Moving a cabinet saw

[Tom Henderson2]

Greetings-

I'm new to SMC. I've been lurking for a little while and have learned a lot from all of you.

I'm hoping to purchase a cabinet saw in the near future -- hopefully a good-condition used Unisaw, PM66 or equivalent.

My biggest concern is moving the bloody thing. As you all know, they weigh 500 lb or often more.

At 52, my back isn't what it once was, and it is increasingly difficult to rustle up a passle of buddies to help out. So brute lifting is probably out of the picture.

I was wondering if any of you have any suggestions on how to proceed, or can discuss you you have moved similar machinery.

I can rent a lift-gate truck, if necessary. My shop/garage has a straight and fairly level driveway.

Thanks in advance!

Tom H.
Ventura, CA

[Rob Bodenschatz]

I moved my PM2000 from my basement to my new workshop using one of those $75 hand trucks from the borg and two other strong guys. We took it up a moderately steep hill over grass. Probably could've done it with two but it was easier with three.

Moving it on a driveway should be no problem using one of those hand trucks.


EDIT: Should have mentioned that there were no stairways involved in the move. We have a walkout basement.

[Tom Henderson2]

Thanks Rob.

So you were able to just tilt the saw back onto the hand truck, like moving a refrigerator? Sounds too easy....

-Tom H.

[Dan Oliphant]

Tom welcome to the creek, like you, I am a member of the over 50 club also so when I located my Bridgewood cabinet T/S into position (by myself) I rented a small forklift from the local rental outfit. They brought it to the house, off loaded it and then picked it up a few hours later.

[Rob Bodenschatz]

Yup, tilt it back & roll away. You need to be careful but it's definitely do-able.

[Curt Harms]

I can relate to the back issues:(. I moved a G1023 to my basement several years ago. I had one buddy helping but could have done it by myself. This was a new saw. I took it out of the carton, removed the motor, the wings of course were not attached, and I removed the top. If You remove the top, you'll probably find spacers between the top and cabinet. Keep track of which ones go where. This is important on reassembly so the saw blade stays parallel to the miter slots as it's tilted. Best guess on the weights- motor about 60 lbs. center top section 80-100 lbs. wings 70 lbs. I could pick up the cabinet with trunnions & mechanism without much difficulty. A unisaw or PM66 might very well be heavier, but taking 200-300 lbs. off sure can't hurt. One of the beauties of the cabinet saw is that it's pretty easy to align which you'll want to do anyway. Might as well make it easy and put it on a mobile base if required. I also put link belts on. I know there are differing opinions on using link belts on multi-belt drives but I can't imagine a much smoother running saw and no startup "bangs" like I've heard about on other cabinet saws.

HTH

Curt

[Greg Funk]

I never disassemble. Get yourself a couple of 2x10s and some 3/4 or 1" pipes 3' long. You should be able to slide the tablesaw down the 2x10s onto your driveway. Once it's on the driveway tilt one side and place a pipe under the middle of the saw. Now you have the saw balanced on a pipe and it will roll quite easily. As you roll it along you can add another pipe at the front of the saw. When you want to turn it you just kick one of the pipes so it is on an angle and the saw will turn. It is helpful to have another person during this process but there really isn't any heavy lifiting involved.

Greg

[Tom Henderson2]

I want to thank everybody for their ideas.

One big issue is how to get it up onto the truck. I can rent a lift-gate truck if I have to, but that is significant additional expense.... so I was wondering if any of you had been able to get a cabinet saw up into the bed of a pickup truck...

Also, I have a good feeling for how the fence and tables attach, and those should be easy to remove. How tough is removing the top for somebody that has never seen it done before?

[Jim Becker]

Tom, the top is only held on by four bolts. Easy to remove and install. However, as previously mentioned, many cabinet saws have shims that are used to fine tune the alignment of the table relative to the arbor plane so that it cuts accurately when moved to bevel...they look like washers but are not washers. If you do remove the top be sure to note the exact location for any shims and keep them separated so the exact ones go back in the exact same corner(s) upon re-installation.

