Getting my Jet JJP-12 down stairs

[Jeff Dill]

I am moving soon to a home with a basement and no garage. This means I'll have to use said basement for my shop. I'm kind of stuck at the moment on how I'm going to get my Jet JJP-12 jointer/planer down the stairs. It weighs almost 600lbs so I'm sure it won't be easy. The stairs are a straight shot down. My first thought was to try to disassemble it further (remove tables, maybe motor) to lighten the load and be able to lay it on its side (thus making the move downstairs much easier) but I'm a bit nervous about being able to get it back together right. Has anyone moved something this heavy before? Any thoughts/tips/ideas would be appreciated.



Jeff

[Grant Wilkinson]

I've moved machine weighing upwards of 400 lbs into my basement and my stairs take a 90° turn 3 steps down. The key is to have the machine on something that will slide down the stairs - a piece of plywood or MDF. Then straps on the machine. Just let it slide very slowly. I've moved all my shop tools and a very large fridge and a treadmill this way. So far, only a few dents in the wall. :-)

[Biff Phillips]

Go to Craigslist and find some professional movers.. I did this with my 800 lb planer. They brought 3 guys, moved it fast and safe. IT was something like $80 or $100.. I don't remember but well worth it, even though it only took them maybe 5 minutes. heck, get them to move all your big stuff down there at once.

[Matt Day]

Lots of people have gotten much heavier machines down stairs before.

I don't know that machine but disassembly is always an option. Somewhat depends on your mechanical ability as far as reassembly goes. I stripped about almost 400lb off my 1000lb 20" bandsaw to get it down my stairs. I used a battery powered stair climber I rented (worth it's weight in gold, though it was only $40/day). I posted a thread about it a couple years ago.

Sliding down plywood might be a better option if you have a good tie off point.

[Tom M King]

Plywood. Stops of some sorts. 8:1 sailboat mainsheet system. There won't be 600 lbs of dead weight with the angle of the stairs. all with a couple of good helpers. easier down than up, but this same system has worked flawlessly headed up stairs.

[Erik Loza]

No firsthand experience with your machine but a number of my customers have gotten their J/P's down stairs by removing the jointer/tables and sliding the chassis down with block-and-tackle. Of course, you will need to re-calibrate them once they go back on. Best of luck with it.

Erik

[Wade Lippman]

I took the base and motor off my 8" and my son made fun of me for eliminating the challenge.

If I had to do a 12" I would hire it. Saving the $75 you would have to pay professionals just doesn't seem like a bargain when you think about the downside.

[Ralph Okonieski]

I called a piano moving company to move a combo machine (550 lbs) to my basement. Be sure to brace the stairs.

Be careful.

[Sebastien La Madeleine]

I did that exact move 3 times so far. I took a JJP-12 down the stairs, up the stairs then back down. All I had to do was to remove all 3 tables, real easy, 4 bolts for the planer table and 3 bolts for each of the back hinges. Every time if you don't move the allen screws, and put every part back where they were, everything comes back in adjustment perfect. (I marked the bolts positions with a Sharpie)

To make sure no funny mishap can happen, I added a third support under my stairs and reinforced the floor above (I was planning for a heavier machine at the same time).

I took 2x4 and cut the pattern of my stairs and put them on the stairs. I put 2 2x4 per side and screwed them to each other. I screwed an aluminum channel on top to make sure the casters of the JJP stay on the "ramps". That way the stairs don't get their nosing nicked or damaged.

I then took some 2x6 and reinforced the wall at the top of the stairs. I added a 2500# eyelet in the wall inline with stairs, about 24inch above the line of descent (the eyelet is welded to a 3/8in 3x4 steel tube behind the wall). I have a winch that hooks to the eyelet and pulls the machine up or down. I secure the machine with a chain block to the floor in case the winch goes bad.

Last time, took me 15 minutes alone, no one in the way of harm and it does not feel that heavy on the winch.

If I remember my physics classes, the angle going down is about 30 degrees, so the winch really only pulls about a third the machine weight up the stair plus friction (really low with the casters).

I took multiple machines down with this method and so far it's great. (The table saw weights 1200 pounds and I only managed to lighten it a little bit and everything went smoothly).

The cost for the whole thing 12$ in wood, 20$ aluminum, 6$ of eyelet and steel. The winch cost me 150$ but I use it for other stuff. The rest came from left overs...

Not having to rely on a bunch of people handling your machinery is worth more than that in my opinion.

Hope this helps,
Sébastien

[David Linnabary]

I made a couple of 2x6 runners to lay on top of the stairs to slide my equipment up and down the stairs. I use a block and tackle to move the equipment and either strapped to an appliance dolly or bolted to a piece of sub-floor plywood to make it more stable. My jointer is 650 lbs and top heavy, bolting it to a piece of plywood made it much more stable.

David

[Chris Fournier]

The simple solutions offered here will work just fine, personally I would feel no need to disassemble. I have moved two metal machines into my basement by myself and the light one was 1350 lbs. Pre-plan everything and certainly have a helper of two. It really won't be that difficult.

[Erik Loza]

You could not pay me any amount of money to move a jointer/planer down a stairwell with the tables still attached to it. Has nothing to do with weight. It's the fact that the machine, even on level ground, is the most prone of any type of combo machine to tip over. They are very top-heavy and you cannot use the jointer tables for any sort of lifting or load-bearing. Just my opinion.

