Moving a 1750 lb planer

[Sam Beagle]

Bought a delta invicta 20”. RC51.
It’s at a place w no lift but has a concrete floor. I have a full size transit van I use for work.
Can someone help me even start to plan how to load and unload.
My shop is a direct shot in and we have a pallet jack onsite.

[Mike Cutler]

Build a transom lift on site, put it on a pallet, crate it and move it. You could even buy one of the gantry cranes, hoist ,and traveler, from Harbor Freight ,and Craiglist it when you get done.

[Matt Day]

Sounds like a job for an engine hoist. You might need to block up the planer to make room for the legs of the hoist since it likely can’t straddle it. Rig it as close as you can to the hook so you can get it in your van.

Put a couple 4x4’s through the machine and road the bed so it grabs them between the head and the bed - rotate the head so you don’t crush the knives. Use these 4x’s for the straps.

My 18” Oliver 399 is 1300lbs or so I think, and the hoist moves it nicely.

[Charlie Velasquez]

Bought a delta invicta 20”. RC51.
It’s at a place w no lift but has a concrete floor. I have a full size transit van I use for work.
Can someone help me even start to plan how to load and unload.
My shop is a direct shot in and we have a pallet jack onsite.

Go to the edge of the concrete floor where it meets the yard/dirt. Dig a sloping trench about 6 feet wide, 15 feet long, and terminates at the edge of the concrete at the height of the floor of your van with the doors open.
Back up and slide it in.... :) :) :)

[Bill Dufour]

Rent a OTC engine hoist or a gantry which should be able to straddle the base. The OTC is the only one I know of that the legs can be spread for a wider stance.
Bill D.

https://www.otctools.com/products/4400-lb-cap-heavy-duty-crane

[Alan Lightstone]

I hired a local rigging company to move all my heavy equipment. Worth every cent.

[Geoff Crimmins]

If the planer and your shop are in the same town, you could see what a towing company would charge to move it using one of their tilting-bed trucks. (It works just as well for longer trips, but would get prohibitively expensive.) Otherwise, I would consider renting whatever type of trailer looked like it would be easiest to load the planer into.

[Cary Falk]

I would rent a trailer. No way I would try to squeeze it into a van.

[Bill Dufour]

I would rent a drop deck trailer. Sunbelt rents them. you may have to rent the scissor lift to get the trailer.
Bil lD

https://www.sunbeltrentals.com/equipment/detail/1413/0240130/4ft-x-9ft-lift-bed-single-axle-trailer/

[William Hodge]

I hired a local rigging company to move all my heavy equipment. Worth every cent.

This. If you don't have experience moving stuff like this, you will learn a lot form watching the riggers. When you see how to lift a machine and put it on a pallet or beams, you can use that knowledge in the future. It's like going to school to learn how to deal with a machine you own. I just had to move a heavy machine two feet sideways to accept longer wood. Because I had seen riggers use a J bar, blocking, and a pallet jack, I had a clue about what I was doing.

Putting beams under the head and hoisting the planer by its lady parts might be out of the machine builders' design considerations. This idea gets suggested a lot, but I always wonder what forces are applied to fragile parts, like the chip breaker pivot castings.

[Mike Cutler]

Putting beams under the head and hoisting the planer by its lady parts might be out of the machine builders' design considerations. This idea gets suggested a lot, but I always wonder what forces are applied to fragile parts, like the chip breaker pivot castings.

Yeah,this is generally not good advice. It would be pretty easy to damage something if it wasn't done correctly. You need to make sure that your are lifting from the casting frame of the head, on the inner, and outer edges.
I understand the logic, at least as it applies to newer, smaller, planers. Most of the weight is in the head, so the amount of weight of the frame/base is very minimal. With something much bigger, and heavier, you really kind of have to know where the real weight is at.
Lot of difference between lifting a 500lb. planer and a 1750lb. planer.

[Mark Wooden]

I just moved a Powermatic 180 of about the same weight and moved it with a trailer.
I lifted it up with a straight bar and fulcrum bit by bit at each end (about four moves per end) blocked it up on on 2x4's. I then slid two 4x4 skids with 45 degree cuts (about half width) on the ends and lag bolted the planer to them. I lifted the planer with the bar and slid 3/4" steel pipe under the skids and using 4 pieces of the pipe (2 at a time) rolled the planer off the trailer, down the ramp- I used a comealong to ease it down- and in to the basement.

[Sam Beagle]

You guys are fearless about moving stuff. I just cannot wrap my head around it. It just seems impossible to me.