[Don Bullock]

...I can rent a lift-gate truck if I have to, but that is significant additional expense...

Have you checked the rental places? When I was checking into buying me SS I thought of renting a truck with a liftgate. Here the rental companies will only rent their liftgate equipped trucks to businesses. I suspect it's a matter of liability. Companies have liability insurance for their employees that individuals usually don't have. I opted to pay an extra $50 to have the saw delivered and placed in my garage. The actual bill (the dealer picked up the extra) was $195. That still would have been better than renting a truck and trying to do everything myself. Perhaps you could check into using a delevery company loke the dealer where I bought my SS uses. It wouldn't hurt to ask some of the places that sell machines who they use for their deliveries.

[Jim Becker]

Along the lines of Don's suggestion...check out any local piano movers. ;)

[Tom Henderson2]

Hi Don-
I should have mentioned that this is a used saw, currently in a private residence. So moving is up to me.

Liftgate trucks are available for rent in this area, but are expensive; probably $150 for this trip.

One thought was to just move the saw up to the back of a pickup, and "roll" the saw into the bed of the truck, onto its back. But that seems a bit risky... one slip and people get hurt and/or the saw ruined.

-Tom H.

[glenn bradley]

Thanks Rob.

So you were able to just tilt the saw back onto the hand truck, like moving a refrigerator? Sounds too easy....

-Tom H.

My saw is around 400lbs packed. I was able to move it with a dolly. I was not able to tilt it back by myself (I weight about 155lbs) but once tilted it was deceptivly easy to move. Take great care as it will seem easy until it starts to go where you don't want it to. I needed help to ease it back onto its feet without a bang as well.

[Steven Wilson]

American style cabinet saws are fairly light. I would take the wings off and then rent a single axle utility trailer. I have one with a long gate so the angle to the ground is fairly low and it's very easy to move machinery with. To move it you can use a couple of dollies (use a pry bar to lift the saw and place dolly underneath) and then a come a long to winch the machine onto the trailer. Getting it onto a pickup truck would require a bunch of lifting and probably requie removing the top. If you have access to pallets and a pallet jack I would lift the saw onto a pallet, bolt the cabinet to the pallet, and then use a pallet jack to move the saw around.

[Brent Dowell]

I recently did exactly what you are talking about. I moved my G1023z from California to Reno Solo.

I pulled the rails for the rip fence off, but that was all.

I used a heavy duty appliance dolly. Strapped that to the back of the saw. Took one of those 4 wheel caster dollies and strapped that to the top of the appliance dolly. Set up my ATV style ramps on the back of the truck and wheeled the saw up to that.

Ran a chain across the bed of the truck from the two front corners. Hooked a comealong to the middle of the chain. Ran the loose end of the come along to the saw. As I tightened up on the come along, the saw tilted quit gently on to the ramp, then rode up the ramp into the truck. I set the saw back upright and used some ratchet straps to tie it down.

Once I got to the destination, I actually didn't use the comealong at all. Just pushed it to the ramp and held on while it slid (sort of rapidly :eek:) to the ground. Just kidding, it wasn't that bad at all.

I figure I can get my air compressed moved the same way, but I have no idea how to get my gun safe into the back of the truck...

[M Toupin]

Tom,
An appliance dolly will move the saw with no problem. You can make it easier to move by pulling rails and wings, I'd leave the top on myself. At that point you have just a compact box to move. To get it into a tuck bed you can just flip it onto it's top on the tailgate of your truck as long as your tuck isn't jacked way up. Pulling the motor would make it lighter also, but it's a bit of a pain to get out an even more to get back in! Another option is a couple of 2X12s for a ramp and roll it up into the bed. Not the best way, but doable. Probably the easiest is a small trailer, the smaller ones are fairly low to the ground, a tilting bed trailer is even easier. I've moved uni's with all the above and even just 4 guys and and brute strength (not recommended:)). The tilting trailer is the easiest, both on and off, but the others are doable.

