unboxing a heavy contractors sawstop and getting on the stand by myself

[Stephen White]

I am too weak to lift the contractors sawstop out of box, flip it and get it on the stand. Anyone else face a similar problem. With the pandemic I am on my own. Thinking about getting cinder blocks and basically build a step up to stand.

My other thought was to put top Styrofoam the is molded and flip the saw over so the top is now right side up and rent a lift and then work it up that way.

I'm an old guy that stopped bench pressing clearly too long ago and although I can with effort lift one end of it off the ground no way I can lift whole thing in the air and sit on top of stand.

edit: the bottom cannot lay flat because dust collector extends below the frame and all four sides have a bar or something sticking out. Makes leverage almost impossible.

Any other suggestions?

[jim sauterer]

Maybe put in your location and maybe some members live close that could help you.worth a shot.

[Mike Henderson]

I used one of those engine lifts to set up a heavy drum sander. I bought it at Harbor Freight but you can probably rent one.

That plus some straps was all I needed. The heaviest work was assembling the lift.

Mike

[Stephen White]

Ya know that's the reason I have the problem is that I don't want to have any friends or family over out of caution because of the pandemic. Me getting a saw up on a stand is not worth someone risking getting sick. I've been out a few times this week and although I wear a mask that doesn't keep me from getting it and we have a lot of new cases around here.

[Stephen White]

hey I will check that. I can rent a material lift at HD for $50 which is the way I'm leaning. Thanks!

[Matt Day]

Chain hoist could be an option too.

But if it’s a box, can’t you just cut it out?

[Robert Hayward]

Just the other day I lifted a PM2000 table saw up onto a new mobile base, all by myself. Put a 4X4 across two trusses in the attic of my shop just above the access hole. Put two straps from heavy duty tie downs under the table saw base and used a two ton come along to do the lifting. The actual lift did not take five minutes.
435321

[mike stenson]

I used one of those engine lifts to set up a heavy drum sander. I bought it at Harbor Freight but you can probably rent one.

That plus some straps was all I needed. The heaviest work was assembling the lift.

Mike


I'll second this. Great way to unbox/assemble heavy items alone.

[Frank Pratt]

My cabinet saw came very cleverly packaged & had thorough instructions. It was not a great chore for me to assemble the whole thing by myself. Unfortunately, I later had to mount it on a mobile base that was back ordered. I used a small portable electric hoist to lift up from an anchor in the ceiling.

[Stephen White]

yeah I just went and whacked away the box down to the Styrofoam and I trying to decide if I can tilt it out at an angle and have it on the cast iron top at an angle and supported on the other end with a couple of 50 pound clay boxes. The cast iron top seems to be really solid and wont bend. Not bending something under the weight has really been my problem here, I would guess it must be only about a 100-125 pounds judging from the clay boxes I lift that are 50 but its all in a tight 18" square and that top but I can't just sit it it down if i get in trouble without bending something or shoving the plastic dust chute up into the saw and doing a complete lift, flip and up 25" and positioning on the bottom stand in one motion does not seem doable for me so I guess renting the lift or buying a hydraulic cart from HF seem to be where I'm thinking now..

Man I wish I was 25, this damn thing would have been bolted down hours ago and I would be testing the blade. Getting old sucks...

[Stephen White]

My cabinet saw came very cleverly packaged & had thorough instructions. It was not a great chore for me to assemble the whole thing by myself. Unfortunately, I later had to mount it on a mobile base that was back ordered. I used a small portable electric hoist to lift up from an anchor in the ceiling.

Glad you got it in. They do have those at HF and I could find a stud. I have 14' ceilings though in the shop so that might be a hitch. Thanks will check that further.

That is one plus I did wait for my Mobil base to get in so I wont have to do this twice. Yeah this in the contractors so the stand was in pieces and had to be assembled and then this thing lifted, flipped and set in place on the stand. Two or three guys could prob do it in a few moments while I went and got beers but a little over my comfort level. Dont want to drop a 2k saw and then try to deal with whatever that breaks.

[Terry Fields]

I purchased one of the Harbor Freight "Cherry Picker" lift arms a couple of years ago to pick up a new cabinet saw and a band saw. Figured I would sell it when the work was done, and I find that it is very handy to have around. Recently purchased a 600lb planer and the "Cherry Picker" snatched it off the trailer and transported into the shop with very little effort. The HF "Cherry Picker" has been a great tool at a very reasonable cost. Think I only paid +/- $100 when I bought it.

