Dan Forman
04-13-2005, 5:47 AM
Well, I finally took delivery on my Mini-Max FS350 jointer/planer. Luckily Roadway Express was very accommodating of my work schedule.
It was an interesting experience, to say the least, getting it across the back lawn and into the basement. The truck arrived at 5:30, on what until then had been fairly pleasant, weather wise. At precisely the moment the truck pulled up, the wind picked up to about 30 mph and the temp dropped about 10 degrees. The lift gate could barely hold the pallet, we had to lend support as the driver was trying to maneuver it onto the lift before bringing it to ground level. More than once I feared it would fall off the lift.
As soon as the driver left, it started raining. Luckily the beast was covered by a huge plastic bag inside the crate, so it didn't take on any water as we broke up the crate and pondered the best way to get it from the alley to the house (it blocked the endtire alley). Not sure of how to go about this, I had several things on hand, and we ended up just using the included mobility kit, and pulled it across the lawn on leapfrogging pieces of plywood, which worked pretty well, with two pulling on a rope in front, and me pushing and steering from behind.
Now the fun part began. The plan was to mount it onto two skids made of 2 x 6's, cut to extend about 3" to the front and rear of each leg, and slide it down the stairs on two planks, each made from two 2 x 6's which were held together with 2x4's and screws from the underside at three locations along their 8' length. Turns out 2 x 8's would have been much better for the skids, as one of the front legs is turned sideways, and so is much wider than the others. This led to one skid being a bit skewed to the other.
The front and rear of the skids were angled at 45 degrees from the ground to ease negotiation of bumps and such. Once on the skids, it became much harder to move, it didn't really want to skid at all. We borrowed a trick from the egyptians, and rolled it to the stairs on steel bars that my neighbor had. By this time the neighbor and his brother had joined the festivities, lucky for me. Once a few bars were under it, it rolled pretty good, just needed to replace them in front as they came out from behind.
So now it was perched on the landing. The twin 12" wide ramps were now screwed to the top stair from below, by mitered blocks of 2x4 which bridged the gap from the underside of the ramp to the top of the stair. This would prevent them from being pushed out by the movement of the machine. The tops of the ramps had been angled at 45 degrees to ensure a smooth transition to the ramps. There is a picture of this below.
While I was under the stairs fastening the ramps in place, the crew was attaching a block and tackle to the machine to control it's descent. They decided on the only available attachment point on the machine itself, which was where the mobility kit lift engages the lift bar. Unfortunately, this is not centered, but is to the left on what was now the rear of the machine. In hindsight, it would have been better to make some sort of harness to center the load, as the unit tended to veer to the left, and had to be redirected back on track several times on the way down. A second rope affixed to the other side to balance the force did little or nothing to change it's course, so it could also have been the fact that the left skid was skewed to accommodate that pesky out turned leg which led it off track. Luckily the block and tackle performed well, so halting the progress to steer ( a 2x4 used as a lever between the wall and the machine) was not difficult. Not so lucky was the damage done to the unsupported wallboard next to the steps, which now has several holes where it met the 2x4.
One thing in planning that I overlooked was how to fasten the J/P to the skid for it's descent. I thought that if the feet were surrounded with blocks of wood screwed to the skid, that gravity would hold it in place. This works fine on level ground, but at the full 45 degrees down on the stairs, the rear end was lifting, threatening to lift out of the blocks. Needless to say, this caused some excitement. It was solved by wrapping a couple of nylon belt tie downs over the top of the machine and around the pallet front and back. Again, the block and tackle made this relatively painless.
At last the front of the skids made contact with the floor, but were held there pretty firmly by gravity and friction. It took the egyptian trick to get moving again, using a lever to lift the skids enough to get the bars under them, and three of us sitting on the ramps and pushing with our feet. Once on level ground again, the wooden blocks were removed and the beast lifted enough to get the skids out from under it.
