Move a 1000lb jointer by yourself!

[Jim Barrett]

My 12" General Intl jointer was delivered on a pallet. Typical for large equipment. This jointer weighs over 1000 lbs and I wanted to make it somewhat mobile. So I contacted HTC and asked about a custom mobile base. They actually had the dimensions as several other woodworkers had requested mobile bases for this jointer previously. So I ordered the base and it arrived on Friday after about a 2 week wait. OK so now the challenge. How do I move the jointer off the pallet onto the mobile base. :confused: I figured if I got 2 or 3 more "he-men" over we could muscle the jointer onto the base. Well most of my neighbors are older and I could not ask them to help. I thought about asking a couple of the carpenters working on a remodel down the street if they wanted to make a quick 20 bucks. They don't work on weekends...Ok so I went to the friendly rental store and got myself and engine hoist. Went to Home Depot and purchased 20 feet of 1/4" plastic coated cable with some wire clamps. Put the hoist together made up the ends on the cable, attached, raised the jointer off the pallet, slid the pallet out and slid the HTC base under and lowered the jointer. I could not believe how easy it was...the LOML was a little upset with me as she did not want me to do this without someone around....but it just worked so easy I could not stop!!!:D

Jim

[Kyle Stiefel]

Jim,


Nice piece of machinery, nice floor, nice shop. How does the equipment roll over the system you have there? What type of flooring is it? Do you purchase it by the square or a couple square feet together?

[Jim Barrett]

Hi Kyle,

The floor is pvc about 1/4" thick comes in 12"x12" squares. www.floorsurfaces.com (http://www.floorsurfaces.com) Very easy to install and the equipment rolls with no problems. One drawback...$$$$ 3.50 sq ft. But it really is nice :D

Jim

[Jamie Buxton]

Slick! It almost seems that you should have just bought an engine hoist, and not bothered with the HTC. You would be all equipped to lift anything in your shop, or even anything in your neighborhood. :)

[sascha gast]

see, the htc base is awesome, mine looks exactly the same for my 10" oliver. did you pay $325 as well?? i know it's a bit much, but it's worth it, moves around like a small tool, right??
and i just wobbled mine onto the base right off the crate, all by myself. i just put 3 pieces of 2x4's onto the base so it wouldn't tip over, then, once it was on the base, i just pulled the 2x4's out, one by one and it sat there nice and snug.

took all about 5 minutes

well congrats and talk to you soon

sascha

[Frank Pellow]

Well done Jim! Thanks for showing the steps in the operation in case I need to do something like that myself.

The jointer looks very good in your shop (and just as I said the last time I saw pictures of it, I really like your "General" floor).

[Corvin Alstot]

The jointer looks very good in your shop (and just as I said the last time I saw pictures of it, I really like your "General" floor).
I agree, I am not sure the powermatic guys could get away with a white and gold floor.!

Now that you have it mobile, give us an update on the jointer (how you like it)and what you plan to build first with it. Nice looking shop :-)

[Kyle Stiefel]

Jim,


Thanks for the information on the flooring. I posted a few weeks back on hardwoods from your area and few of you guys recommended Edensaw. I amexpecting a load on from the barge line this week from them, am looking forward to it.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Now there's using your head! Isn't it amazing how balanced those hoists are?