[Stephen White]

Just the other day I lifted a PM2000 table saw up onto a new mobile base, all by myself. Put a 4X4 across two trusses in the attic of my shop just above the access hole. Put two straps from heavy duty tie downs under the table saw base and used a two ton come along to do the lifting. The actual lift did not take five minutes.
435321

sweet. Don't have that setup or gear but nice fast solution.

[Stephen White]

was looking at the engine lifts and also the hydraulic carts. They have 500 and 1000 pound ones and seemed like it might be useful for other stuff as well.

[Stephen White]

they don't seem to have a lift like that now. HD does rent a materials lift that might be like that. I used that to get an Axiom 2'x4' CNC up on its stand. worked pretty well and might go that route here if I don't by the cart lift from HF.

[Alex Zeller]

I picked up one of those 2 ton engine lifts from HF after years of not wanting to store one. What I found was that it's very useful. I was in the process of putting mobile bases under my equipment but now I just use the engine hoist. I just lift up the tool in question and then put a couple of 2x4s on the legs and set it down so I can roll it where I want it. Since finding this works for my I modified the folding legs to make it easier to lift up equipment. My question would be is this going to be a one time thing or will you find more uses for it.

[Matt Day]

You should post a pic of it how it is now. The whole saw only weighs 225 pounds.

[Stan Calow]

I used chains and a hand operated chain hoist from Harbor Freight, I think it was $50-60, attached to an I-beam in my basement. Lifted the motor assembly into the housing, then onto the leg assembly which was in the mobile base. Lots of maneuvering to line things up. I understand the thing about the dust collector housing sticking out.

[Alan Lightstone]

I bought a Harbor Freight electric hoist and mounted it on the ceiling, screwing it to joists. Then, with a few straps, push of a button, and it lifted up quite nicely. I used that hoist so much, that when I moved, I had my electrician install 3 additional hoists in my new workshop (better quality, not HF, higher lifting capacity). Thrilled that I have them. I actually keep my heavy, large crosscut sled hanging from the hoist over the outfeed table of my ICS. When I need it, I just lower it. No manual lifting of the bulky, 50 lb crosscut sled.

Of course, installing the hoist on the ceiling is no joy, but a lot less heavy than the Sawstop contractors saw.

One thing I used for the Jet Air cleaners was to hook up chains from the ceiling hooks to the screw eye bolts on the Jet. One by one I went corner by corner and reduced the chain length one link (or a few) with caribiners. Then the other 3 chain links. Before you know it (actually it takes a while, but you don't have to go up to the ceiling), you've lifted it up.

[Bruce Mack]

I have the same problem. I'm old and weak. A few years ago I bought a chain hoist and suspended it from a joist in the shop to permit me to lift a Ridgid jointer a few inches to a platform on wheels. I used nylon slings as I recall. It worked well and neither my pride nor myself was damaged.

[Keith Miron]

I had to tackle this very problem a month or so ago. I ended up using some well secured ratchet straps that were wrapped around the exposed ceiling joists of my garage. I set up the straps so when they were tightened it lifted one end off the styrofoam. Once it was mostly lifted I just tilted it a little bit and it stood upright. I didn't have a pully/winch at the time so this worked well enough for me.

[Larry Frank]

I have a HF engine lift and straps. It folds up nicely and works very well. I got it on sale and has been worth every penny.

[Mike Kees]

Have you thought of just assembling the base to the saw upside down ? Then it would be just a matter of tipping it in two stages to get it upright.

[Jim Dwight]

I am 64 and refuse to admit being weak. But the surgeon that repaired my last hernia (over 10 years ago) cautioned me to be more careful. He said I am all meshed now and there isn't much they can do if I overdo it and get another. Long way of saying I limit myself to 100 lbs consistent with his guidance.

I got my PCS on a pallet in my trailer which was pulled by my convertible. I set it up by myself. I partially unboxed it in the trailer. I built a mobile base for it to get it to a more comfortable height (38 inches) so I tilted the cabinet out of the trailer onto the mobile base. From there I could walk it into position. I had to remove it from the base a couple times to address issues so I walked it onto the crate it same on and then back onto the mobile base. Wasn't even that hard. Putting the cast iron extension tables by myself was harder but I managed.