[Jim Becker]

Hire a rigger. That's a LOT of weight and it needs to be "done correctly" for both the machine's sake and your sake. The cost for the service will be inconsequential over time.

[Mike Cutler]

You guys are fearless about moving stuff. I just cannot wrap my head around it. It just seems impossible to me.

There is no shame, or embarrassment, in hiring it out.
You would probably need $1K+ worth of equipment to do this safely, if you have none of it already. ( Shackles, lifting slings, tie down straps, chain hoist, chim chims, dunnage, gantry lift, or engine hoist, machine dollies, johnson bar(s) and a trailer.)

[Matt Day]

You guys are fearless about moving stuff. I just cannot wrap my head around it. It just seems impossible to me.

And with that said, sounds like you should hire someone and watch how they do it.

[Ray Newman]

Matt Day is onto it!

[Patrick Kane]

Yeah, if you are nervous about moving a machine then the best advice is to bite the bullet and pay someone to do it for you. I assume you bought this machine at a good price at auction, so just factor it into the total price of the machine. With that said, moving machines can be pretty easy and safe with a few tools. For 90% of equipment, a pallet jack and a hoist are about all you need to get it from point A to point B. I’ve always moved stuff on a trailer, which is what I prefer. The lower something is to the ground, the better. 1500-1700lbs is heavy, but really no problem for one man with a pallet jack. The biggest hassle with your planer is going to be getting the stupid thing a few inches off the ground. This is why I never place machines on the ground. Everything is blocked up a few inches for pallet jack tines.

[ChrisA Edwards]

For your entertainment.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIX_sf1nd0E

[ChrisA Edwards]

A smaller version of this.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtPU1pOTLH4

This one got my old cogs turning. I am taking delivery of a 750lb shaper later this month. It will go on a mobile base that is waiting in my garage.

I'm assuming the delivery guy will get it into the entrance of my garage like he did with my A3-31.

But my issue is lifting it off the pallet and onto the mobile base. A smaller, compact version of the above lift might be just the ticket.

I wouldn't need the castors, if is gets into my garage, just the ability to lift is vertically while I slide the delivery pallet out and roll the mobile base underneath.

I would make it, using bolts, so I could disassemble it for storage. A chain hoist for my needs is only $60 https://www.amazon.com/Neiko-02182A-Chain-Hoist-Pulley/dp/B005OT375M/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=chain+hoist&qid=1558927231&s=gateway&sr=8-9

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61xRXo1dx%2BL._SL1500_.jpg

[Mike Kees]

I would look for someone who owns a skid steer to load it. That said it still needs to be up on a pallet. I have moved a bunch of heavy machines in the last year,my equipment is a Bobcat 753 skid steer,engine hoist ,pallet jack and a steel dolly that is capable of about 1500 pounds. I know most people do not have all this stuff. The engine hoist and pallet jack are probably the most used. It never hurts to recruit some muscle power in the form of 2 people stronger than you and one that is smarter as well.:D Or just hire the moving done,safer for sure but not as exciting of a story. Good luck and congrats on that machine.

[Jim Becker]

A rollback is absolutely a potential method like ChrisA Edwards mentions...the requirements in my mind are that yes, should be on a pallet with a pallet jack available and it will need to be stable enough that it will not be tippy while the bed is tilted for loading/unloading. The winch needs to be employed to avoid the human(s) from getting crushed by the machine slipping/rolling down the slope. But...if there's any concern, hiring a rigger still may be the best idea.

Great way to pickup/deliver large tools! This is 1700 lbs, albeit over a larger area. $100 for the job.

https://tujhwa.dm.files.1drv.com/y4mza-k57lzLtiinvmiy_020j5z140LoxpMwK9M6rpFAsBGWCTJ8dLRb mC_QncgBicew9HjL6Q9clo8ayz9sN8JZdmE_mAYj64DryOY1gd XSesz8vXxwrLcjcEGcxng-wMq5gyKxzIpd0oEWM15OW8mASuk50WY9ZeHZwsenmBFH3KnCup BdkKQInjHu0cmOezyK0Xs_kZbMxTt2HWsty7akA?width=660&height=495&cropmode=none

[Mark Hennebury]

Whats the deck height?

[Bill Dufour]

If you build a crane allow at least 2 feet for the height of the hoist and rigging top and bottom. Harbor freight often has a sale on their one ton gantry for around $600. It is adjustable height with casters.
Bill D.

[Chris Hachet]

I would rent a trailer. No way I would try to squeeze it into a van.This. I just moved a 16 inch Powermatic planer easily with a Jeep and a motorcycle trailer. If you can lift it and bolt 4 x 4 skids under it the planer will slide easily. 15 minutes to load, half hour drive, ten minutes to unload. I was done and it was safely in my garage in less than an hour.

