Questions about taking delivery of new lathe

[David Bolson]

I’ve been notified that my Grizzly G0766 has been shipped, with lift gate service. I live on a quiet and accessible street. But I have a somewhat steep driveway from the street to my garage.

First issue is getting the lathe up the driveway. If the driver helps, that’s a non issue. If he just drops the box at the foot of the driveway, what are my alternatives? I have a Mazda CX-5 that will fit the box, and I was thinking that I could have the driver slide the box into my car and drive it up. I also have a relatively heavy duty hand truck. I was thinking of opening the box on the street, lugging up the legs separately, and then trying to push/pull the box up. I’m not sure that’s doable even with having my strong son with me.

Second issue is getting the lathe set up. I assume the hardest part is getting the headstock up on the ways. There’s an “unboxing” video online, but the method she used seems a bit dangerous.

I do have a Harbor Freight not far from me but I’m not sure I should be buying a hydraulic cart for this one time use.

Any advice appreciated.

David

[Chris A Lawrence]

Grizzly uses ups freight to deliver. Both times i had $40 in my hand that was visible but not being handed to the driver yet. Both times the driver had no problems backing into my driveway close to my garage to drop it. Not sure how the drivers in our area work but if your driveway is something they can back into they might. The lathe comes with the legs off but everything else is already on the ways. I had to take the pins off the ends that keep the headstock and tailstock from sliding off out and remove both the headstock and tailstock. I was able to get the legs and ways together but had to get a second set of hands to get the headstock back on.

[David Walser]

David — I highly recommend Harbor Freight’s 1,000lb lift cart. I got it when I was remodeling my shop this past summer and was hoping to take delivery of a new lathe. It came in very handy, not just for taking delivery of the lathe, but also for assembly of the lathe. However, the lift cart has come in very handy for other things, too. It’s able to lift up to the height of my workbench and has served as out-feed table, workbench extension, and is the means of moving my lathe when that’s necessary. Even better, the maximum lift height of the table is the same height of my pickup’s tailgate. It makes getting heavy things out of the truck much simpler.

[David Bolson]

David — I highly recommend Harbor Freight’s 1,000lb lift cart.

David - what are the dimensions of the cart when it’s folded up? I’ve thought about that cart, but I have very limited space. I would need to figure out where I could put it when I’m not using it.

[Paul Williams]

Two Harbor Freight four wheeled furniture dollies would probably move the box to your garage if the driver can't or won't back up your driveway. My experience has been that delivery drivers are pretty accommodating and have lots of experience with heavy packages. Assembly is another matter, and i would be looking for help from friend.

[Richard Coers]

The length of the driveway is important information for giving advice. My favorite method of handling machine now is not to order lift gate. That saves some money, then have a local wrecker service show up with a roll back flatbed. The lathe come off the semi onto the flatbed. He backs the flat bed up to your door and the lathe slides off by control of the winch on the truck. Hand the roll back a $100 bill and no one has to strain about anything. A piece of rebar through the lathe head allows you to put a lifting strap on it and a come-along from the ceiling lifts it on top of the bed. A second set of hands makes that faster and will only cost a couple beers. If you can, have the wrecker company pick it up at the loading dock to bring it to your home. That can save a day on the delivery and you can actually believe the delivery time.

[Walter Mooney]

The freight driver will be moving your crate around in his/her truck with a pallet jack, which will make it extremely hard (maybe not even possible) to put it into the back of a car.

Chris is correct about how the lathe is packaged. I built my 0766 from and in the back of my pickup truck. Once I pulled about a quarter of the length of the ways off the end of the tailgate, I jacked up / blocked up the end of the ways to get it high enough to get the first set of legs under it and bolted them to it. Then moved the rest of the ways, more blocking, and got the legs under the other end. The good news is you can slide both the headstock and the tailstock towards the end that you are not working on to decrease the weight on the end on which you are working. Then slide them back.

Good luck. I do love my G0766!

[tom lucas]

Two men can easily lift the headstock onto the lathe bedway. My stepson helped me and it was no problem. Don't know the age of your son. But, I'd say most 14+ year old would suffice as the second person. As far as getting it up your driveway, if the driver cannot back the truck up to your garage, I would open and uncrate at the bottom and carry each piece up. The only unmanageable part is the head stock. All you need though is any kind of wheeled thing: a wagon, wheel barrow (carefully), just about anything with a handle and best to have raised sides. Two men could carry it too, but it is awkward because you are so close together. You could also secure it to a piece of plywood and drag it up the driveway. Not that the hydraulic lift cart doesn't have tons of utility. Whatever you use, be careful that the headstock doesn't go sliding off of it as you move it up your driveway. I would not put it in your Miata. It would likely damage it the car. It really isn't necessary to go to such drastic measures.

