Dilemma - I have to lift a 20 inch thickness planer.

[David Masters]

+1 on Thomas Hotchkin's suggestion. I had to replace the wheels on a used Grizzly 15 inch planer last year and used a simple level to lift the corners of the planer, then blocked the corners with some scrap oak I had in the garage. From there, the casters could be removed and the wheels replaced. For the lever, I think I used a long crowbar and a narrow block of wood.

[Mark Bolton]

The OP has reported a history of poor results with prior methods.
He'll likely be working alone, and attempting to raise it higher than he has before.

While it can be done with nothing more than a J-bar and railroad ties,
he can't be close enough to slide cribbing under - securely while hoisting.

For the first few inches, this presents little risk.
Once the center of gravity is raised above the center of rotation,
he's at risk to tip the works over, or have it slide off any platform.

The suggestion to use four car jacks isn't frivolous, it works and is stable over a longer period of time.
That, and it the load rating of most car jacks is far in excess of a 20" four poster.

It would be trivial to turn a few screws, and inch at a time until the base could be rolled out from under.

It's too easy to bulldog something like this into scrap metal and trip to the ER.

Risk of a tip over? Good gosh. The lifting handles (which is what you would crib off off) are 16" off the floor. The center of gravity would allow you to cant the machine at a steep angle (wouldn't be necessary) with zero risk of tipping.

We are not talking about jacking up a lighthouse here dude. Lol.

In perhaps 15 minutes I could stack two crib'ing piles on the left and right of my planer a bit shorter than the lift handles. Lay a 4x across the top of the piles, rock the planer back with a pry bar and wedge it. Repeat on the other side. And the planer would be hanging, from the factory handles, with the base a couple inches off the floor. If I wanted it higher simply bar, wedge, re-crib.

It's not cape canaveral. These planers are not that heavy.

I've crib'd an 1800lb, 9' slider, this way several times. Alone.

10 fingers, 10 toes, 20+ in construction, and never a single trip to the ER for an on the job injury. But there's always a first.. ;-)

[Phil Thien]

I'd go with Thomas' suggestion and creative use of blocks and a solid crowbar will allow you on your own to get the base out from under your machine. Visit a few metalworking forums and search for machine moving. It is no big deal to move a 1000 pounds on your own, just be safe. I have two metalworking machines in my basement that are both over 1500 pounds and I moved them in there myself with no special equipment.

This. You'd be amazed to watch installers of like super-large printing presses and other sorts of industrial machines using nothing but large bars and blocks. If they move it, they use pipes. It goes faster than you'd think and is probably a heckuva lot safer than using any sort of hoist.

What they can't move with bars, pipes, and blocks, is moved with a crane.

[Chris Fournier]

This. You'd be amazed to watch installers of like super-large printing presses and other sorts of industrial machines using nothing but large bars and blocks. If they move it, they use pipes. It goes faster than you'd think and is probably a heckuva lot safer than using any sort of hoist.

What they can't move with bars, pipes, and blocks, is moved with a crane.

By crowbar I mean Gransfor, see Lee Valley and go for 36". I bought one 15 years ago and it has paid for itself three times over.

A long time ago I moved an industrial sized Czech 36" bandsaw with a crow bar, pallet cart and black pipe. This machine had to have a hole cut in the floor to clear the lower drive wheel and the thing weighed 5000lbs according to the specs. I moved it by myself. No super human feat I can assure you. My boss said I could do it and he was right.

Woodworkers make a huge deal out of moving light weight machinery. No need!

[Gordon Eyre]

By crowbar I mean Gransfor, see Lee Valley and go for 36". I bought one 15 years ago and it has paid for itself three times over.

A long time ago I moved an industrial sized Czech 36" bandsaw with a crow bar, pallet cart and black pipe. This machine had to have a hole cut in the floor to clear the lower drive wheel and the thing weighed 5000lbs according to the specs. I moved it by myself. No super human feat I can assure you. My boss said I could do it and he was right.

Woodworkers make a huge deal out of moving light weight machinery. No need!

Chris, if I were going to ask a friend over to help you would be the man.

[Andy Pratt]

People have also done this sort of thing in a pinch by building a 2x4 frame around the tool and using good quality clamps to lift the machine up and inch or two and set it back down. If you need more lift you do it in stages. I've never done this myself but I've read at least one post on here with pictures of a guy doing it on a table saw. It was years back or I would try to find it to link it.

Not the easiest option I"m sure, but you might be able to do this for $20 vs some of the other methods. An engine hoist would be pretty handy in general if you have the space for it though.

[Mike Cozad]

Might want to give Larry Edgerton a shout to borrow his new magnet...

[Chris Fournier]

Chris, if I were going to ask a friend over to help you would be the man.

My friend has a Minimax 5 operation combo machined he recently moved to a home where it had to go in the basement. We cut the jointer planer off of it, tore it apart, machined up some new attachment components, moved it all down stairs and rebuilt the machine. No small task but no hardship either.

Now when I ask my friend for a favorite he's gonna be in trouble!