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Thread: How do you move heavy equipment in your shop?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    140

    How do you move heavy equipment in your shop?

    Happy New Year to all --

    I'm still planning my shop upgrade, and while one piece of equipment has a mobility kit option, the rest do not.

    Long ago, I built a custom dolly for my drill press, but that's nowhere near as large and heavy as what's coming. I'd need mobility for the following pieces of equipment:



    • band saw, 550 lbs (can probably find a 3rd party solution for this, as the footprint is not that large)



    • jointer, 1,000 lbs (won't be moved often)



    • planer ~500lbs (potentially moved more often, i.e. might be stored against a wall, and placed in the middle of the shop when needed and/or only for long pieces)


    I have various outlets around the shop, but might not be thrilled with my initial equipment layout, hence my curiosity about moving all pieces of equipment, even if only very rarely.

    The main area of the shop is about 11.5 ft wide and 38 ft long, and the floor is concrete (it needs some repair work which I'll get to when the weather is warmer). The layer of concrete is quite thin, about 1/2" or so. Underneath that are stones (this shed is circa 1860). I realize that moving heavy equipment around this ancient floor might lay waste to that thin concrete, but am not interested in addressing the floor at this time.

    Have considered a shop crane or something like that, but then I'd need a place to put it when not in use. That's possible, but the less stuff I have around the shop, the better. Also, seems from my brief research that the wheels of a shop crane might not be great on old unlevel concrete with "character". Also concerned about being able to get under the equipment, as the legs look pretty long on this thing:

    https://www.harborfreight.com/2-ton-...ane-69514.html

    Have considered casters directly attached to the equipment as well. I've tried Zambus on my current workbench base, and they work ok. Not so easy to get to the back legs, and I think that with full machine weight, it would be difficult/impossible to raise.

    https://www.zambus.com/products/aplc-700f.html

    https://www.zambus.com/products/alct-1000f.html

    Definitely cannot connect anything overhead, as timbers are quite old/fragile.

    Curious how others have solved these problems.

    Thanks in advance --

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Mt Pleasant SC
    Posts
    721
    I moved my 17 inch bandsaw on two small furniture dollies and just left it on them. The wheels were soft enough to stay in place plus with 8 wheels all turned in different directions it’s basically stuck in place. Tip it over and get one started, 2nd person keeps holding it while you tip it back to get the 2nd dolly under then adjust with a mallet. Probably safer with 3 people.

  3. #3
    My 36 inch drum sander has 6 inch swivel wheels under it . Moves around shop very easily. I would think that would work well for a planer or bandsaw also.
    Check surplus center.com They have a large assortment and reasonable prices.
    I think a 1000 lb jointer on 1/2 inch of concrete would be be best set in place gently and left there

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    Waterford, PA
    Posts
    1,224
    Bqndsaw and drill press I move only rarely and can "walk" them or I use an appliance dolly. Sanders, table saw, lathe and J/P are on casters/mobility kits.

  5. #5
    I brought my sawstop home in a utility trailer behind my convertible. I slid it out onto a mobile base I made for it. When the base needed adjustment, I walked it over onto the crate it came on. Then when the base was ready, I walked it back. By walked I mean I tilted it over slightly to get a corner up then pivoted it to get it to move.

    Earlier this year I got my bandsaw which weighs about 300 lbs. I brought it home in the back of my pickup. I attached the base to the frame of the saw and slid it out of the bed of my pickup onto it's feet. Then I walked it to the position I wanted it in the shop.

    Your equipment is heavier and I would have been smarter to have a second person handy. You definitely need at least one helper. I borrowed my son's engine lift, like the one you linked, as my backup plan. Those things only lift what they are rated when the load is very close to the hydraulic bottle that lifts the load. With the arm fully extended their rating is much lower, I think it is 500 lbs for the unit you linked. The normal use of that tool is to lift engines out of cars. That is what my son uses it for. They are then rolled around shops or garages. It is suitable IMHO for what you need to do as long as you can rig it up to keep the length of the arm such that you stay within the tools rating. I didn't use it on the bandsaw because walking it worked fine and I struggled trying to figure out how to hook the lift to the saw. On shorter things it should work well if you can get close enough so it doesn't get overloaded.