Mike

[Luciano Burtini]

I want to thank everybody for their ideas.
so I was wondering if any of you had been able to get a cabinet saw up into the bed of a pickup truck...



Leave the top on, remove the fence, back up to the saw with the tailgate down. Two guys flip the saw over onto the table and into the back of the truck. Very easy, done it several times with no problems. The added advantage to travelling with the saw upside down is that it is now stable - all of the weight is near the top of the saw. Good idea to have a sheet of plywood in the box of the truck to provide some protection to the table.

Should have taken a picture I suppose :cool:

[[Looks like I just repeated some of Mikes suggestions above.]]

[Dave MacArthur]

Tom,
I recently bought and moved a used Powermatic 66 40 miles across Phoenix, did it 100% by myself, and didn't even strain a muscle. Here is what I did:
1. Bought a "shop crane" from Harbor Freight. The 1 ton version is fine, and it happens to be on sale Jun 1-3 for $99! It has foldable legs and can be stored against a wall, OR PLACED IN YOUR PICKUP... which I did.
2. Rented a U-Haul Motorcycle trailer for 20$.
3. Drove to guy's house with crane in pickup, folded up on it's side and trailer.
4. Oh yeah, also bought a 10' chain with hooks at HF for 7$. I wrapped this around the PM66 under both extension wings.
5. Hook up the crane, hand pump the thing up a foot, and roll it on the mobile shop crane (4 wheels...) with very light pressure over to the motorcycle trailer, and lower it on. You MIGHT be able to lift the thing high enough to just place the 400 poundish saw in your pickup bed!
6. Drive home.
7. Reverse process.

Another good point is that I use the crane to make my PM66 "mobile", and get the great stability of no base and firmly sitting on the floor. Takes 3 min to hook it up and move it around if needed.

Good luck!

[Greg Narozniak]

When we moved houses, I moved my own shop equipment and I rented a Yellow Box truck witha power lift gate and it was as simple as rolling the saw onto the gate and hitting the switch. very simple and worth every penny.

[Dave MacArthur]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=67828&d=1184229640


Sorry to resurrect old thread, just adding picture showing shop crane use... I refer to this thread so often when folks ask about moving band saws and table saws, decided to beef it up as "the source thread" ;)

Hmm... I can upload a picture from my computer fine, but I CAN NOT figure out how to link to a picture already on the site, and have it show up... just get the URL :(

[Gerry Grzadzinski]

I know this is old, but I moved my Unisaw by myself, and only removed the fence rail. I backed my pickup to the garage door. Placed a sheet of plywood or mdf on the floor, up against the base of the saw. Grab the extension wing, and tilt the saw and spin it up on to the sheet. Then just tilt it and "walk" it over to the tailgate. I have a Dakota RT, and the tailgate is pretty low. As the saw is top heavy, I tipped it so the extension wing was resting on the tailgate. Then just pick up the bottom, and swing it into the truck. Most of the weight is resting on the tailgate, so it's pretty easy to do. If you don't have a bedliner, a sheet of wood in the truck would be helpful to slide it in.

[Tom Welch]

Put the table saw on a low trailer to haul home, slide it to the rear, remove the wings and use the bolt holes to rig up slings. Pick up with a shop crane. I picked this one up at harbor freight on sale for $125. Then you can set it on a couple of 2 X 4's and push it to where you want to set it, and raise it up again, remove the 2 X 4's and lower it to it's final resting place or lower it on to a mobile base. My shop fox base fit under the legs of the crane no problem. I have used this method for a Delta shaper, Original Saw radial arm saw, Jet deluxe Xtasaw, even used it to hold my jet air cleaner up close to the ceiling to hook up the chains to the ceiling hooks. One man show. :)

[Dave Cav]

Leave the top on, remove the fence, back up to the saw with the tailgate down. Two guys flip the saw over onto the table and into the back of the truck. Very easy, done it several times with no problems. The added advantage to travelling with the saw upside down is that it is now stable - all of the weight is near the top of the saw. Good idea to have a sheet of plywood in the box of the truck to provide some protection to the table.