[Robert D Evans]

If you've got a friend with a pickup truck, just go to the freight terminal and they will load the box into the truck bed with a forklift. Then you can unload the lathe a piece at a time out of the box while still in the truck bed. You'll also save on the cost of the lift gate service.

[Reed Gray]

Unless you have a steep gravel driveway, I would think the driver could make it up there easily. If nothing else, you might ask for a driver who is familiar with your area, or if nothing else, call the shipping company and let them know you need it at the top of the drive. I did concrete construction for years. Some jobs, one driver would look at and say no way, and another driver would look at it and just back straight in....

robo hippy

[David Walser]

I’m away from my shop visiting my son and his family. However, the dimensions of the cart can be found on HF’s website — the table is 20”x32”. The maximum lift height is 34.5” and the minimum is 11”. The overall length is 37” and the height of the handle is 38”. I hope this helps.

[Jeff Clode]

Second issue is getting the lathe set up. I assume the hardest part is getting the headstock up on the ways. There’s an “unboxing” video online, but the method she used seems a bit dangerous.

when my Powermatic 3520B arrived, I didn’t have the luxury of another set of strong arms/hands so I used a HF 1/2 ton chain hoist suspended from a stout multi configuration aluminum ladder (set to the A frame position) both to raise the bed from the floor and to get the headstock on the bed. Worked fine
Jeff

[Gary Petersen]

I've bought two tools from Grizzly. Both were delivered via UPS Freight with lift gate service. In each case, the delivery was in a short semi truck. The driver used a pallet jack to move the tool onto the lift gate and then up my flat driveway to my shop. Your mileage may vary but both drivers were as helpful as they could have been. I was very pleased with the delivery service both times.

[Thomas Wilson80]

David - what are the dimensions of the cart when it’s folded up? I’ve thought about that cart, but I have very limited space. I would need to figure out where I could put it when I’m not using it.

I bought the cart when I ordered my Laguna 2436 and used it to get the headstock up alone (still wasn’t easy but didn’t break my back) and now use it to easily move my lathe around. I also use the cart next to the lathe as a tool caddy and then lower it a bit and shove it under the ways when I’m not turning since I have limited space as well.

Tom

[Alex Zeller]

UPS freight is being sold off by UPS so Grizzly may use another delivery company. My last purchase from Grizzly came by New Penn. The lathe comes in a long but narrow box. I was able to get mine from my truck to my walk in basement by myself. I also set it up by myself by simply removing the tail stock and banjo and then moving the head stock to the center of the bed. I then just lifted each side up some and blocked it then doing the other side. Once I was up high enough I put the legs on.

The head stock is the heavy part for one person. All the other pieces I was easily able to move as needed. To move the head stock I left it on the bed and just strapped it on a dolly. With the head stock near the bottom of the dolly it was pretty easy to roll it as needed.

[David Bolson]

I can’t rely on getting a cooperative driver. I think what I’ll do is rent a pickup. UHaul rents them for $20 for 8 hours. Have the delivery driver load the box onto the pickup and then back the pickup into my garage. I have one of those sturdy metal kitchen rolling shelf units on casters. I realized that I can change the height of the shelves. I should be able to slide the ways and headstock out of the pickup onto the shelf and roll into position. Or I can use the method that Walter suggested.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

[David Bolson]

The company delivering the lathe is Saia LTL Freight. I don’t know anything about them.

[Brice Rogers]

David Bolson, I think that your plan to rent a pickup is great.

IIRC, the headstock weighs around 180-200#. It is possible to remove the motor and that may roughly halve the weight. The other parts: tailstock, legs and banjo are easily moved by one person. I don't recall the weight of the bed but I don't think that it is much more than 120#.

When you go to assemble the lathe components it helps a lot to have someone help you.

[Richard Coers]

The whole lathe doesn't weight much more that 550pounds (584 shipping weight). You really think the head weighs close to half the machine weight?

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

A few years ago, my wife ordered a 350 pound pellet stove on line. My driveway is 800 ft to the place where I wanted it. But there was no way a semi was getting in there. When the driver got there, he put the stove on the back how bucket and helped me secure it with straps. I then drove the thing down to the building, around the back and could set the thing down on a dolly just outside the door.

Years ago, when I set up a metal lathe weighing over a ton. I used a hydraulic jack to lift one end of the ways and put a block under it, then went to the other side and used the jack to lift that side up to put a block under it. Took a few cinder blocks and 6x6 wooden blocks but I got the thing up high enough for the legs just fine. Was a little time consuming, but no problem for one person. Also once lifted a two story timber frame carriage shed back up on a foundation by myself the same way.

[Ron Selzer]

I can’t rely on getting a cooperative driver. I think what I’ll do is rent a pickup. UHaul rents them for $20 for 8 hours. Have the delivery driver load the box onto the pickup and then back the pickup into my garage. I have one of those sturdy metal kitchen rolling shelf units on casters. I realized that I can change the height of the shelves. I should be able to slide the ways and headstock out of the pickup onto the shelf and roll into position. Or I can use the method that Walter suggested.