In the end, the machine got down in one piece, nobody got hurt, and I saved three or four hundred on moving fees. I even called a machine rigger, they wanted $300 an hour with a four hour minimum, Needless to say that was not an attractive option. I spent over $150 on materials for the move, lumber, ropes, pullys, and 4 heavy duty castors, and assorted other items. The castors, which were never used, will be returned and $45 recouped. Much of the lumber will no doubt be used for other projects eventually, and now I have a couple of nice ropes and pulleys which will probably come in handy some day. I suppose I am bound to buying pizza again for my coworkers again
Just a side note, a block and tackle is apparently a thing of the past. I was unable to find one to rent or buy in my metropolitain area, or out in a rural area where my dad lives. They apparently have been supplanted by come-alongs, which for letting down a weight are not nearly as convenient. As I suspected would be the case, simple, ancient machines were what was required to get this piece down into the basement. There are times when a forklift or pallet jack are just not feasible, and in such cases, the simple lever, pulley, and inclined plane will save the day, not to mention backs and limbs. Thanks for bearing with me through this rambling account, thought it would be helpful for anyone else facing a similar situation, to know what worked and what didn't work so well.
And to satisfy the pic police, here is some documentation. Unfortunately, I was much to busy to take pics during the process, but here is the result of our efforts this evening. It took about four hours from when the truck pulled away to setting the beast down on all fours. Part of this was actual work, much was trying to figure out what to do next. Glad I didn't try this on a work day, which for me starts at 3pm.
The first pic was not severely cropped in order to cover up any mess which some of you might think exists in my basement. In actuality, I am just making an artist's statement, yeah, that's it! The second shows how the ramp was held in position on the stairs, if you imagine it is at a 45 degree angle, and fastened from below through the stair tread. I will be moving a couple of those angled blocks to a 10 inch wide pine board, which will be used ot help slide sheetgoods down the stairs on edge, without banging on the steps on the way down. some sort of non-skid pad will be used rather than screws to hold it in place.
Haven't had time to clean it up at all, or even unpack the blade guard or attach the other hardware, so such view will have to wait until the full shop tour, after the dust collector arrives and is set up. Outside of the DC, this is the last major tool on my list, at least for the time being. I now have to see where things can be situated to produce the best working arrangement, so that I can go ahead with the DC ductwork design, and finish up the 220 wiring. Eventually, I will actually be able to use this stuff!
It was an interesting experience, to say the least, getting it across the back lawn and into the basement. The truck arrived at 5:30, on what until then had been fairly pleasant, weather wise. At precisely the moment the truck pulled up, the wind picked up to about 30 mph and the temp dropped about 10 degrees. The lift gate could barely hold the pallet, we had to lend support as the driver was trying to maneuver it onto the lift before bringing it to ground level. More than once I feared it would fall off the lift.
As soon as the driver left, it started raining. Luckily the beast was covered by a huge plastic bag inside the crate, so it didn't take on any water as we broke up the crate and pondered the best way to get it from the alley to the house (it blocked the endtire alley). Not sure of how to go about this, I had several things on hand, and we ended up just using the included mobility kit, and pulled it across the lawn on leapfrogging pieces of plywood, which worked pretty well, with two pulling on a rope in front, and me pushing and steering from behind.
Now the fun part began. The plan was to mount it onto two skids made of 2 x 6's, cut to extend about 3" to the front and rear of each leg, and slide it down the stairs on two planks, each made from two 2 x 6's which were held together with 2x4's and screws from the underside at three locations along their 8' length. Turns out 2 x 8's would have been much better for the skids, as one of the front legs is turned sideways, and so is much wider than the others. This led to one skid being a bit skewed to the other.
The front and rear of the skids were angled at 45 degrees from the ground to ease negotiation of bumps and such. Once on the skids, it became much harder to move, it didn't really want to skid at all. We borrowed a trick from the egyptians, and rolled it to the stairs on steel bars that my neighbor had. By this time the neighbor and his brother had joined the festivities, lucky for me. Once a few bars were under it, it rolled pretty good, just needed to replace them in front as they came out from behind.
So now it was perched on the landing. The twin 12" wide ramps were now screwed to the top stair from below, by mitered blocks of 2x4 which bridged the gap from the underside of the ramp to the top of the stair. This would prevent them from being pushed out by the movement of the machine. The tops of the ramps had been angled at 45 degrees to ensure a smooth transition to the ramps. There is a picture of this below.