Should have taken a picture I suppose :cool:

[[Looks like I just repeated some of Mikes suggestions above.]]

One more vote for this method. A HD shaper can also be moved the same way. I would remove the extension wings and rip fence rails, and would consider removing the motor (only requires removing one pin on a Unisaw). When this is done one person can flip it upside down onto the table. A blanket on the truck bed helps. I just moved a shaper this way.

[Carl Beckett]

Another thought, depending on whats available, is to move it under a beam/tree and lift it in the air with a come-along, then back the truck under it.

Choose your tree/beam/other structure wisely, but this has worked for me on occassion. (since I own comealongs, but not a fork/engine/other lift.

[Will Rowland]

Last year I moved a Unisaw and was able to rent a drop bed trailer from Lowes for $60. The entire bed of the trailer lowers all the way to the ground using a battery powered hydraulic set-up. It worked like a charm...I was able to just roll the saw (on it's mobile base) on and off with little effort.

[glen pickren]

Enclosed cargo trailer with ramp door. If on mobile base just roll it up the ramp and tie it with straps inside. If no mobile base, use furniture mover's dolly ($14 @ Harbor Freight). Tilt saw and slide dolly underneath. Roll into trailer. If trailer has e-tracks or similar tie downs you can strap saw with it still on dolly to make it easy to unload.

On unload it is a good idea to have an assistant as the saw is hard to control by yourself rolling down the ramp. I use a rope with my wife belaying it. Worked very easy.

Did the same thing with a floor stand drill press.

[Philip Rodriquez]

I moved a few years ago and I had to move it all myself. The heavy stuff included a 700lb ICS SawStop, a 1,000 lb Jointer, and a 350 lb shaper.

Since a truck with a lift-gate is expensive, I suggest renting an engine hoist. A rental place should have one of the tow-behind models for you. You can rent them for $40 bucks a day in my area (Denver). They have a higher capacity than the HF models, a much larger reach, and they are easier to move around.

If they only have the smaller one, it will work for you. I just onloaded a 1,100 lb granite inspection plate, a few weeks ago, using one. How is that for an assembly table!

[Alan Lightstone]

(snip)... a 1,000 lb Jointer...


1,000 lb jointer!!!!!!!!!!!:eek::eek::eek:

What size cut does that behemoth take???

I like the idea of the engine hoist personally. I installed a HF hoist on the ceiling of my shop. It helped immensely with placing my jointer/planer, band saw and table saw on their bases. Pretty cheap too, but they won't help you with your initial loading.

Lowes doesn't rent trucks by me anymore. Just HD. That cost them a bunch of business recently.

Who rents engine hoists?

[Van Huskey]

1,000 lb jointer!!!!!!!!!!!:eek::eek::eek:

What size cut does that behemoth take???



Probably 12", for reference the "new" Oliver 12" weighs around 1,500 pounds and the 16" is in the ton weight class. 12" jointers with a modern amount of steel (not all cast) are usually in the 850-1100 pound range.

For engine hoist rental most equipment rental places carry them. BUT if you compare the rental costs one of the cheap HF hoists may be worth it over the long haul.

[Philip Rodriquez]

It is an older 10" Griz, with a SC. The entire thing is cast iron with an 84" bed. :D

[Jerome Hanby]

I rented a 16' truck with a lift gate when I moved my shop and used that to transport the equipment. For actually moving stuff around and getting it placed, it's hard to beat that folding crane from HF. I borrowed my Dad's and I'm not anxious to give it back!