I’ll let you know how it goes.


Renting the pickup is a smart idea
The truck driver is ONLY required to get the crate to the back of the truck UNLESS lift gate services have been purchased also. The truck floor is higher than the pickup floor and it would be your responsibality to move from truck to pickup.
IF you pickup the crate at the trucking terminal they will load the crate in the back of the pickup with a forklift.
GOOD LUCK
RON

[Brice Rogers]

Richard Coers,

180-200# is about 32 to 36 percent of the total weight. I'd rough that to about 1/3 the weight and not half the weight. You're right though - - if someone said that it was half the weight, I'd question that myself.

At one point Grizzly sent me a new headstock (and motor) and the crate weight was listed on the manifest or Bill of Lading as 220#. So, that is why I made a rough guess of the weight. I assumed that the manifest was correct and the crate may have weighed 20-40#. So, Richard, if you had a manifest/BOL saying that the crate weighed 220#, what would YOU guess would be the weight of the headstock? Was the manifest wrong? I don't know.

So, say it is only 150# ?? It is still one of the heavier components. Heavier than either leg, the bed or the tailstock. AND if you take the motor off, it will make it easier to move. My point was the headstock is the heaviest component but it can be made more manageable by removing the motor.

[Bill Bell]

BE CAREFUL! I took delivery of a Jet 1640 a few months ago. No problem getting everything into the garage with the help of the delivery guy but I felt a sharp pain in my arm when I tried to lift the headstock up onto the assembled lathe. I went to the doc a few weeks later and discovered I had ruptured a tendon and had to have surgery. No more turning for a few months. Moral of this story: know your limitations and pay attention when the manual tells you to get an assistant to avoid injury!!

[David Bolson]

So, in preparation for the delivery, I rented a pickup truck, bought a 500 lb hydraulic table from Harbor Freight and built an addition for the top of the table to give it enough height to raise the bed over the legs, and took the day off from work. The lathe took a while to get to me as it took a drunken tour of the Eastern U.S. This is the tracking information:

2/15/21 09:43 am Springfield, MO Weather Delay
00:00 am Springfield, MO Delayed due to WEATHER-SNOW (KO)
05:52 pm Springfield, MO Load Trailer: 533054
04:00 pm Springfield, MO Unload Trailer: 533318 Assigned
03:01 pm Springfield, MO Arrived at Origin Terminal
01:55 pm SPRINGFIELD, MO Pickup from Customer

2/16/21 06:37 pm Springfield, MO Load Trailer: 285302
00:00 am Springfield, MO Delayed due to WINTER WEATHER (BH)

2/17/21 05:22 am Springfield, MO Weather Delay
00:00 am Springfield, MO Delayed due to WINTER WEATHER (BH)

2/18/21 11:55 pm St. Louis, MO Departed from Terminal
09:18 pm St. Louis, MO Arrived at Breakbulk Terminal
00:00 am St. Louis, MO Delayed due to WINTER WEATHER (BH)
09:15 pm Kansas City, MO Departed from Terminal
03:34 pm Kansas City, MO Load Trailer: 292735
02:10 pm St. Louis, MO Arrived at Breakbulk Terminal
00:00 am St. Louis, MO Delayed due to WINTER WEATHER (BH)
09:58 am Springfield, MO Departed from Terminal
00:00 am Springfield, MO Delayed due to WINTER WEATHER (BH)


2/19/21 04:46 pm Indianapolis, IN Load Trailer: 286975
04:28 pm Indianapolis, IN Unload Trailer: 292735 Assigned
00:00 am Indianapolis, IN Delayed due to WINTER WEATHER (BH)
03:03 pm Indianapolis, IN Arrived at Breakbulk Terminal
00:00 am Indianapolis, IN Delayed due to WINTER WEATHER (BH)
12:52 pm Cincinnati, OH Departed from Terminal
06:57 am Cincinnati, OH Arrived at Breakbulk Terminal
00:00 am Cincinnati, OH Delayed due to WINTER WEATHER (BH)
01:49 am Effingham, IL Departed from Terminal
01:28 am Effingham, IL Arrived at Breakbulk Terminal
00:00 am Effingham, IL Delayed due to WINTER WEATHER (BH)

2/20/21 06:07 pm Pittsburgh, PA Arrived at Breakbulk Terminal
12:13 pm Cincinnati, OH Departed from Terminal
05:22 am Cincinnati, OH Arrived at Breakbulk Terminal
03:15 am Indianapolis, IN Departed from Terminal

2/21/21 05:28 pm Newark, NJ Arrived at Destination Terminal
02:19 pm Harrisburg, PA Departed from Terminal
03:58 am Harrisburg, PA Arrived at Breakbulk Terminal
12:16 am Pittsburgh, PA Departed from Terminal

2/22/21 04:12 am Newark, NJ Unload Trailer: 286975 Assigned

2/23/21 01:25 am Newark, NJ Load Trailer: 193004

2/24/21 02:31 pm Newark, NJ Shipment Returned to Terminal
09:51 am Newark, NJ Scheduled for Delivery
04:40 am Newark, NJ Load Trailer: 291271

The driver shows up and this is what I find:
453076

453077

So, of course I had to refuse delivery. To their credit, Grizzly called me today and said they were going to send out a new one.

