Transport

[Robert Bonenfant]

It also depends on how crazy your trying to go - A trailer would be a good option for a 4'x4' machine. You can pickup from most major trucking terminals (Pre Covid - Several do not allow it anymore) You can go that route & Call ahead. Grab a box truck from Penske with a lift Gate & you should be good to go. Most Moving box trucks have a ramp available as well if you dont want to spend $500 +, But its very limited on Size & Weight. Moved our First UV Printer this way.
If your looking at a larger machine than a tow motor would be a great option, We had a heavy lift tow motor brought in & it cost us $800 for two days. Well worth the peace of mind when dealing with heavy equipment & Ensuring no one gets hurt.
You can also try to work with a local shipper & See if its possible to uncrate your machine on there site - This was possible before Covid now many places are more strict on onsite visitors.
I would find the best route and make sure to not cheap out on this part - The worst thing to do is to damage a brand new machine dragging it off a truck or having someone get hurt.

[Jim Becker]

A trailer would be a good option for a 4'x4' machine.

Don't assume that as it depends upon the size of the crate if it's a fully assembled machine...see my photos up above for my 4x4 Camaster delivery. The only way I could have picket that up from the terminal with my 5'x8' utility trailer would have been to construct blocking to raise the crate up above the wheel wells as it was wider than 5'. Also, I would have had to make a 2 hour, 30 minute drive (each way) to the trucking terminal that got the last leg for the LTL.

[richard newman]

About the forklift rental idea - will they rent to someone with no prior forklift experience? And is this really a good idea? There's gotta be a learning curve to operating one, not sure I'd want to get my education on a new cnc. This from someone with no experience, am I being over cautious here?

[Ron Selzer]

About the forklift rental idea - will they rent to someone with no prior forklift experience? And is this really a good idea? There's gotta be a learning curve to operating one, not sure I'd want to get my education on a new cnc. This from someone with no experience, am I being over cautious here?

yes there is a learning curve, not something to get on and go
I hired a local lawn care company to unload a wide belt sander out of the back of my pickup and put it in the garage, $75 for 2 men and a skid steer, would do it the same way again
I can and do run a skid steer, forklift, loaders, etc. Sometimes it is cheaper and better to hire someone to do things for you.
ron

[Mark Bolton]

Don't assume that as it depends upon the size of the crate if it's a fully assembled machine...see my photos up above for my 4x4 Camaster delivery. The only way I could have picket that up from the terminal with my 5'x8' utility trailer would have been to construct blocking to raise the crate up above the wheel wells as it was wider than 5'. Also, I would have had to make a 2 hour, 30 minute drive (each way) to the trucking terminal that got the last leg for the LTL.

And with any traier/rollback option you have all the issues of your time/weather/scheduling and so on. Leaving something sit on the dock while you coordinate with mother nature, the tow company, and so on is that much more exposure to a fork-stab and so on. A lot of factors at play given time of year and size of machine. Vic never mention's the size of the machine but if its anything that's not fully boxed if you get caught in a weather pinch (even if its boxed) it'd be no fun. A smaller machine like yours wouldnt be bad to protect.

We do the rollback option occasionally with loads of hardwood. Its a handy option for sure but for anything a bit larger the ease of just picking the machine up, moving it in, scooting it around, shift it 6" left, 12" forward, the lift is well worth it.

Our machine came on a truck loaded front to back with machines in the delivery order so there was no option for leaving it at a terminal. It had to come off when the truck was there or the driver couldn't go on.

[Vic Sinai]

Thanks everyone. I guess the size of my machine will depend on how I finally choose to get it to the door and the help I can get. Thing is I would pay any one, any reasonable amount to do it. I just can't find a lot of takers. Got some quotes from rigging companies ranging from 1200-2000 just to get it the last few miles. Now, I have that kind of money but I didn't get it by spending it that way. You've heard the saying "a fool and his money." There are some small machines from Camaster and ShopSabre that can be delivered to my door, but it just seems like a shame to spend that kind of money, even for the smaller machines, when just a little more can get you a bigger platform. Thanks again everyone.

[Jim Becker]

Vic, you just have to be realistic about what you can handle yourself and what you really need to leave to others, combined with the nature of your delivery location. I absolutely agree with you about going bigger if you can both fund and fit it. You can easily cut little things on a big machine, but the opposite can be, um...quite difficult. I love my 4x4, but regret not finding a way to squeeze the 4x8 in at this point for only a few thousand more investment.

[Vic Sinai]

Words to live by. Thanks

[Keith Outten]

A lot of good advice in this thread. In the end it all gets down to your set of conditions, your capability and your financial situation. Safety is the last but not the least consideration, make the best choice you can that fits your needs.

I now have a tractor with a set of forks that will lift 1400 pounds but it has to have a suitable counterweight on the rear of the tractor to lift more then 800 pounds safely. Seems to me that even when I purchase a machine or tool to do a particular job there is always a secondary decision to make

[Mark Bolton]

I now have a tractor with a set of forks that will lift 1400 pounds but it has to have a suitable counterweight on the rear of the tractor to lift more then 800 pounds safely

Same here with about the same capacity but even with the backhoe on the machine I am always cautious pushing all that weight on the front end. They are spendy to fix when you go a bit too far. I unloaded a 12x36 metal lathe a bit back and had to pick it from the top (lifting strap over the forks slung around the bed). It was a hair raiser to say the least. Was not at all in the fun column.

[Vic Sinai]

Once again, Thank you all.

[Mark Bolton]

Thanks everyone. I guess the size of my machine will depend on how I finally choose to get it to the door and the help I can get. Thing is I would pay any one, any reasonable amount to do it. I just can't find a lot of takers. Got some quotes from rigging companies ranging from 1200-2000 just to get it the last few miles. Now, I have that kind of money but I didn't get it by spending it that way. You've heard the saying "a fool and his money." There are some small machines from Camaster and ShopSabre that can be delivered to my door, but it just seems like a shame to spend that kind of money, even for the smaller machines, when just a little more can get you a bigger platform. Thanks again everyone.

I personally would never go the rigging company option unless it was a monster (super heavy/large format) and super expensive, not that any large'ish format machine isnt expensive. There are a lot of factors at play with any option. All can work, all can fail. The local landscape crew can drop your machine and walk away unscathed leaving you with a pile of headache on the ground. Or you may not have access to one. Or in your area roll-backs may command $180/hr not the 85 we pay, etc..

With regards to the fork truck rental, yes, they will rent. As with anything, if your not comfortable with the option than its not the best option for you.

With that, As long as you can get a machine that has long enough forks, and with the capacity of your machine (even a small lift is capable of far more weight than most large non industrial machines), level ground, its not really an issue.

Our machine (60"x100" 10HP spindle), like I said, crated, I would guess somewhere over 2K lbs was gravy and we even had to fork it off on the long axis (y) with 7' forks and it was in the shop wired and making moves in 4 hours. Not bragging but its not that big a deal.

Would I move a big Biesse/Weeke/Ondsrud etc? No. But at that level I would be budgeting for rigging and a factory tech to set the machine up entirely. The machines in this conversation so far are honestly less setup than a table saw because they are so rigid.