Question for all 8" jointer owners

[Jeremy Gibson]

I've made some recent posts about jointers, and almost pulled the trigger on a 6". Now I'm back to my senses and am looking at 8" jointers - Grizzly and Shop Fox clones of the Delta DJ20. My question is about assembly and future moving.

I see these units are listed at approx. 600 lbs and I know they come in two containers - cardboard for the base and a plywood box for the jointer unit. Let's assume I pick one up at a dealer or a freight depot and it gets loaded into the back of my pickup. Asside from hosting a block party, how does one get this beast out of the truck and into the shop? My first thought was to chain the heavy box to my front end loader and slowly lower it into my garage/shop.

Then, after the base is prepared, how does one lift the jointer up and on to the base? How much does the basic jointer unit weigh? Again, my first thought was to borrow a neighbor's engine hoist to get it up to the base.

And finally, we are thinking of moving in a few years and I wonder how to move such a heavy jointer. Trust a moving company, reverse assembly and self-move, sell it and buy a new one at the new location?

So far my biggest tools are a contractor's table saw and 16" floor drill press. Both are managable. I guess I just need some fodder to assure LOML this can be assembled and moved if the time comes.

[lou sansone]

well, I have lots of heavy machines and find that you have to use some type of hoist to move them around. this may consist of a lift gate to lower ( hoists also lower things as well as pick them up ) the unit to the floor, and then some over head type of hoist, or loader to lift the cutter head unit up and place it on top of the base. If you have looked at my shop it is pretty clear that if I were to move I would need an industrial rigging firm to move my equipment. That is just the penalty for having large machines. I am not sure how a regular household mover would handle your planned equipment, but I would think that 8" jointers would not be all that uncommon and many would just include it as part of the move.
best wishes

[Kevin Murdock]

Jeremy,

If your shop is not in the basement, you will be fine.

The cast iron top is heavy, but it's not THAT heavy.

I bought the Shopfox 8" W1741 about 6 months ago. Picked it up with my truck at the Klingspor dealer. They have a pallet jack and a loading dock and any shipping company or store will have the same, so getting it on the truck should be no problem.

What I did when I got home to my garage shop was assemble the base first. The top of the jointer base you'll find is quite close to the height of your tailgate on the truck.

So all I did was get my neighbor to give me a hand with picking up the jointer beds by a few inches on the truck and sliding it over the base parked up against the tailgate.

With this method, all you need is two people.

Hope this helps,
/Kevin

[Ken Garlock]

Hi Jeremy. I bought the Sunhill 8" jointer a couple years ago. It came packaged as you describe. What will help you is that the motor is mounted in the base cabinet. I could lift the cabinet/motor assembly, but just barely. It probably weighed in around 80 pounds.

The delivery truck had a lift gate, and the pallet jack moved the two parts into the garage.

When we were building, I bought a lift table from Northern Tool. That table was a big help.:) Here is what I did, attempt at your own risk.

Position the base cabinet where you want the jointer to reside.

Using a hydraulic automotive jack, I would lift one side the the jointer casting and slide a chunk of 2x6 under that side. Then I would move to the other side, and lift it and put a like chunk under that side. I would repeat the cycle until I had the the jointer lifted up enough to slide it on to the lift table. The table surface was about 8 inches off the ground.

With the jointer on the lift table, it was easy to move the jointer over beside the base cabinet and slide it on to the base. I used a towel to keep from scratching up the base as it was being positioned. To remove the towel, put your shoulder under one wing of the jointer and lift it enough to pull half the towel free, then go to the other end and finish pulling the towel free.

For getting the two crates out of your truck, I would just slide one end off the end of the truck and lower the end to the ground. You will want to enlist the help of a friend to lower the crates.

Also, when you place your order, ask about having the crates delivered to your shop with a lift gate truck. Some companies include that service in the cost of shipping. It is worth asking.:)

[Marty Barron]

Jeremy
I purchased a used 8" King Industrial ( Delta clone ) for less than the price of a new clone 6". I put the 8" jointer on it's side into my Honda Odyssey with the help of the person I bought it from. I had my 2 brothers come over and take it out of my van and put it in my garage. I later purchased a mobile base for the jointer and put the jointer up on wooden blocks. I had my wife slide the base under the jointer and move the blocks to allow the base to go under the jointer while I lifted one end of the jointer. The jointer went onto the mobile base no trouble at all. I did a similar process to put my General 350 cabinet saw and a router table into mobile bases.

The dealer may deliver your jointer assembled or you should go out to a hardware store and buy a hand cart rated for at least 800lbs. They should cost at the most $50. They are great to move around bags of lime, concrete blocks, bandsaws, drill presses, etc. The boxes can be unloaded from your truck with a couple of 2x4's as a ramp onto your hand cart and wheeled into your shop. You can use a engine hoist or a friend to help put the top onto the base which is already on a mobile base you would have just put together.

