Moving/Transporting Large Machinery

[Aaron Mills]

I'm talking big pieces here, not your average cabinet saw, but rather larger 24" planers. I know a lot of them run upwards of 2500 lbs, and a simple lift is insufficient, so what type arrangements would need to be made to manage the transportation of this machinery? I'm specifically concerned on the receiving end.

Also, what are the average freight charges associated with moving a sizable and heavy piece such as a 24" planer? I want to make sure I'm not getting in over my head if I opt for a 24" planer even if it is my preferred size of machine.

Thanks,

Aaron

[Sam Blasco]

I hired a rigger. Actually, he was a friend with a mobile crane/truck. He makes his living pulling boats out of the water for dry docking and repair. He was able to bring the boom into the shop, strap the machinery, pull it out and arc it across the parking lot and just get the boom into the 40 footer I rented to move the stuff. The crane was rated at tons, not pounds, and he worked pretty cheap for me, some dough & a couple of simple pieces of furniture, but it was well worth it.

[Steve Rowe]

Aaron - I have received machinery as heavy as 3400 lbs. My suggestion is to look in the yellow pages under rigging and crane companies and contract with them to move/receive machinery. I had an 8000 lb forklift with an operator for a 2 hour minimum charge of $110 and the operator helped me take the machine off the pallet and install the mobility kit. This charge can vary greatly by equipment and area. Also, be aware that forklift masts are typically too tall to fit under a 7' tall garage door so you may need additional equipment (such as a pallet jack or mobile base). I have handled machinery in almost everyway possible and this has been the best and least back breaking option for me.

As far as shipping costs go, this can be all over the board. Depends on weight, how far, residential delivery or dock pickup, and probably most importantly the contract terms your supplier has with the freight company. Decide which machine you want and get a freight quote from the seller. If you are buying from an individual, expect to pay through the nose for freight.

[Dev Emch]

Hey Aaron...

I have my own ways of moving stuff. I have moved upwards of 6000 pound machines. Check out the recent post on SMC regarding Wilke Machinery. I posted a photo of how to rig off some cast iron. This is more complex than most and I dont recommend it until you work with someone like me and gain a level of comfort.

In order to move items. If you can swing it, I would suggest getting a set of GKS rollers. I got mine from Techimpex in NC. Phone is 704-357-8575. Website is www.techimpexusa.com. The model most suited for every day use with woodworking machines are the L3 front dolly and the F3 rear dollies. These can move a machine up to 13,200 pounds. They do make an L2/F2 but this is about the same size as the L3/F3 however, the bearings and wheels are not as good.

These rollers allow you to move a planer such as a 24 inch powermatic or oliver with the ease and agility of a toy red wagon. I could not surrive without mine. Mine are larger and can move anything upwards of 26,000 pounds and I use them for moving everything from freezers to planer mills.

An alternative to this is to use a second hand pallet jack. More akward but you may luck out in finding one used on the cheap.

Also of use are jacks. The two jacks I frquently use are a standard auto floor jack and a GKS V-5 toe jack. The inventor of the GKS V-5 toe jack deserves nothing short of the nobel prize for this thing!

Another item that is of value is a chain come a long. A unit of about 1.5 tons should be fine. Mine is an older CM come-a-long with a 5 foot chain and aluminum body. This is how I move machines onto and off of trailers. I have drilled 1 inch holes into the concrete slab and inserted threaded anchors. I take a 1 inch bolt and thread it through a clevis pin and bolt the clevis pin to the floor. Then I attach the top link of the come-a-long to this and this is how I can pull stuff off the trailer weighing thousands of pounds. I also have a welded eye on the front of the trailer for the same reason. It is used to anchor the come-a-long and this is how I pull stuff onto the trailer.

Renting fork lifts is also an option. Check with your local rent all outfits to see what is available, how it gets delievered and how much it will cost. Others have talked about this much more than have I. My plan for the furture is to clone the obsolete TS-1000 allis chalmers front end loader and install this onto my antique D17 tractor. By attaching forks to the loader in place of the bucket, I can lift up to 3000 pounds as high as 9 feet. This should handle most of the smaller loads. I might get to this sometime this winter as time allows.

Another future project that i have started but not completed is my new utility trailer. This trailer has no axle tubes. Rather, the axles are stubs held in place with no less than 8 leaf springs for four tires. The bed of the trailer rides up and down on 45 degree guide ways. Fork lift mast bearings are located in four spots on the fender frame. A single hydraulic cylinder run by a 12 volt hydraulic power pack will move this up and down. The bed is normally at about 17 inches height. When its time to lower the bed, you allow gravity to bleed the cylinder and the deck slowly moves backwards and downward until the deck is on the ground. Load up your woodworking machines and then raise the deck back to its 17 inch travel height and lock it. I have done most of the engineering and I have most of the steel for this including 40 feet of 4in by 10 inch by 1/4 inch steel rectangular tubing for the fender frame. I will admit that I borrowed the ideas from a utility trailer I saw in a rental yard. Here is a photo I took of this trailer. Its been the source of most of the ideas for mine except mine is a 10K trailer.

Hope all this helps in showing what some of us do to solve these issues...