SawStop Delivery - How many guys needed?

[Glen Blanchard]

The local Woodcraft store will be ordering my saw on Monday. The saw is to be shipped to the store and then I will havea 3rd party delivery company (recommended by the folks at Woodcraft) bring it to the house and place it in the garage.

This is where my uncertainty sets in. How many men are needed to move the saw from the pallet to the mobile base? The guys at Woodcraft recommend 4 men with one additional person (probably will be my wife) to position the mobile base. I don't know how many neighbors (probably can get two, but might have difficulty getting a third) I can round up all at once, so I am a bit concerned. Any tricks I might employ moving this beast?

Thanks.

[John Leslie]

Make sure your local delivery company brings a truck with a lift gate on the back. Pallet weight is close to 600Lbs. The saw comes basically fully assembled. 4 guys would make short work of lifting it off of the pallet and the moving it a foot or two onto a mobile base. I had to move mine from my garage to my basement. I removed the top as well as the motor to lighten things up enough that 2 strong young guys could carry the cabinet and trunion down the stairs. The cabinet is top heavy in this configuration, which requires extra care. But with the top and motor removed, I could fairly easily lift one end of the cabinet alone, at least enought to suffle it off of the pallet. 2 guys would be a better to be comfortable.

- John

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

If you have heavy overhead joists, a Johnson bar, a couple of comealongs, a few lengths of pipe, some good rope and webbing you don't need nobody but you.

[John Bush]

Hi Glen,
I used a small chain hoist hung from the rafters. It was fairly simple and felt like a safe way to control it while positioning on the base. The HTC is also easy to set-up and use. If you have 4 helpers you could handle it safely as well. Check out the type of wood used to make the crate Interesting stuff. Thought possibly it was a type of Luann. Some almost felt like a balsa wood. Be Safe. (Glen, You've gotta do something with thise centrals!!) JCB

[Jim Becker]

I moved my Jet LT cabinet saw from the pallet to my mobile base myself...using levers and rocking on one corner. With the wings and other extranious things removed from the cabinet base, even with the motor intact, it's not that hard to deal with.

[Mark Rios]

I put my Uni on a mobile just a couple of months ago, like Jim, by myself. It would have been a little nicer to have an extra pair of hands to hold/position the base but it took all of 4-6 minutes just by myself. A tip here, a block of wood there, a little how's-your-father and bingo bango I was rolling. Pull the table off definately and maybe the motor if you feel like getting that intimate with your new saw but careful your wife doesn't get jealous. :D

[Jim Hill]

I have to agree with several others here. Earlier in the year when I received my General 650, I put it on the HTC base by myself. The General comes with both wings attached, and weighs almost 500 pounds. A little prep, some blocks of wood and lever, and you're all set to go. Congrats on your new saw!!

Jim

[Jim Becker]

Pull the table off definately and maybe the motor if you feel like getting that intimate with your new saw

I do not recommend removing the table on a cabinet saw unless it is the last resort. They often have precision shims under one or more corner bolts and messing them up will result in inaccuracies with the blade to table relationship as you go from straight up and down to tilted. I'd man-handle the motor before I'd do that and frankly didn't feel the need to remove either. And I'm no Joe Atlas!

[Mark Rios]

I do not recommend removing the table on a cabinet saw unless it is the last resort. They often have precision shims under one or more corner bolts and messing them up will result in inaccuracies with the blade to table relationship as you go from straight up and down to tilted. I'd man-handle the motor before I'd do that and frankly didn't feel the need to remove either. And I'm no Joe Atlas!


Okay, thanks Jim. Sorry for the bad advice Glen. Scratch the remove the table part. But you should still be able to do it yourself.

[Glen Blanchard]

(Glen, You've gotta do something with thise centrals!!)

How's that? :p

[Jim Becker]

Okay, thanks Jim. Sorry for the bad advice Glen. Scratch the remove the table part. But you should still be able to do it yourself.

It's not bad advice, Mark. 'Just that many folks don't realize those things that look like washers are not washers...they're shims of very specific and exacting thickness. Some saws are spot-on and don't have them...many do. Now...if you know they are there and look after them so they get back to the right place later, removing the top is certainly an option if necessary.

[Per Swenson]

I try to employ Tom Sawyers white wash the fence approach.

Three guys, brute strength, driveway to base, one hour.

Per

[Ben Grunow]

I was able to get mine into the shop with 3 men (ages 32, 42, 53) from the lift gate on the delivery truck. This should be fine if there are no stairs or large bumps to go over, just across flat ground or slab. I didi get mine up on a plywood base (to raise height of top) alone using lever/tip metthod but it was a lot of work.

[Mark Singer]

mine was rolled the driveway on a pallet jack. All I did was break the pallet apart with a hammer

[Glen Blanchard]

mine was rolled the driveway on a pallet jack. All I did was break the pallet apart with a hammer


How much help did you have getting it from the driveway to its final resting place?

[Mike Heidrick]

I try to employ Tom Sawyers white wash the fence approach.

Three guys, brute strength, driveway to base, one hour.

Per

Tom, getting yours up in your tree house must have been a huge pain.