    You can also lift things to get something like a mobile base under it by tilting it, putting a board under it, tilting up on the board and putting a thicker board on the other side and repeating this until you get to the height you want. The risk is like walking the tool, if you tilt it too far you can loose control.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    NE OH
    Posts
    2,612
    All my heavy stuff is on some kind of mobility kit, either home made or purchased. I have a 2 ton electric hoist supported by a steel beam in my basement. When I get new stuff, I move it under the hoist with furniture dollies or appliance dolly or two wheel dolly, depending on shape and weight. The hoist is used to stand up stuff like the bandsaw or table saw, and then lift it high enough to get the mobility kit under it. Then I wheel it where it goes. The hoist was only a couple hundred bucks. It's very slow, but for me that's a good thing because sudden movement of heavy stuff can get exciting. And of course I never let any part of any one get under whatever is being lifted. It lacks the mobility of a shop crane, but takes up no space and you don't have the legs to deal with.
    --I had my patience tested. I'm negative--

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    140
    Thanks very much to all who replied --

    I thoroughly enjoyed watching this master of moving heavy machinery:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJeoaW2Zbhg

  8. #8
    All my heavy stuff (like a 4,000# Crescent P24 planer) is bolted to either 4x4s or 6x6s. I lift and move them with a pallet jack. If you floor is not level, you can drill/insert threaded rod coupling nuts in each corner and thread carriage bolts with the rounded head contacting the floor through a hockey puck. I use 3/4-10 x 4" long bolts.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    San Francisco, CA
    Posts
    10,301
    Johnson bar. Look it up.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    E TN, near Knoxville
    Posts
    12,298
    Sawstop makes an excellent mobile base for their industrial saw, the best I've seen. Will support 1000 lbs, keeps the weight on the floor until a couple of toe presses hydraulically lifts it. High quality castors. Could easily be adapted to a heavy bandsaw. I could measure or you could check the specs with Sawstop to see if footprint would work with other machines. I bought one for a milling machine. https://www.sawstop.com/table-saws/b...-saw-mobility/ Not cheap in quality or cost.

    JKJ

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Tampa Bay, FL
    Posts
    3,885
    Upon Felder's recommendation, I bought a narrow pallet jack from U-Line. Moves most things great.

    That being said, I hired professional riggers to initially place the huge equipment in place. They were great, no issues. They initially lifted the equipment up on the raised access floor with a forklift, then fine tuned them with the pallet jack and a Johnson bar (just picked one of those up from Northern Tool last week too.)

    As John said, that Sawstop ICS mobile base is excellent. But I'm using it on an ICS, so not sure how adaptable it is for other equipment. It has a very low piece of steel surrounding it, so getting under it to lift it up with a pallet jack I think would be impossible. But you might be able to rig a way to lift something heavy onto it.
    Last edited by Alan Lightstone; 01-06-2021 at 8:53 AM.
    - After I ask a stranger if I can pet their dog and they say yes, I like to respond, "I'll keep that in mind" and walk off
    - It's above my pay grade. Mongo only pawn in game of life.

  12. #12
    Two words: PALLET JACK

    Erik
    Ex-SCM and Felder rep

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,638
    Quote Originally Posted by Erik Loza View Post
    Two words: PALLET JACK
    That's what I used to adjust the position of my slider a few years ago when I cut back the right-size table...a rental. I also used one when I took delivery of it originally. I don't own one currently and have no place to store it in my current shop, but I'd get one if a future shop was larger.
    -----

    OP, I don't move my major machines unless it's absolutely necessary. My J/P has a mobility kit built in and it only gets move if I have to do major maintenance, like when I replaced a belt this past year. My bandsaw hasn't moved more than an inch or two since I bought it. But if I was in the situation where I really did need to have mobility for large tools, it would either be with a pallet jack like Erik mentions or high-quality mobility kits meant for the specific machine that can be totally locked down and provide for leveling...floors are rarely perfectly flat.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Hayes, Virginia
    Posts
    14,759
    I agree with the pallet jack. Most of my machines have wheels but I use my mini pallet jack for every move because its easier to navigate any machine with the jack. I don't have hardly any space left but I can easily park the pallet jack under about three different machines until I need it which is often. Yard machines and tractor implements I can deliver to the door of my shop and them handle them with the jack.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Ned Otter View Post
    The main area of the shop is about 11.5 ft wide and 38 ft long, and the floor is concrete (it needs some repair work which I'll get to when the weather is warmer). The layer of concrete is quite thin, about 1/2" or so. Underneath that are stones (this shed is circa 1860). I realize that moving heavy equipment around this ancient floor might lay waste to that thin concrete, but am not interested in addressing the floor at this time.
    IMO you should reconsider that. Such heavy machines. It sounds like you are trying to drive them over a bed of crackers. It might be the ideal time to have a wooden floor put in.

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