Preparing Machines for Moving

[SteveHGraham]

For $4K, they should move the machines and also pull the stumps out of my yard.

[SteveM]

Jim Rozen has a saying:

"Hiring a professional will cost less than the emergency room visit".

Steve

[liveaboard]

Jim Rozen has a saying:
"Hiring a professional will cost less than the emergency room visit".
Steve

Perhaps; but if I hired 'professionals' to do my work, I'd have no work and no money.
No doubt, there are times when you just can't do it yourself; but it's all in the details.

[SteveHGraham]

Are you trying to say I can't do things safely? Look at the highly professional, totally OSHA-approved way I moved my band saw and drill press.

[liveaboard]

My bandsaw was too tall for the doorway; so I strapped it to the pallet fork on the FEL and tipped it forward until it was nearly horizontal, and took it in head first.
When you pull too hard;

When you pull much too hard;

[spro]

That is also a warning. Buckets may not be right afterwards.

[SteveHGraham]

The weight was no problem. I nearly ran out of height, though.

[liveaboard]

The weight was no problem. I nearly ran out of height, though.

That's because you're using your pallet forks the wrong way around.
You need to put hem UNDER the load!

[Harold_V]

I'm not so sure about that, and for good reason.
Picking machine tools from the base can be risky business. The forks allow easy movement (they're slippery), so the picked item is prone to sliding around. It's also a lot easier to topple a machine that way.

Picking overhead, as shown, is a lot safer. That's the chief reason many machines are provided with a tapped lifting hole at the top.

H

[spro]

You understand this was in jest. Further; in all the times we've seen Liveaboard and his huge tractor, he was supporting everything top to bottom.
I wouldn't have done it that way but I wasn't in the same pinch that Steve G was in.
It is his tractor and shared it with us. He was mocking himself for not lifting closer to the lift arms. The larger the tractor, the heavier is that bucket. The more work to remove it.

[pete]

Real Bridgeports as one example of that tapped lifting hole Harold mentioned that are in the ram are afaik rated for a safe full machine lift from that point. My Tai built clone has the same threaded location and came with an eye bolt already installed in it. I've never used it since the machine had to come apart to go into my shop and I used a forklift to get it and the pallet it came with off the truck I hauled it from Toronto on. From what I saw of the rams internal casting cross section mine might? be just barely safe lifting the whole machine from that point. Or maybe not. One single and impossible to know about internal casting flaw and your in for a very bad day. I used my industrial experience and for my mill I'd judge it as not being trustworthy enough to ever chance it. With a real Bridgeport then maybe. There's still better ways though. It's one major benefit is the machine can't roll over during a lift.

One thing I learned and luckily for me from figuring out what went wrong when others who had a few lifts go pear shaped is doing it half way to proper is you have to be lucky every single time. And almost every one of those failed lifts were the result of something unexpected happening during it. When I was young and hopefully a bit more stupid I did drop 36,000 empty tin cans in a ware house just from backing the forklifts front tire over a 1/2" thick piece of broken pallet with the load at the full height of the ram. In mining I've done thousands of lifts with so far no failures from a few hundred lbs to upwards of 50 tons. Some of it and where it had to go had never been done by anyone working at that mine site so there was no one to ask about the best way. And our real cranes couldn't get into or reach where I could. On a job site your the one in the seat, so if it does go wrong for any reason it's on you. At home that's just as true, plus you have to pay for any failures.The less you know then the more time and energy you better invest in a lift being 100% fail safe. I've also broken enough industrial and properly certified rigging equipment learning to eyeball guesstimate weights and what it could and couldn't lift verses it's size that I automatically down rate any off shore rigging by at least half just to be fairly safe. There's real good reasons why that non certified off shore rigging isn't allowed on any industrial job site I've worked on. And yes I do own and use some of it at home with my own one half rating. Machine tool rigging and moving is a whole lot more complex and much harder to do safely every single time than most that don't have the experience think. And the almost universal use at home of using those cheap straps instead of cable slings or chain is even more dangerous. I've seen industrial abrasion resistant straps double the required strength get cut through in seconds a few times. Sharp edges on machine tools that don't even feel that sharp and using those straps without any softening of the edges like cardboard or scrap carpet will ruin your day as well. How fast and how much work a machine move takes with something you own should have zero meaning. A 100% safe & successful move is the only important criteria.

[spro]

This is a good read as always, Pete. I don't care what anyone says. One flyin' bolt in the ram doesn't do it because was done. Put trust in one lift ring, are we crazy ? Straps alone are not the answer but work well together with the lift ring. Cinched tightly, and they may stretch but they are safety belt to the enormous stress on one bolt. The load doesn't have to be moved right that minute. You can tighten straps by methods old as time, where you twist them and secure them in place. This takes much load off the lift ring and stabilizes the machine.