in the back of his long bed chevy. I unloaded it with an engine hoist had a couple guys help me put it together. No problem. I would guess that it doesnt wigh more than 800 lbs complete. this type even has a leg for the motor to set on.

Before he arrived I thought it was going to be a big problem and was going to meet him at an unloading dock, but when I saw it I knew I could unload it.

[odee]

might want to check into a set of case jack as used in the refrigeration industry to move the cases around the store when setting up. The pipe deal works real good also just make sure to keep toes out of the way the pipe has a sure way of smashing them.

[Eric]

[QUOTE=lsloth]

Originally Posted by Eric

I rented the trailer from Dahl's Equipment Rental in Santa Clara, CA. You should be able to find a similar trailer at any equipment rental place.

Here are some pics of the mill and trailer.


What style phase converter did you go with that? Are you happy?

I am using a VFD to control the motor. I use these at work all the time and they are so much more useful than a standard rotary phase converter. I wouldn't even consider a static phase converter for a milling machine.

With a VFD, you can change the frequency output with a potentiometer to effectivly increase or decrease the motor's RPM.....this is fantastic for a step pulley milling machind since you can fine tune the RPMs instead of being stuck with big gaps between pulley speeds. You can have them accel and decel the spindle for different time lengths. Way more functions that I will ever use, but like I said earlier, I wouldn't use anything else for a milling machine.

Here is the 2 HP VFD that I have on my Bridgeport.

[FugginZukin]

Originally Posted by Eric

You will want to rent a drop bed trailer. These trailers have a hydraulic ram that lowers the trailer deck flat on the ground. I used one of these when I bought my bridgeport mill. I kept my Bridgeport on a pallet and loaded/unloaded it with a pallet jack.

Here is a pic of the trailer I rented.

I hate to bump an old thread, but using this ^^ guy's suggestion was by far the easiest way I have moved both my mill and lathe. Both took less than an hour each to get out of the trailer.

The bed of this trailer drops all the way to the ground. The lip on the edge of the bed is approx. 1/4". The only issue I ran into was the pallet jack wanted to high center a bit as the last foot of the bed has a slight decline. No problem, I just stuck some 2" x 4"s under the front wheel to prop it up, and she rolled right down. I did have the guy who sold me the mill put it on the pallet however, so I lucked out there. The rest was incredibly easy.



With the lathe, the decline was a saving grace as I drove the trailer part-way into the garage and ran a come-a-long/tow strap around the back side of the lathe to the edge of the bed and slid it off onto some 4 x 6's . No pallet needed on this one. Here it is waiting for casters.



Just wanted to share for the future reference of others.

[dopeassjackson]

if you take the head off of a bridgeport a 2ton engine hoist should beable to lift it. lathes are the tough ones. you cant really take them apart to easily.

[guidolyons]

Those drop bed trailers look like they work well, I've seen them for rent at Home Depot, also.

I used my engine hoist to help my neighbor move his small mill and lathe (grizzly?) into the garage. They showed up truck freight to his house no lift bed on the truck and he was going to try and use a 2x12 as a ramp. Good thing I showed up with the engine hoist before he dropped the mill

[DIY4X]

There are some seasonal employers around here that have equipment like trucks and trailers and forklifts and such that have nothing to do in the off season. They are willing and competitive sources for moving large heavy items.

We had Joe's ready mix deliver a lathe to the shop in the winter some time ago. I drove to the place the truck was kept, rode with the guy to get the lathe and back to the shop.

Only reason I went along is this particular driver had never strapped down a lathe and didn't want the responsibility.