[Jon van der Linden]

I moved a few years ago and I had to move it all myself. The heavy stuff included a 700lb ICS SawStop, a 1,000 lb Jointer, and a 350 lb shaper.

Since a truck with a lift-gate is expensive, I suggest renting an engine hoist. A rental place should have one of the tow-behind models for you. You can rent them for $40 bucks a day in my area (Denver). They have a higher capacity than the HF models, a much larger reach, and they are easier to move around.

If they only have the smaller one, it will work for you. I just onloaded a 1,100 lb granite inspection plate, a few weeks ago, using one. How is that for an assembly table!


I would not move most equipment with a hoist. $40 for a hoist or $50 for a large liftgate, I'd go with the gate. Most woodworking machines aren't designed for a hoist and don't have good places to attach anything for hoisting. You can permanently damage a machine this way. Lifting by the tables is a really really bad mistake on a jointer.

Best ways to move things involve pallets to bolt the machine to and provide easy access for forklifts and pallet jacks. Using pipe rollers and a lever is a good cheap way to move machines as long as they don't need to be lifted over anything. Small pipe, 1" or less is best - on a hard surface larger rollers can allow too much speed.

With smaller saws like the Unisaw it's also easy to tilt it into a pcikup truck, flipping it upside down (using the top as a lever and lifting from the bottom) onto the truck bed. I knew a guy that used one of these on jobsites and that's how he did it.

Anyway, most of these machines are pretty light, less than 2,000 lbs, so moving them isn't much of an issue unless there are special problems or lack of experience. Trying to save money on moving is not a good idea, you risk the machine, yourself, and possibly others.

[Philip Rodriquez]

As I purchased each piece, I used my dad’s engine hoist to unload them out of my truck. It is an easy, safe, one-man operation. I suggested the tow-behind engine hoist because they are easier to move around and you do not have to take the whole thing apart to transport them. To me, the convenience is worth a few extra bucks.

To give you an idea, the stationary tools included:
ICS SawStop (700 lbs)
18" BS (250-300 lbs)
15" Planer (300 -400 lbs)
10" Jointer (1,000 lbs)
3 HP Shaper (300-400 lbs)
Perfomax 16/32

To move my entire shop, I rented a huge truck (26 feet) with a lift-gate. For one day, the truck ran me over 300 bucks...

All of my larger tools, including my jointer, are on mobile bases. In the case of the jointer, it would not roll up on the gate. As a result, I used my dad's engine hoist to lift it on to the gate. Fortunately, the jointer has lifting hooks attached to the front and rear!


The posters question was about moving a TS, cheaply. As a result, renting a lift-gate truck is not the best way to go. Even if it only took him a few hours, it would likely add $100 to $200 bucks on to the price.

[Steven DeMars]

http://www.rolalift.com/

You can rent these . . .

Steve:)

[Jon van der Linden]

[FONT=Arial]To give you an idea, the stationary tools included:
ICS SawStop (700 lbs)
18" BS (250-300 lbs)
15" Planer (300 -400 lbs)
10" Jointer (1,000 lbs)
3 HP Shaper (300-400 lbs)
Perfomax 16/32

To move my entire shop, I rented a huge truck (26 feet) with a lift-gate. For one day, the truck ran me over 300 bucks...

All of my larger tools, including my jointer, are on mobile bases. In the case of the jointer, it would not roll up on the gate. As a result, I used my dad's engine hoist to lift it on to the gate. Fortunately, the jointer has lifting hooks attached to the front and rear!


The posters question was about moving a TS, cheaply. As a result, renting a lift-gate truck is not the best way to go. Even if it only took him a few hours, it would likely add $100 to $200 bucks on to the price.

As far as the OP goes, I think he moved his stuff back in 2007. Several of us have written about how you can move a small TS like Unisaw, Powermatic, Sawstop and similar lightweight saws by tipping it into a pickup truck, no cost other than a pickup truck.