[Chris Hachet]

Sounds like a job for an engine hoist. You might need to block up the planer to make room for the legs of the hoist since it likely can’t straddle it. Rig it as close as you can to the hook so you can get it in your van.

Put a couple 4x4’s through the machine and road the bed so it grabs them between the head and the bed - rotate the head so you don’t crush the knives. Use these 4x’s for the straps.

My 18” Oliver 399 is 1300lbs or so I think, and the hoist moves it nicely.

Amazingly nice planer. A friend of mine just bought one.

[Chris Hachet]

I just moved a Powermatic 180 of about the same weight and moved it with a trailer.
I lifted it up with a straight bar and fulcrum bit by bit at each end (about four moves per end) blocked it up on on 2x4's. I then slid two 4x4 skids with 45 degree cuts (about half width) on the ends and lag bolted the planer to them. I lifted the planer with the bar and slid 3/4" steel pipe under the skids and using 4 pieces of the pipe (2 at a time) rolled the planer off the trailer, down the ramp- I used a comealong to ease it down- and in to the basement.

Pretty much what I did....with two of us it was pretty easy going.

[Roger Feeley]

+1 on the rigger. Pricey but they get it done and it's insured.

[Jeff Duncan]

Hmmmm, I just read through most of the posts and nobody recommended what I consider to be one the best methods for moving heavy things relatively cheaply, especially when you have a pallet jack at your disposal. I rent a box truck with a lift gate, lower the gate, roll it on, raise it up, roll into truck and secure. Reverse to unload. No lifting straight up with hoists or any crazy rigging situation. No killing yourself with bars and rollers or any of that either. Nor paying exorbitant fees for riggers. Just a simple safe way to move heavy stuff that doesn't cost a ton out of pocket.

good luck,
JeffD

[Bill Dufour]

I noticed two probelms with that video. There should have been wood blocking between the head and the table. As it was all the head weight is held up by a fairly weak locking lever setup. Not designed for such high dynamic loads.
the lathe skid should have been about 50% wider front to back. As it was it is still to tippy front to back.
Both loads not enough straps and most of them loop around the load so it is not locked in place. It is free to move and still stay within the straps.
Bill D.

[Tim William C]

I did the same (with the same machine!), except I used a pallet jack once I managed to pry it onto blocks and a truck with a liftgate.

[Charlie Velasquez]

A smaller version of this.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtPU1pOTLH4



.....A smaller, compact version of the above lift might be just the ticket.

I wouldn't need the castors,

I would make it, using bolts, so I could disassemble it for storage.

You should seriously critique his design. He used a lot of lumber, but the support is really just the shear strength of his connectors. He didn’t use any compressive strength of his lumber. And worse, the base Is really not much stronger than the long grain of his 2x’s.

Think along the lines of deck construction. Through bolts only are no longer code in most places, the beams need structural support from the wood post, also.

Not needing casters allows you to transfer the force directly to the ground. In the video’s gantry crane I would attach a set of opposing wedges at each post to extend the post to the floor after it was moved to its lifting position and I would be hesitant to roll it with much weight as it is. Alternately, maybe add a third set of casters directly under each post, maybe an eighth inch off the floor.

Dado the posts so the 2x base can be attached flush and the posts rest ON the base; then large plywood gussets, glued and screwed would strengthen it considerably.

For the amount of lumber he used he could have made it a lot stronger.

[Matt Day]

So Charlie, I challenge you to build a better one and we can compare and contrast the designs, then i’ll keep the winner. Deal?!

Also, what ever happened to this 1750 pound planer?

[Jacob Reverb]

I agree with Charlie's design critiques of the gantry, particularly with how the upper beam is supported. With load in middle of the beam, the bottom chord of the beam is in tension and the top is in compression. That beam should bear directly on the vertical stanchions, not be bolted to their sides. (The shear strength of the bolts – steel shear strength is about 75% of its tensile strength – is probably sufficient for many loads, if the bolts are big enough, but having the beam bear on the end grain of the vertical stanchion would be better.) There are other problems with the design, but that's the biggest in my view.

I've welded up things like this from steel, and even in steel, these gantries are notoriously treacherous if not designed and used properly. I'd find a way to lift it from below, not above.

[Sam Beagle]

Update on the planer. I got an estimate for moving the planer. And the total came out to what a new powermatic 20” planer would cost w free shipping. And the 10% off they hopefully run soon.