All your tools can me moved with you when you decide to move just supervise and help with the movement of your big tools. Depending on the condition of your driveway the mobile base might roll out of your shop onto the ramp of the truck. If not your could use one of their dollys or to be on the safe side build your own dolly with 4 - 4" 200lb capacity swivel wheels and 2 - 4" 200lb capacity fixed wheels. The dolly base can be made 36"x20" using scrap lumber and plywood putting the swivel wheels on each corner and the rigid wheels in center. Attach a strap for pulling and use a strap to keep your machine on your homemade dolly.

Hope this helps...

Marty

[Mark Marzluf]

Where there's a will..... there's a way.....

I had help loading this one into a trailer to get it home, but from there on it was up to little ole me.. I'm 5'8" and 180lbs. The jointer is 7' long and weighs 1200 Lbs... You do the math.

An engine hoist was my best friend.... Well..... and the fact that the jointer came apart into pieces. Still, there's a fulcrum, pulley, hoist, lever etc to do just about anything you set your mind to.

Oh..... and BTW, in the last pic - that's an 8" Grizzly sitting behind the beast. After working with this new one - that 8" was a piece of cake.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/791874/9102838/220129086.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/791874/9102838/220129123.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/791874/9102838/220129106.jpg

[Phil Harding]

I bought the Grizzly 8 inch jointer a few years ago. I had it delivered to my driveway on a truck with a lift gate. The driver helped me get it into the garage. I think it came in two cartons but I don't remember precisely. What I do remember is that I was able to bring it down a set of stairs and set it up in my basement shop with just the help of one friend. We brought the base with motor down first, set it up on a mobile base and then brought down the jointer and tables. It is heavy, but not so heavy that two healthy men can't handle it.

-- Phil

[David Kauffman]

Moved my 8 inch down the driveway using 1 inch dowels under the main pieces and moving the dowels from back as they exited to front again under unit untill destination. Then lowered down stairs by sliding down 2x12 10 ft long plank with chain going from unit to car bumper so the thing can't get away and crush the person guiding it down. Once in cellar, used chain driven engine hoist attached to joists above to lift high enough to put base under. Then use the roller (dowel) method to move to shop destination. Did same thing just yesterday moving my 15 inch planer down into shop. It's a lot of work, and goes slow, but wife and I (she is barely 110lbs) can handle large heavy equipment this way. We did this for the cabinet table saw and the Grizz metal lathe also among other things. Key is SLOW baby steps, stopping every minute to think and re-evaluate on the fly.

[Richard Keller]

One of the best investments I've made in the shop is a 1 ton chainfall. It's more than ample to move most machines (Won't pick up my new 18" planer/joiner though) The top of an 8" jointer isn't that heavy. I'm thinking 600 might be and over estimate. I think the DJ-20 is about 400 or so...

Richard.

[everett lowell]

I don't know what my 8'' weighs but it was a bear getting her down into my basement shop! I removed the motor, seperated the top from the base, and removed the infeed table, and slid the parts down a plank laid on the stairs with the help of my brother-in-law. The research I've done on this old girl leads me to belive she weighs about 6 or 7 hundred lbs. but I'm not sure. I hope I never have to take it back out!:eek:

[Dave Malen]

One of the best investments I've made in the shop is a 1 ton chainfall. It's more than ample to move most machines (Won't pick up my new 18" planer/joiner though) The top of an 8" jointer isn't that heavy. I'm thinking 600 might be and over estimate. I think the DJ-20 is about 400 or so...

Richard.

I have the DJ20 and it lives in my basement. We slid the top down the steps and then the base with motor. No problem. But when we sell the house the jointer is part of the deal:)

Dave

[Charlie Velasquez]

Second Mark's suggestion.
A foldable engine hoist solved an awful lot of my problems moving machinery. A cheap Harbor Freight hoist on sale for $129 with a 20% off coupon plus a couple of heavy duty straps would be an excellent investment.

It also came in handy when I needed to pull some annoying thorn bushes

[Cody Colston]

I've got a Grizzly 8" jointer. I picked it up at the freight yard and they loaded it onto my utility trailer. I backed the trailer right up to the shop door and started assembling the base. When it was ready for the cast iron top, my wife helped me set it onto a shop-built stand on casters. (the stand that my old 6" benchtop jointer sat on) We rolled it over to the base and again picked it up and set it in place.

Like someone said, it's heavy but not that heavy.

[Alan Greene]

My jointer, a Yorkcraft 8", was delivered to the house. It came as you said in two boxes. The driver had a lift-gate on the truck and even brought the crates into the garage ( i gave him a good tip). The bed was lifted onto the base with the aid of one neighbor. Just make sure you ask for the lift-gate delivery. One of the things that I liked about the Yorke were the built in wheels. It makes moving the jointer around quite easy.

[Jim Young]

I carried my DJ20 down into the basement with just one other person helping. It's really not that heavy and its very esay to carry. Now my 20" bandsaw was a different story.

[Michael Keating]

Hi Jeremy,

I recently got the G0586 and once it was loaded into the cargo van I was able to get it into the shop by myself. I backed the van in and shimmied it out and lowered it onto the ground. The only time I needed help in the entire process was getting the top of the jointer onto the top.

