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.

[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.

[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.

[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.