[Sam Beagle]

So I’m gonna buy new

[Jim Andrew]

I have moved some heavy stuff with the 5x9 tilt bed trailer I built to haul my mower and atv. Just took a flat bar, some 2x4's about 2' long, a come-a-long, back up to it, use the come-a -long to slide it onto the trailer, and the flat bar to get the machine up over the edge, and pull it up onto the trailer. Have to bring the machine far enough onto the trailer to allow the floor to swing down at the front, put the pin in and strap the machine down. Drive away.

[Matt Day]

Sam,
Did you contact a professional rigger? Those guys will charge an arm and a leg. Piano movers or safe movers or even a tow truck service would likely be a lot cheaper.

[Mark Hennebury]

I have moved lots of machinery. I wouldn't ever use a machinery moving company. I called one two years ago to move a 7000lb granite surface plate; they quoted me $3500. Its 45 minutes drive, I went to the local machine shop down the road and they sent a guy with a flatbed into town picked it up and delivered it to my place, for $280, i paid $100 for local farm equipment company to send a guy with a forklift to offload it. Lots of ways to get things done.

[Scott Bernstein]

I have an extremely steep driveway, an honest 25% grade. I am awaiting delivery of a Hammer A3-41 J/P. With accessories and packing estimated weight is in the neighborhood of 1200lbs. I live in an area where the streets are narrow and the homes are close together. Thought about various ideas to get this thing up the hill and into the garage. Eventually I decided the best option with the least stress would be to call a professional rigger. One company offered to do it for $800, but only if I was willing to be put on a larger truck with other equipment on a day they were delivery other machines to one of their commercial accounts - this meant I could not control when they came and it could be several weeks. Didn't seem ideal. The next rigging company was happy to do it at the time of my choosing for $3500 ($4500 if I wanted it on a Saturday). I told them if they didn't want the job they should just say so. Last company I called is asking $1200 for a weekday delivery. They claim they can deliver it within a week of receiving the machine at their warehouse. The machine is currently at the Felder warehouse in Delaware, getting prepped for delivery to the rigger's warehouse. So hopefully in 2-3 weeks I can report back on how things went.

[Jim Becker]

Scott, given your description of the property/neighborhood, it sounds like you made a good decision to go with the rigger, despite the cost and the hassle of finding one that wanted the work and wanted it for a reasonable cost compared to others. I hope you get your new machine soon!

[David Kumm]

I bought a used electric pallet jack for 1000. Gift that keeps on giving. Dave

[Patrick Kane]

Im envious of you all. I think my soul would inexplicably fly out of my body if i paid some schlepper a grand+ to move a machine 10-15'. However, i have had the pleasure of throwing money at a problem once or twice in my lifetime and each time was very enjoyable. A few moves and prices from the last 12-18 months
Pm68 from Wisconsin to Pit - $220
PM72 from Michigan to Pit - $275
20" jointer from long island to Pit - $550
KF700 Philly to Pit - $350

With homemade furniture dollies and a pallet jack, i moved all of those machines on my own with my 5'-2" wife as moral support. None were particularly difficult except for the jointer, which was lifted onto a tiny 5x8 uhaul trailer with the pallet FACING THE WRONG WAY!! I had to rotate the machine about 25° to then access the open side of the pallet at a very acute angle. Keep in mind the machine fit in that trailer like a glove. Rotating it looked like Austin Powers doing a three point turn in the hallway with the luggage cart. Absolutely stupid. It was 20-30 minutes of grunting and moving it 1/8" at a time to rotate that machine. The KF700 was on a similar trailer, but the chasis of the machine was oriented the correct way and it popped off the trailer ramp on a pallet jack with ease. This is all to say under normal circumstances, most semi-competent and fit people can move these machines without risk to life, limb, or property. I wouldnt underestimate what a few humans can do with the 7 simple machines.

[George Yetka]

renting a forklift is always a possibility. especially for the jointer/planers theres no good pick points on top. I got my a3-31 off my pickup by myself. But I wouldnt go heavier than that. I picked up machine and they had a fork lift. If the machine were bigger Or more awkward I would rent a forklift they are about 100 a day but they will also charge you pickup and delivery. If you have the machine on your truck you could order the forklift and tell the delivery guy to hang out for 5 minutes and he can take it back. possibly saving some $$

[Chris Hachet]

I just moved a 1500 pound Oliver 270D on a motorcycle trailer. No muss no fuss. It's not that difficult.

[ChrisA Edwards]

I just moved a 1500 pound Oliver 270D on a motorcycle trailer. No muss no fuss. It's not that difficult.

What motorcycle did you use to pull it with? :)

[Chris Hachet]

What motorcycle did you use to pull it with? :)

50 CC two stroke...