I'm not sure how I would do the contractor saw but I think I would attach the base to the upper part while it is still in the carton. You have 4 faces so you should be able to pick one for it to lay on that would not damage anything. The styrofoam of the container should help. If you are planning a mobile base I would put that on before tilting it up. Definitely I would attach the rails and extension tables after it is vertical to lower the weight. It really shouldn't be that bad. The rails are heavy and if you have cast iron extension tables those are really heavy (probably 50 lbs apiece). Leave that weight off until you are ready for it.

An engine lift was my backup plan. My son has one so all I had to do was drive 1.5 hours each way to get it. But I did not need it.

[Floyd Mah]

Here's a lifting technique that doesn't require any special, new tools. Years ago, I had a Craftsman radial arm saw that I needed to raise and place on a stand. I had no help at the moment. After thinking it over, I used a pile of boards to raise the saw to a height that allowed me to slide it onto the stand. You just need to be able to tip the saw about the height of one board. You can do that by lifting or using a pry bar under any part of the saw that sticks out (you can use another block of wood to make the tip onto the pry bar accessible). You just need to do this twice on either side. Once you start getting the blocks under the edges, then all sides are accessible. Then proceed methodically to tip and add boards or larger pieces of wood or even bricks. As long as you have a firm wide base under the saw, you aren't risking a catastrophe. Tipping the saw just enough to get one board underneath doesn't take that much strength...just do it a few dozen times.

[Mike Henderson]

Here's a lifting technique that doesn't require any special, new tools. Years ago, I had a Craftsman radial arm saw that I needed to raise and place on a stand. I had no help at the moment. After thinking it over, I used a pile of boards to raise the saw to a height that allowed me to slide it onto the stand. You just need to be able to tip the saw about the height of one board. You can do that by lifting or using a pry bar under any part of the saw that sticks out (you can use another block of wood to make the tip onto the pry bar accessible). You just need to do this twice on either side. Once you start getting the blocks under the edges, then all sides are accessible. Then proceed methodically to tip and add boards or larger pieces of wood or even bricks. As long as you have a firm wide base under the saw, you aren't risking a catastrophe. Tipping the saw just enough to get one board underneath doesn't take that much strength...just do it a few dozen times.

I used to use this technique to remove and replace the engine in my Volkswagen bug. To remove it, I'd put pieces of 2x4 under the engine, then unbolt the engine and slide it back. Then remove one piece of 2x4 at a time until the engine was on the ground. Then jack up the back of the car and pull the engine out.

Putting it back in was the opposite. That was one thing about the bug engine - you could work on it under a shade tree. You didn't need a lot of special tools and equipment. That was in the late 1960's and early 1970's.

I threw a rod in it one time and replaced the crank, the rod and put new bearing inserts in the engine, all under a shade tree.

Mike

[Steve Fish]

I have lifted 48” commercial walk behind mowers with one of these https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001EV6WZG/ref=emc_b_5_mob_i
we mounted a heavy boat cleat on the wall to tie it off. Definitely want to stay out from under anything lifted in this manner until it’s blocked up. Works good for deer too lol

[ChrisA Edwards]

A lot of references to using a ceiling joist, if that's not an option, it's easy to build a 6'-8' high frame out of a few 2" x 6" or 2" x 8" and use a hoist on that.

Also, change your profile and put in your location, even with Covid, 10 min.
utes with proper PPE, and that saw could be picked up and in place with a helper

[Mike Kreinhop]

A lot of references to using a ceiling joist, if that's not an option, it's easy to build a 6'-8' high frame out of a few 2" x 6" or 2" x 8" and use a hoist on that.

That's what I did to assemble my saw. My friends helped me move the big pieces, but I assembled it by myself using leftover bits from the move. The frame is made from construction timber and held together will long screws. Each of the two vertical timbers has a 10mm lag stud screwed in the top that mates with holes in the top horizontal piece for a little more stability.

I later used the same rig to lift and move the assembled saw with no problems. I ran long straps under the saw to the hoist and raised it a few inches to reposition the isolating base. The saw weighs about 650 pounds with everything attached, but I think its about 400 pounds with just the chassis, weight, and table. The wood didn't even creak when the saw left the floor.


