moving a bandsaw

[gaston harris]

New to the creek and had some questions about moving a bandsaw. Found a used LT16HD for sale and if the guy doesn't change his mind -sounds like he's having trouble letting go of his baby- I'll pick it up tonight. I have a pick up and a 4x8 trailer that sits about 1.5' off the ground but I'm not sure if I should use the trailer with the saw on its spine or somehow lay the saw on its spine in the bed of the truck.
Thanks for any input
GC

[glenn bradley]

Upright if at all possible. Grizzly (for example) makes you sign a waiver if you pick up your BS from their location and want to transport it on it's spine (and that's packed in a crate). Seems like it should be OK but I have always been warned off. Just my .02.

[Kirk Poore]

Yes, move it upright. Take off the table so the trunnions aren't stressed by the bouncing. Bolt it to the floor if possible. Use lots of straps in any case.

I moved my 30" saw from South Carolina to St Louis in the upright position without incident, although I also took off the upper wheel assembly.

Kirk

[Gene O. Carpenter]

Gaston,
I haven't been Saw Mill Creek'er for very long myself but I have moved quite a few pieces of machinery in my 72 years so I would like to wish you luck in your acquisition of this band saw and make a suggestion on moving it from his place to yours, no matter what the distance.

Since the Trunions are the most unforgiving part on any BS, the 1st thing that I would do would be to remove the table including the 2 knobs,2 washers and 2 bolts and place it in the cab of your truck!:confused:

Don't worry it will fall right back in the same position it was in prior to removal!

This will remove any possibility of bumping the table which could break the Trunions or the Trun Supt Brkt and also remove any tendency to grasp said table to move or lift the saw which could also cause them to break. Then lower the upper blade guide to cover the blade so you don't get a nasty surprise!:rolleyes: Been there, done that :mad:

I would fold a blanket and lay it on the bed of your vehicle and lay the saw down on it's back or spine and then secure it from the 4 corners of the vehicles bed. This will remove any "sail area" caused by the upright saw which would be quite noticeable in a crosswind situation! If the trip is long and bumpy I would support the top wheel housing and as a last precaution in case of rain have a tarp to cover it with. :cool:

[Jacob Reverb]

When I bought my 18" Rikon, Woodcraft told me to tie the crate down in my pickup bed with the saw on its spine.

Then again, the crate was over 7' tall and I had to haul it across the 18-mile-long Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel! :eek:

[Jim Becker]

You can safely move a Euro style saw on it's spine. It's easier to lash it down that way and the center of gravity stays low, too.

[Pete Bradley]

Band saws tend to be very topheavy to move around, so be careful. Removing the motor helps with weight, but makes the machine more topheavy. As others have mentioned, remove the table and be careful of the trunnions and trunnion bracket as a break will spoil your day.

Pete

[Ken Garlock]

You can safely move a Euro style saw on it's spine. It's easier to lash it down that way and the center of gravity stays low, too.

Jim is correct. When I picked up my MM-16 from the Mini Max people at a wood show, the salesman and I scooted it into my pickem-up. We tipped it back against the tailgate, lifted up the bottom and slid it into the truck on its back. I had some scrap carpet that it laid on and some bungy cords kept it from sliding around the truck bed. The saw also had the mobile base attached which did most of the balancing.

Enjoy your new toy.

[Richard M. Wolfe]

I recently changeed locations for my old Delta bandsaw - from my backyard shop to a larger one. It's about three miles out and we just loaded it onto a utility trailer and kept it upright and strapped down from many angles and it made the trip fine.

[Mike Heidrick]

I move a MM20 recently with recomendations from SMC and Woodnet members.

Took the table off.

Boxed in the saw base with 4X4s

Straped the spine to each corner of the trailer individually with 4 big 10,000lb straps from Sams club

Moved it about 100 miles.

[Greg Cole]

When I took delivery on my Euro style BS, I moved it in a pick up laid on it's spine. I took some extra time to brace up the saw in the crate to keep it from shifting & strapped the hell out of the crate.
Made it home just fine. And moving it from the bed of the truck to the ground was done by myself and my 6 year old boy (ok he was more my eyes that muscles). A couple of 2x4's for a ramp and slid it down & stood it up. Viola.

Greg

[gaston harris]

Thanks for all the info thus far - what a great resource this is. Still haven't heard from the guy selling the saw but I'm still hoping to have a saw tonight. Let you know how it goes. Thanks for the info!

[Barry Reade]

This is a great thread. i am to pick up my new grizzly G0514x2 at the freight terminal in two weeks and then get it home to the shop. Every machine has idiosyncrasies when transporting. It is good to hear from those that have transported a big Band saw and what to look out for. Thank You to all that contributed to this thread

[Jim Knishka]

I bought and picked up a used mm16 about three weeks ago. I rented a 4x8 covered uhaul trailer, and put cardboard on the floor overhanging the tailgate. We leaned the saw back and slid it in. I brought along some old 2x8's and placed them parallel to the spine, then cut blocking to wedge the saw in the middle of the trailer (cut just long enough that I had to step down on them to get them flat). Added some bungies and it never moved on the 200 mile ride home.

This is my first attempt at pic's hope they work! By the way, I had looked at Jim Becker's pics of helping Robert Tarr in December of 04 - very helpful planning my move. Thanks Jim!

[Rob Will]

As others have stated: "remove the table on any bandsaw before moving".

For big cast iron bandsaws I would probably move them standing up on a trailer, bolted to the floor, and with lots of straps.

For smaller saws with a straight spine you can lay them down on some sort of pad in the back of a truck or on a trailer.

I prefer 16' tandem axle trailers because they are longer / more stable and bounce less than single axle (8' or so) trailers. Any trailer will be easier to load and unload than a truck because of the lower bed height.

Good luck,

Rob

[Jim Becker]

Rob, good advice on using the longer trailer for the attributes you state. That said, many of us would get into GVW issues with something that large! Folks with SUV and crossover type vehicles are typically limited in that respect.