I really was not as bad as I thought. I guess with the long solid box it was not too bad.

Mike

[Steven Wilson]

Back your pickup to the garage door. Remove the box with the base in it. Place the base into the mobile base you also bought (you did get a mobil base). Now uncrate the jointer assembly in your truck and remove most of the packageing. Move the jointer assembly to the back of the truck (it will slide on cardboard). Now wheel your base assembly to the back of the truck. With you in the front and your helper (wife) in the back, lift the jointer assembly and place it on the base. Bolt the jointer onto the base and your all done. Simple.

[Seth Poorman]

One of the best investments I've made in the shop is a 1 ton chainfall. It's more than ample to move most machines (Won't pick up my new 18" planer/joiner though) The top of an 8" jointer isn't that heavy. I'm thinking 600 might be and over estimate. I think the DJ-20 is about 400 or so...

Richard.
Jeremy - Richard is correct, I have a Powermatic 8" and it doesnt weigh over 400pnds , about the only way a 8" Jointer would weigh 600pnds is if it had a cast iron base.....Like a Oliver, maybe..

[Dave Jackson]

Decided on the Shop fox W1741. The post above is right. I unloaded the base out of the truck and set it up. Add the wheel to the mobile base and remove/reinstall the motor in the right place. I then unpacked the jointer bed and slid it off the truck and onto the base. I was just barely able to do this myself, it's HEAVY. Get some help for this step if at all possible. The directions to assemble everything were in the plywood box the bed somes in, so you'll have to open that one first. Although less than a week old, I've been pleased with the Shop Fox thus far. After checking out several 8" models, the fact that most are made in the same overseas plant, (DJ20, Griz 0490 and SF 1741 at least) it came down to price and availiabilty. The DJ was $1600, griz was $938 incl. shipping and the SF was just under $800 cash and carry. The SF was the clear winner for me. Good luck in your search. --dave

[Mike Monroe]

I have the one of the 8" Grizzly jointers. I had the crate delivered to the dock at my work, the base and moter came in a separate smaller box. I used a hand lift to get the crate loaded on to my F-150. At home I removed the motor from the base and carried all the base parts down to my basement shop. I removed the fence from the jointer bed and carried that down. Then a neighbor came over and helped me carry the jointer bed down. We set the jointer bed assembley on a pair of saw horses. Later, after I had the base all assembled, my wife helped me set the jointer bed on the base.

Like just about everyone else has said, the 8" jointers are heavy but not that heavy.

-Mike

[Ron Bible]

Jeremy, I purchased an 8" jointer (Yorkcraft) weight is 550 lbs.
brought it home on dump trailer. The bed is about 3 feet high.
1st, I uncrated the table. (has castors)
2nd, took top off of box containing jointer bed...removed plastic.
3rd, slid box out and set one end on pavement.(on cardboard to prevent scratching.)
4th, grabbed top end of jointer bed and just stood it on its end, turned it ninety degrees, and (w/jointer stand next to it, carefully lowered it right onto the stand. Stand is just the right height that it goes on just right.
Then, you can position it and bolt it down and finish with the add ons...roll it to wherever. No problem doing this myself. Just to be safe, 2 people can be used to stand it on end and lower it.

[Lloyd McKinlay]

I used a come-a-long to unload and mount my 8" Grizzly. Needed some extra "oomph" getting the top out of the van (Ford decided that the catch for the back doors should be higher than the floor???????) and onto a cart.

To mount the top I used 2 ladders and 2 4x4's. Ladders on either side, lay the 4x4's across the top, wraped a piece of chain around the 4x4's for the come-a-long. Got a 4' piece of vinyl wraped cable ($3.50) for each side, and lifted the entire unit straight up. Move the cart away, roll the base under, and lower. Fairly simple one person operation.

[Jeffrey Schronce]

I think these posts have made it pretty clear on how to accomplish this task. The Grizzly and SF you mention have built in mobile bases. Simply uncrate and assemble the base. Another poster states they sat the bed on the base by themselves. I am a do it yourself guy and rarely depend on others for help when assembling/moving tools, but I highly recommend a second party when it comes to sitting the jointer bed on the base!

[Boyd Gathwright]

.... Here let me help you with your pic. That's a nice trailer you have too. Is it all aluminum ?

Nice iron.


55261

:)

.





Where there's a will..... there's a way.....

I had help loading this one into a trailer to get it home, but from there on it was up to little ole me.. I'm 5'8" and 180lbs. The jointer is 7' long and weighs 1200 Lbs... You do the math.

An engine hoist was my best friend.... Well..... and the fact that the jointer came apart into pieces. Still, there's a fulcrum, pulley, hoist, lever etc to do just about anything you set your mind to.

Oh..... and BTW, in the last pic - that's an 8" Grizzly sitting behind the beast. After working with this new one - that 8" was a piece of cake.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/791874/9102838/220129086.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/791874/9102838/220129123.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/791874/9102838/220129106.jpg