This is the concrete weight for the saw being lowered in place. It took two of us to get it to the basement, but I had to use this frame to move it around by myself. I removed the weight and the table from the chassis while the saw was still in the garage by using the chain hoist attached to the main beam in the garage.

https://live.staticflickr.com/4467/37511669266_dc63cd3bc3_c.jpg


This is the cast iron table and saw motor assembly ready to be lowered in place.

https://live.staticflickr.com/4458/37301169200_1a69596a2c_c.jpg

[Alan Lightstone]

Pretty awesome, Mike. But isn't that a chicken and egg scenario? Don't you need a saw to cut the lumber to make the jig to assemble the saw? :cool:

[Mike Kreinhop]

Pretty awesome, Mike. But isn't that a chicken and egg scenario? Don't you need a saw to cut the lumber to make the jig to assemble the saw? :cool:

I bought some wonderful Atkins saws from Mike Allen, and they went through the timber like butter. :D

[Stephen White]

OK saw is on base. Took me about an hour this morning just working slow and steady. The part I was moving by myself was 140lbs. Not that heavy but more than I can dead lift by myself and with the dust chute extending past the bottom, making it where it cannot sit flat made it more challenging I think than some heavy stuff. Lots of great suggestions and I will definitely add a ceiling type lift in the future if this comes up again.

This time I just used about 20 50lb boxes of clay to walk it up. Piled them in various places around stand to make sure it didn't move at all. My 2 1/2 car garage is a woodshop/clay studio and I have about 40 50lb boxes of clay along one wall and while I was considering options and was thinking of cinder blocks I was leaning against the boxes of clay looking at the saw :-) Kind of a Forest Gump moment and I started stacking the clay the way I figured I would use cinder blocks. Tilted the saw out of the box on 2 boxes and then lifted it up on another 2 boxes pushed in from the other side leaving a nice center gap to protect the dust exhaust chute as I added boxes of clay on each side until the saw top was a few inches above the stand and then just slide it into place. I was very very careful when sliding because the two surfaces are powder coated iron and slick and if you just slid it over the whole thing could just go flying and I see that as prob the biggest risk to doing it this way. Could end up being an incredibly easy way to launch your saw across the stand and watch is drop a few feet to the concrete. A hoist with a strap would prob eliminate that risk and prob would have done that instead of the blocks if I hadn't used the clay I already have. My way was prob not real smart because as I slid it over what was really just a inch and a half rail on each side it could have easily slipped off on one side and the 140 pounds would have probably kept it falling even as I tried to stop it. I could see this being a possibility before I did it and just decided what the hell and just did it. Worked out and bolted down now.

Feels great to have that done. I am lucky that I am just now getting the big heavy stuff so will just get mobile bases for everything. I originally skipped the mobile base and just figured I'd add it later if I needed, not realizing that its not as easy as that. Now I know!

Again thanks for all the great input.

[Marc Fenneuff]

OK saw is on base. Took me about an hour this morning just working slow and steady.

Good work.

Remember, critical thinking is what separates us from the animals (well, that and air conditioning).

[Matt Day]

So much for all the advice we gave, you did it your own way!

[Stephen White]

So much for all the advice we gave, you did it your own way!

but I got a lot of great ideas of ways to handle these types of situations and like I said my way was really prob kind of dumb.

One of those situations where my wife would have come out and choked back a smile as we both stood and looked at my smashed saw top sticking halfway out of the garage door after I launched across the stand. I am almost 60 years old and have remodeled a couple of houses pretty extensively and built a finished out clay studio building and have done some incredibly stupid things that have always managed to work out. That's one reason I bought a sawstop, figured my luck is gonna run out.

edit: One thing I will say in my defense is I do spend some time working out my stupid plan and always do it carefully and methodically, so my problem is not being in a hurry but rather getting out on the edge of the right way and accepting risk of equipment, product damage that I prob shouldn't. Not safety though. I care about that. Youtube helps a lot.

[Will Blick]

Lifting machines is BITscht@!@#$
But we all have to do it, seems help is hard to find, and too much potential liability
Mike K, that is a brilliant contraption!
seems a one size fits all solution is not possible.
much depends on how tall the machine is.
lifting a TS vs. a 20" Band saw, different problems...
engine hoist will not work with BS.
I finally hung a hoist from an over head beam...hoping I don't bring the beam down.
but considering most machines are under 1K lbs, should be safe...
I use it constantly....