I have no idea where you're getting the $100-$200 for a liftgate from. I've rented many trucks, and what you want is called a rail gate. It's still only about $50. (I won't rule out that it might be more elsewhere, but you're just making up prices.) It's larger than the standard liftgate. It has the added benefit that it doesn't tilt as much as the smaller gates, which means less chance of things rolling, sliding, tilting, etc.

Simple fact, with those small machines you mention, liftgate requires nothing extra, it only takes seconds to get a machine on and off of there. Using a hoist will add a LOT of time. If you're moving large machines you can't even use a box truck like that because the tie downs are part of the walls, which are flimsy.

There are certainly things for which an engine hoist is very useful, but for moving machines it would not be my first or even second choice.

[fRED mCnEILL]

Check out moving companies that move vending machines. Although I move most of my own machines when I run into a situation I can't handle (like moving a 700lb coke machine up two flights of stairs) I call the moving guy. Call a local vending supplier and ask them who they use. They have all the right equipment to move heavy things like your table saw. They will place it EXACTLY where you want it and they are not too expensive.
Good luck
\
Fred.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Tom - do you know anyone with any sort of utility trailer? I have a 6x10 trailer, and it's so easy to roll things on/off using a handtruck because it's so low compared to the bed of a pickup. I bought a new TS and found getting it off the trailer was a piece of cake.

[Pat Turner]

I've moved a DJ-20, Unisaw, 20" planer, and 14" bandsaw into my shop by myself. All were in the bed of my pickup. I just used a set of 2x12 ramps (Northern Tool and Mcmaster sell the kits- they are made in the USA and a single bent piece of steel at the top, and heavy rubber at the bottom) Worked fine- I later changed to a 2x14 LVL (not 2" nominal- 2" actual) that is 12' longer to reduce the angle.

I wouldn't be above deflating the rear tire to drop the bed another 4-6" if needed. On an 8' bed you can put the front wheels on ramps also.

The only thing I couldn't do my myself is the drill press (took the head off for safety) or the milling machine. The band saw was a bit touchy- I strapped it to the hand truck. I'd rather move a 1000 lb load that I can think through then deal with a 300 lb top heavy drill press.

[Paul Ryan]

If you have access to a pickup and 1 buddy that is all you need. Well maybe a case of beer too. Loading into the truck is the worst. Took 4 guys to load a cabinet saw in to the back of a pickup, only takes 2 guys and 2 2X10's to unload. Slide it to the back of the pickup on to the 2x10 which are now ramps, and slide it down. It is really simple no need for a cherry picker or anything like that. you can use that method with a trailer as well. I have used that method to unload 3 cabinet saws. 2 jointers, a band saw, 15" planer, drill press, and other equipment.

[Mike Kelsey]

Bucket Forks :D

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5244/5203170370_5208833445_s.jpg


http://www.flickr.com/photos/55994897@N02/5203170370/ http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4092/5203170238_173bf84822_s.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55994897@N02/5203170238/

[Mike Forsman]

I used the engine host and a flat bed trailer when I moved a 12" jointer I purchased a few years ago. (see this thread http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=82049).

I considered a truck with a lift gate, but most lift gates I had seen were a good 4" to 6" above the ground when they were all the way down. I was not sure how I was going to get the jointer from the ground to the lift gate.

I did some internet research and determined that the engine host would be the best way to lift that much weight. I have a pickup truck, but I was concerned about how high I would need to lift the equipment to get it into the truck (I was concerned about a lift strap breaking and the resulting damage it would do to a person if they did not get out of the way fast enough).

I determined that the combination of engine host and flat bed trailer would be the best approach. Once I got the jointer off of the trailer, I was able to lower it almost to the ground with the engine host and then move the jointer using the host to the garage/shop door. From there, I used 1" iron pipe under the jointer to move it around the shop.

All told, I believe that it was only about $100 to rent the engine host and the trailer for a day.