Also, it turns out that the hydraulic table I got is defective so I have to return it to Harbor freight for an exchange (and they have none currently in stock).

To be continued....

[Alex Zeller]

That sucks. You can request to have it sent by a different carrier. How can a trucker keep a straight face while unloading that crate? I've had good luck with UPS. My last Grizzly tool came by New Penn. Unlike your lathe it was loaded onto a train to go from Springfield to somewhere outside Philly (over 2 weeks).

[David Walser]

When I bought a PM 3520C this past summer, it arrived with pieces piled together on a pallet. Before opening the back door of the truck, the driver greeted me with, "Don't worry, you don't have accept delivery." The replacement lathe arrived the following week -- in perfect condition.

[Brian Tymchak]

... So, of course I had to refuse delivery. To their credit, Grizzly called me today and said they were going to send out a new one.


Well, I'd get banned if I wrote the words that came to mind when I saw those pics..

How many more months will it take to get a new machine?

[Thomas Wilson80]

Also, it turns out that the hydraulic table I got is defective so I have to return it to Harbor freight for an exchange (and they have none currently in stock).

To be continued....


What is wrong with the table? I have the 1000# cart and sometimes when I go to pump it up it won't move and I have to pull the release lever and then it will pump up without problem.

Tom

[David Walser]

...

Also, it turns out that the hydraulic table I got is defective so I have to return it to Harbor freight for an exchange (and they have none currently in stock).

....

I recommend you return the 500# table and use the money toward the price of the 1,000# table. It's a nicer table, not just able to lift twice as much weight.

[David Bolson]

Alex - They told me they would be using the same carrier. But they said it was very unusual for the journey to have included so many stops - thry are going to talk to the carrier about it.

David - I'm hoping for the same result.

Brian - I was more sad and annoyed than mad. The driver was a nice guy and the damage wasn't his fault. No point in getting mad at him.

Thomas - Out of the box the table had zero hydraulic fluid. The box was dry so I'm assuming it never had any. Not a big problem - I filled it up with fluid and it pumps up fine. But one of the two swivel casters doesn't swivel. I took a close look and it's not something I can fix and it's not something I can live with - the table is very hard to move around. It would be impossible to move with a heavy load on it. This table was not checked by quality control.

[tom lucas]

Tough luck on the shipment from Grizzly and the table. My lathe arrived in a pristine crate. And that crate is very well made with everything bolted down inside. Someone (the trucking co.) tossed that thing around and mishandled it. It almost looks like it was dropped. Hopefully Grizzly will get you a replacement right away.

[Patrick Johnson]

Yes, you did the right thing to refuse it. What a mess! Of course the shipper thought they could make it all better by saran wrapping it...oh boy.

[Alex Zeller]

Alex - They told me they would be using the same carrier. But they said it was very unusual for the journey to have included so many stops - thry are going to talk to the carrier about it.

David - I'm hoping for the same result.

Brian - I was more sad and annoyed than mad. The driver was a nice guy and the damage wasn't his fault. No point in getting mad at him.

Thomas - Out of the box the table had zero hydraulic fluid. The box was dry so I'm assuming it never had any. Not a big problem - I filled it up with fluid and it pumps up fine. But one of the two swivel casters doesn't swivel. I took a close look and it's not something I can fix and it's not something I can live with - the table is very hard to move around. It would be impossible to move with a heavy load on it. This table was not checked by quality control.

With Harbor Freight the customer is the quality control. If you accept it then it's a pass. if you reject it then they give you a replacement to inspect. It's actually a very good way to do QC. This way HF never has to control to a standard higher than the customer demands.

[Brian Tymchak]

With Harbor Freight the customer is the quality control. If you accept it then it's a pass. if you reject it then they give you a replacement to inspect. It's actually a very good way to do QC. This way HF never has to control to a standard higher than the customer demands.

As long as the target customer for HF expects to get failures fairly often, then I guess it's good for HF. But I have to think it's less expensive to spend 5 or 6 minutes in QC during manufacturing than to incur the labor and shipping expense of handling a high number of returns. And the perpetuation of poor quality products has to limit sales. I know I've steered away from them on numerous occasions.