[Paul Meiners]

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Had the saw delivered to a client's place, as he has a Hi-lo, and the weather/security is not right for a drop ship at my home.
As some others, I removed the table and motor, which took about 20 minutes. Made a table top from two sheets of 3/4 ply glue together, bolted it to the existing 4 table top bolt holes ( 4 1/2", 1/2" dia carriage bolts, washers at the cast iron stanchions), locked the saw at 90 degrees, then inverted the saw VERY carefully. Popped it into my mini van with the Hi-lo, with plenty of clearance, pulled it out with a come-along.
I had to go up 6 steps, and the opening was just big enough for the saw, the space/height made it difficult for 2 people to manage the top heavy load, so I left it inverted. Laid 2x6 on the stairs, used a come-along to pull it in. Did this alone (I'm 57), toughest/scariest part was inverting the saw, as the bolt stanchions are cast iron, even if they are substantial.
The Fedex shipping was $400 plus Sawstop added on another $150.00 ("Sir Charge" ). The packaging was great, as Sawstop placed two tilt detectors on the crate so the shipping Gorillas can't tilt the crate without detection; without them, a New York City delivery has little to nill chance of not being toppled over. Sure was nice having the Hi-lo at the client's.

[glenn bradley]

How many men are needed to move the saw from the pallet to the mobile base?

Just one. . . here's my address :D.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[Gary Muto]

I removed the top of my unisaw and was able to get it down a flight of stair with one other guy helping. You can also take the motor out, but we didn't have to.

[keith ouellette]

I moved my Jet LT cabinet saw from the pallet to my mobile base myself...using levers and rocking on one corner. With the wings and other extranious things removed from the cabinet base, even with the motor intact, it's not that hard to deal with.

I did something very similar with just me and my wife for the table saw. I used a hydraulic jack and a 2x4 on end to start lifting my saw up and put 2x6's under the table on each side held up by wood blocks. I would jack up one side and place a board in to cover the gap and then do the other side. It went very quick.

[Wade Lippman]

I do not recommend removing the table on a cabinet saw unless it is the last resort. They often have precision shims under one or more corner bolts and messing them up will result in inaccuracies with the blade to table relationship as you go from straight up and down to tilted. I'd man-handle the motor before I'd do that and frankly didn't feel the need to remove either. And I'm no Joe Atlas!

You will have to take the table off eventually to clean it; might as well do it now.
Shimming simply isn't a big deal and makes the saw much easier to move.

[Mike Heidrick]

I own the 5hp sawstop. My wife and I got the sawoff the pallet and onto the mobile base with just the two of us. First thing is to take the top of the wooden crate off (zip screws around the bottom then lift). Then unpack teh plastoc wrap and styrofoam and additional table extension and parts box. Once I was down to just the saw I lifted/rocked each corner up and my wife used a hammer and pulled out the 4 hardwood strips that are nailed to the pallet around thinside edge of the cabinet - it is key to remove these strips or rock the saw over them. Then I positioned the base next to the pallet, locked the casters, and walked the saw out over the edge of the pallet. Then when it was close (could feel this by the balance of the saw) I made one last rock of the saw and it was off the pallet and into the HTC base. It worked perfectly.

Not sure why you would have to clean under the table so I would not remove the table at all.

[Don Bullock]

The retailer I bought my SawStop from, Eagle Tools, put it on the mobile base before it was delivered. The delivery truck driver just backed up to the garage, dropped the saw down on the lift gate and rolled the saw into the garage. Perhaps WoodCraft could place the saw on the mobile stand for you as well. You might as well get some service from them for all that money you spent.;)

[Allan Froehlich]

I do not recommend removing the table on a cabinet saw unless it is the last resort. They often have precision shims under one or more corner bolts and messing them up will result in inaccuracies with the blade to table relationship as you go from straight up and down to tilted. I'd man-handle the motor before I'd do that and frankly didn't feel the need to remove either. And I'm no Joe Atlas!

Now there is some advice I have never heard before.

I need to replace my crasftsman with a better saw. For starts, it is older than me. I know the only way to get it down the stairs is if I take it apart.

What concerns me now is that my basement floor is very unlevel. I wonder if uneven foot loading will cause the whole thing to flex.

[Chuck Burns]

When my SS was delivered the delivery guy (about 140# soaking wet) and me (a whole lot bigger) got it of the lift gate and on the base with no problems. I subsquently wanted to modify the base (not SS) and took it off and put it on myself. It's all about leverage and boards to space things up. BTW, you'll be amazed at how well crated the saw will be. SS does a great job in this regard.

[Al Willits]

In a bit of frenzied enthusiasm and impatience I removed from their pallets and set up my Yorkcraft 15" planer and 8" joiner by myself, it can be done with the right stuff and a strong overhead beam, on the other hand, had I to do it over, I'd have called a few friends and mentioned free beer, and forget to tell them about the little lifting job for them I had....:D

Much safer I think with helping hands....well, as long as its before the beer...:)

Al

[Jerry Booher]

I used an engine hoist. The delivery guy had a lift-gate truck and he moved it into the garage with a pallet jack. I came home to a large box. My wife and I unboxed it and lifted it with a rope on the engine hoist to move it into position. Then the hoist lifted it off the pallet and set it back down. It is really easy to scoot it along the concrete for fine-tuning the position. I would not want to disassemble it and mess it up.

Jerry

[Brad Shipton]

I unloaded my new Saw/Shaper (1100lb) last week all by myself. I used a low deck trailer (snowmobile trailer) that has a good ramp. My machine was delivered on a pallet, so I placed a 2x4 under each side and carefully used a 4' pry bar to move it down the ramp. The pallet under my machine was quite long as it is a slider. At no time was I concerned of tipping. To get off the pallet I mounted the mobility kit and used a small ramp.

Brad