Moving shop - time to buy a forklift?

[Jonathan Jung]

I'm looking at moving my shop soon, up to 45 minutes away, and am faced with a couple decisions. Thanks for being a sounding board. I'll want a forklift eventually, out of convenience not necessity for daily operations, and am wondering if the move is bringing a large enough reason to justify the purchase.

A) buy a used forklift for unloading at the new location and borrow one from a friend for loading at the old location, use flatbeds and various vans/cargo trailer (no cost)
B) rent one forklift, $684 for one day w/pickup & delivery, $286 for a second day, and borrow a second forklift, use flatbeds and various/vans/cargo trailer (no cost)
C) rent a Penske 26', 3,000lb lift gate, truck, skid the lift approach so I can roll a loaded pallet jack onto it, $491 for one day and estimated mileage, $175 for a second day

What could I expect to spend for a used forklift, one that doesn't need work and won't need significant work for some years? I'm seeing prices from $6,000-12,000.

Equipment where a forklift could be helpful moving:

WBS ~ 2,200lbs
Jointer ~ 2,000lbs
Bandsaw 26" ~725lbs
4x8 Workbench ~250lbs
Sawstop 450lbs
Spindle sander 300lbs
Bandsaw 16" 470lbs
Edge sander 600lbs
Bandsaw 24" 1,050lbs
Drill press 20" ~600lbs
Planer 15" 550lbs
Plywood storage rack, loaded ~2,000lbs
Powerfeeder cart ~200lbs
Chemical cabinet, loaded ~600lbs
Toolboxes x4, loaded, each ~who knows?
Hardware cabinet, loaded, ~who knows?
Radial arm saw, 300lbs
Unloading stacks of materials

I'm counting 14 items where it would be especially handy, for weights and awkwardness where even 4 guys would be pushed to the limit.

I got all this stuff into my current shop without a forklift, using a pallet jack, skidding trailers to the shop floor so the jack won't high-center, strapping ingenuity, and lots of time.

A box truck would be useful, but not necessary, for moving our personal items, as we'll be moving home too, out of a small rental at the same time we move the shop. Both our home (one rental) and our shop (commercial space) will be moved onto the same property.

Any other ideas, suggestions?

[Cameron Wood]

Include in your calculations the ongoing cost of owning a forklift vs the amount of use it would get. Maintenance, depreciation, but also having a place to keep it.

I would investigate hiring movers for the big stuff.

[George Yetka]

If not abused maintenace is pretty light. Ours is about 10-12 years old. I believe we have spent about $1000 on it in all that time. Its probably due for a little maintenance. But still original tires/brakes/ and almost everything else. We put a new ignition switch and 2 new batteries in. It was 40,000 new.

I would figure that the cost for rental will be more. Everytime we rent we get shown a price of x but said and done its 3x. 1x is delivery, 1x is the rental, and I have no idea where that extra x goes

Is the second property a shop in your yard? you can look at tractors with forks. Lulls are also a good buy if you have any uneven terrain

[Michael Burnside]

Is this even a contest? To add what Cameron said plus storage and if this is a business, insurance, I just don't see "buying" anything short of throwing money away. And 6K for a forklift that is actually worth while is going to cost several grand more fixing it up, if you can find parts. I'm surprised you could find anything near that. The devil is in the details on something like this for sure.

I rented a 5K lb fork lift with 6' extended forks when I took delivery of my 2000lb CNC. It was 350 bucks for the day with added insurance. I picked it up and brought it back.

There are also drop-deck trailers, but I don't know if they are in your area for rent and you need a 3/4 ton to tow it unless it's a smaller 5x9 bed.

[Jim Becker]

If you have intention of actually using a forklift at your new property with enough frequency to justify owning one, I think considering that is sound along with taking delivery there and borrowing for load-out if you can actually do that. It looks like you're a business so there are potential tax benefits for the acquisition, too. (those should also influence whether or not you buy used or new...talk with your business accountant) I know that when Matt Cremona got more heavily involved with building his business and got into a warehouse situation, he ended up buying a new machine because finding something that hasn't been beat to death was proving difficult and I suspect that Section 179 write off may also have come into play.

[Bill Dufour]

used battery lifts can be had for scrap value if the battery is no good. For light use a few truck batteries will let it run for 10-15 minutes which may be enough. Also need several hundred pounds of extra ballast.
I would think hard about a battery pallet mule or walkie stander. how much lift height do you need?
Bill D

[mike johnston]

A forklift is handy for a lot of things. But beware of the surface you are traveling on. Forklifts are great for putting machines together. Our lifting up something to put a mobile base under. My forklift is a hard tire version. It likes smooth hard surfaces (concrete) and little else. If you can swing it a skid loader is a great option. Unfortunately a bit more money. It’s all terrain, and opens opportunities for lots of attachments. I probably use my skid loader 50 times more than my forklift. Perfect example, a foot of blowing snow yesterday and today will be moved, if it ever stops snowing and blowing

[Jonathan Jung]

Well, I certainly want to get one at some point, it's just a matter of cash flow.

According to the rental place, $346 is pickup and delivery.

I've thought about the battery option, as Bill you're right that once the batteries only last a short while the value of the forklift is much much less. I know a guy that got one for $1000 only because it only runs 10 minutes or so on a charge. He's had it a long time that way.

[Jonathan Jung]

There's ones like this that come up time to time.

https://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/h...706138299.html

Good lift height, sufficient capacity, would do the trick fine.

[Kevin Jenness]

There's ones like this that come up time to time.

https://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/h...706138299.html

Good lift height, sufficient capacity, would do the trick fine.

My friend had that same lift, got it cheap when our employer bought new and put a new head gasket in it and used it for several years, but it was always a bit sketchy in his rough shopyard. He recently replaced it with a skidsteer with forks and is a lot happier with its greater stability and capacity.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

How about a compact tractor with a loader and a pallet fork attachment. It might not be nimble enough for indoors?

[Phillip Mitchell]

“Compact” tractor with forks on FEL will not come close to handling the weight of many of his items. It takes a heavier, more full sized tractor in the ~60 hp + range to think about safely lifting ~2,000 # with forks. Rear ballast weight and filled rear tires can help this equation but a tractor and FEL is a poor forklift if that is the primary use, in my experience. A skid steer is a marginally better choice if you’re needing more flexibility from an all purpose machine that also needs to life with forks, but even then you will need one of decent/reasonable size and weight to lift around ~2k pounds +.

My vote is used, excellent condition propane forklift with all terrain / pneumatic tires if you have the space and cash flow to handle it. Once you have used one in your workflow, there is no comparison to anything else.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

We moved "Belching Beulah" the gigantic antique dbl drum oscillating sander with the JD 2030 we did have it ballasted. The loader is rated for over a ton, that sander is closer to 2 tons. I will restate my thought. How about a full-size tractor with a loader? I guess that would not be nimble enough either?

[Jim Becker]

I agree with Phillip. A tractor isn't a good solution for this specific kind of work and the spaces that it needs to be done in, let alone capacities. I feel the same way about a skidsteer for the environmental reasons, even though the load capacity tends to be higher for the given side...not a good "indoor" tool. A forklift is designed for the purpose.

[Jacob Mac]

I just moved my shop an hour away. What a pain. I had tools from 600 to about 1500 lbs. I used a pallet jack, cherry picker, and a lift gate truck. Throughout the move, I thought I should have sold everything and taken up golf. Now that the move is over.... I'm still not convinced.

But to your question, I'm not sure a forklift would have been worth it.