While I was under the stairs fastening the ramps in place, the crew was attaching a block and tackle to the machine to control it's descent. They decided on the only available attachment point on the machine itself, which was where the mobility kit lift engages the lift bar. Unfortunately, this is not centered, but is to the left on what was now the rear of the machine. In hindsight, it would have been better to make some sort of harness to center the load, as the unit tended to veer to the left, and had to be redirected back on track several times on the way down. A second rope affixed to the other side to balance the force did little or nothing to change it's course, so it could also have been the fact that the left skid was skewed to accommodate that pesky out turned leg which led it off track. Luckily the block and tackle performed well, so halting the progress to steer ( a 2x4 used as a lever between the wall and the machine) was not difficult. Not so lucky was the damage done to the unsupported wallboard next to the steps, which now has several holes where it met the 2x4.
One thing in planning that I overlooked was how to fasten the J/P to the skid for it's descent. I thought that if the feet were surrounded with blocks of wood screwed to the skid, that gravity would hold it in place. This works fine on level ground, but at the full 45 degrees down on the stairs, the rear end was lifting, threatening to lift out of the blocks. Needless to say, this caused some excitement. It was solved by wrapping a couple of nylon belt tie downs over the top of the machine and around the pallet front and back. Again, the block and tackle made this relatively painless.
At last the front of the skids made contact with the floor, but were held there pretty firmly by gravity and friction. It took the egyptian trick to get moving again, using a lever to lift the skids enough to get the bars under them, and three of us sitting on the ramps and pushing with our feet. Once on level ground again, the wooden blocks were removed and the beast lifted enough to get the skids out from under it.
In the end, the machine got down in one piece, nobody got hurt, and I saved three or four hundred on moving fees. I even called a machine rigger, they wanted $300 an hour with a four hour minimum, Needless to say that was not an attractive option. I spent over $150 on materials for the move, lumber, ropes, pullys, and 4 heavy duty castors, and assorted other items. The castors, which were never used, will be returned and $45 recouped. Much of the lumber will no doubt be used for other projects eventually, and now I have a couple of nice ropes and pulleys which will probably come in handy some day. I suppose I am bound to buying pizza again for my coworkers again
Just a side note, a block and tackle is apparently a thing of the past. I was unable to find one to rent or buy in my metropolitain area, or out in a rural area where my dad lives. They apparently have been supplanted by come-alongs, which for letting down a weight are not nearly as convenient. As I suspected would be the case, simple, ancient machines were what was required to get this piece down into the basement. There are times when a forklift or pallet jack are just not feasible, and in such cases, the simple lever, pulley, and inclined plane will save the day, not to mention backs and limbs. Thanks for bearing with me through this rambling account, thought it would be helpful for anyone else facing a similar situation, to know what worked and what didn't work so well.
And to satisfy the pic police, here is some documentation. Unfortunately, I was much to busy to take pics during the process, but here is the result of our efforts this evening. It took about four hours from when the truck pulled away to setting the beast down on all fours. Part of this was actual work, much was trying to figure out what to do next. Glad I didn't try this on a work day, which for me starts at 3pm.
The first pic was not severely cropped in order to cover up any mess which some of you might think exists in my basement. In actuality, I am just making an artist's statement, yeah, that's it! The second shows how the ramp was held in position on the stairs, if you imagine it is at a 45 degree angle, and fastened from below through the stair tread. I will be moving a couple of those angled blocks to a 10 inch wide pine board, which will be used ot help slide sheetgoods down the stairs on edge, without banging on the steps on the way down. some sort of non-skid pad will be used rather than screws to hold it in place.
Haven't had time to clean it up at all, or even unpack the blade guard or attach the other hardware, so such view will have to wait until the full shop tour, after the dust collector arrives and is set up. Outside of the DC, this is the last major tool on my list, at least for the time being. I now have to see where things can be situated to produce the best working arrangement, so that I can go ahead with the DC ductwork design, and finish up the 220 wiring. Eventually, I will actually be able to use this stuff!