Erik

[John Gornall]

When I moved my Hammer A3 31 I left it bolted to the factory pallet for stability. I used a come-along to pull it to the ramp and over the edge. It reached the balance point, tipped gently onto the ramp and sat there. I was then able to slide it to the bottom with one hand. Then back to the come-along to pull it out onto the floor. It was a rather simple event. Then I picked it up with an engine hoist and laid it in a mobile base.

[John TenEyck]

I moved my nearly 750 lb MiniMax J/P down my basement steps. No way I would consider doing it w/o disassembling it though. As Eric said, it's just too top heavy and you definitely don't want to use the tables as lift points. So I took the tables off in my garage using a chain fall and straps to lift them off as I unbolted them. Those tables were over a hundred pounds a piece on my 14" machine. The bolts holding the jointer tables to the frame were set in place with some kind of permanent Lock-Tite compound and I prayed more than once that the bolts wouldn't snap as I loosened them. That was the only scary moment in the whole process.

The planer bed weighs a bunch, too, as does the motor and cutting head, but they all came off/out w/o issue. The frame still weighed over 300 lbs I think and was plenty enough challenge for two of us to take it down the stairs. I really can't imagine moving a large or heavier machine down those stairs w/o a winch and reinforcing the stairs.

Reassembly was just the opposite, including lifting the jointer tables back onto the machine with a hoist. Realignment was perfect. There are no shims, etc. on the hinge side of my MiniMax. It must have been machined to fit correctly at the factory so it went back together just as it was. That would be something I'd look at very carefully before disassembling your machine.

John

[Erik Loza]

...There are no shims, etc. on the hinge side of my MiniMax. It must have been machined to fit correctly at the factory so it went back together just as it was. That would be something I'd look at very carefully before disassembling your machine....

I believe the OP's machine is a clone of the Minimax FS30 Smart and if that's the case, there probably are brass shims in one or both jointer table hinges. For new Minimax jointer/planers, I advise customers who are disassembling their units to place the shims in a ziploc baggie and mark which hinbe they came from, for easier re-assembly. You probably will still have to re-align the tables afterward but at least they will be in the ballpark.

On a different note, I just noticed in the realtime tab of Minimax' database that a customer of my colleague's had a combo fall off the liftgate of the delivery truck. I'm sure SCM will replace the entire machine but the point being, even with an experience freight handler and good equipment, things sometimes go wrong. In this case, the customer's not going to be on the hook for any of that but if it's a DIY-situation and the machine takes a tumble, it's 100% on you. I hope this makes sense.

Erik

[Chris Fournier]

Moving equipment is like any other skill set as in the more you do it the better you get at it and your ability, efficiency, and confidence increases. Certainly the OP should move this machine into his basement in a manner that he is comfortable with. Worst case scenario is that the OP over plans and takes apart more of the machine than is required and gets too elaborate with the infrastructure. No real harm here just time and the bonus is the climb up the learning curve.

A restraint at the top of the stair case is well advised; a good rope and a method of resistance. To keep it simple I use a straight grained 2X4 across a doorway and simply wrap my rope around this once or twice. Keep the rope higher on the machine than lower and you could hold it mid move on the stairs with one hand all day long.

[Daniel O'Neill]

I did that exact move 3 times so far. I took a JJP-12 down the stairs, up the stairs then back down. All I had to do was to remove all 3 tables, real easy, 4 bolts for the planer table and 3 bolts for each of the back hinges. Every time if you don't move the allen screws, and put every part back where they were, everything comes back in adjustment perfect. (I marked the bolts positions with a Sharpie)

To make sure no funny mishap can happen, I added a third support under my stairs and reinforced the floor above (I was planning for a heavier machine at the same time).

I took 2x4 and cut the pattern of my stairs and put them on the stairs. I put 2 2x4 per side and screwed them to each other. I screwed an aluminum channel on top to make sure the casters of the JJP stay on the "ramps". That way the stairs don't get their nosing nicked or damaged.

I then took some 2x6 and reinforced the wall at the top of the stairs. I added a 2500# eyelet in the wall inline with stairs, about 24inch above the line of descent (the eyelet is welded to a 3/8in 3x4 steel tube behind the wall). I have a winch that hooks to the eyelet and pulls the machine up or down. I secure the machine with a chain block to the floor in case the winch goes bad.

Last time, took me 15 minutes alone, no one in the way of harm and it does not feel that heavy on the winch.

If I remember my physics classes, the angle going down is about 30 degrees, so the winch really only pulls about a third the machine weight up the stair plus friction (really low with the casters).

I took multiple machines down with this method and so far it's great. (The table saw weights 1200 pounds and I only managed to lighten it a little bit and everything went smoothly).

The cost for the whole thing 12$ in wood, 20$ aluminum, 6$ of eyelet and steel. The winch cost me 150$ but I use it for other stuff. The rest came from left overs...

Not having to rely on a bunch of people handling your machinery is worth more than that in my opinion.

Hope this helps,
Sébastien

The winch & runners was my first thought. Seems the safer of methods. IMO (Or hire someone I guess is safe for the OP but maybe not the individuals)

[Curt Harms]

You could not pay me any amount of money to move a jointer/planer down a stairwell with the tables still attached to it. Has nothing to do with weight. It's the fact that the machine, even on level ground, is the most prone of any type of combo machine to tip over. They are very top-heavy and you cannot use the jointer tables for any sort of lifting or load-bearing. Just my opinion.

Erik

The temptation would still be there, though. Take the jointer tables off a Jet JJP-12 and it's pretty compact but still heavy. I'd guess each table weights around 40 lbs so you'd be lightening by around 80 lbs. by removing the table plus it's much easier to handle.