moving the 5000lb engine lathe

[john_bud]

I would put the lathe in it's final position AFTER pouring a pad. Even just a small pad only for the lathe. If you don't the lathe WILL SINK into the ground and will TWIST. Machining accuracy will suffer.

Lathes want to sit on flat dead level pads.

 

[Taylortractornut]

I have a 50 Hyster lift its solid tired with the 24 inch wheels its drives well on gravel and will go across dirt if its dry, a 50 is rated at 5000 pounds but ive picked up about 6. I think the top of my mast when retractracted is only7 foot. On the floor When I was a about 17 in machine shop classes at high school I worked part time for an old man that built sawmill part and he had all dirt and stone floors with a concreete pad under each machine. Then late he moved up to a different shop with all concrete floors. When I was 20 I bought a nice old Lehmann lathe from a truck shop that didnt know how to use it thought it wouldnt work. I gave 800 for it and hauled it home it was around 14000 pounds. took a 690 Deere excavator my brother had to unload it on its tippy toes with the tailstock removed. we set it int the fron door on machinery rollers and took the 3000 Yanmar and my old Ford hoe to push it int place then turned the rollers and put it to the wall.

 

[jinman]

Just a thought. . . . The 3-wheel lifts they call "tag-alongs" that are hauled around on the backs of flatbeds, and used to deliver drywall and pallets of lumber to jobsites, will lift about 6,000 lb. They are very maneuverable with the rear wheel steering. In tight quarters, I don't think they can be beat.

 

[flusher]

say you wanted to upgrade to a larger lathe for your machine shop on your farm.

say you found a Leblond 19x54 for $4k with tooling, and phase converter for 220v.

say the only place you have to put it is your current pole barn/machine shop which features (not by my choice) a gravel floor.

How would you move it?

My FEL is woefully short in lifting capacity, my 3pt comes up short in lifting capacity. A heavy duty engine hoist MIGHT lift it, but youd never roll it anywere on gravel floor.

I COULD get a larger 100hp tractor from a neighbor, but maneuvering such a size tractor around the shop to place it is near on impossible. (30x30 area)

a forklift is how its normally done, but most "indoor" forklifts have MASSIVE PSI forces for the front wheels, especially when lifting upwards of 5k. and would likely not work well on gravel floor.

most every way i know to move something this small weighing this much is usually all centered around a surface like concrete. airbag cushions, hockey pucks, tank treads.

I suppose the only good option is Egyptian style? 6" fence posts and a couple of breaking bars?

You're right about the Egyptian style.

I would jack up one end and slip a 4" dia thick wall pipe under the lathe. Then hire your local car hauling guy who has a rig with a big winch. Then drag the lathe out of your shop with the winch while putting pipes under it as it moves forward.

 

[DanD78]

You have been given several good ideas and the two best are Pour concrete first and hire someone to move it. We moved a 27 x 96 American lathe a couple of years ago and learned a lot. We took the gear head off the bed and the tail stock off. The head alone is the size of a diesel engine and the tail stock weighed at least 500lb. Just getting the head on the trailer we almost upset a carry deck crane. To load the bed we paid a guy from a septic tank company to bring his wheel loader with forks to finish loading the bed. We learned enough loading that we knew we needed more than we had at the shop. We hired another guy with a larger cat loader with forks to unload the lathe bed first then set the head on the bed. You need concrete under the machine so you can level it and keep it from falling over. A couple of gantry cranes would help move it around. In your case I think I would hire a rigging contractor with a heavy duty fork lift to set it where you want it. They should be insured so it they do drop it you are covered. We have used a roll back to move other machine tools. A good operator can set the machine pretty close to where you want it. I can give you a number for a guy in Sullivan IL. that we use to move machines. He has the equipment and expirence. LeBlond makes some sweet running lathes. It should give you years of service.

Good luck and don't drop it.

Dan

 

[scgargoyle]

I bought a huge old lathe at an auction once for $100. I took it all apart, loaded it on my trailer with an engine hoist, and brought it home in several trips. Just the bed casting was about the max for my hoist. It also gave me an opportunity to clean the thing up somewhat. It took me ALL DAY!

 

[theonlybull]

we bought an old 26" rail road lathe from the turn of the century, looks about like the ones in the pics. except older lol

we loaded it with a massy50 backhoe, and hard to break it down as far as we could for him to even budge it. at home, we installed an axle built from a set of ton truck rear spindles, and a hitch on the other end, that we hooked to our yard crane. moved it in and out of the shop as we needed.

in the end, it has moved across the road to our paint shop, then down a rather steep hill to our current plate shop. after we finish our next addition, it will be moved back up to the corner of our paint shop.. 5000 lbs really isn't that much to move. only about what my pickup weigh's

 

[Eagleview]

Remembering they are made of cast iron , putting it down on even a slightly irregular surface may result in it emitting a sickening sound . I would put it on a flat surface out of the road and cover it with a tarp . Get the shed floor done and then fork it in .

 

[GLyford]

Boom wreckers can usually do a pick-and-place, and likely to be cheaper than a rigger.

 

[Scooby074]

Lathes can be very tricky to move. They can be really top heavy. Look on the net, there's lots of stories of people getting their new pride and joy home only to drop it on its side when moving it in.

My recommendation is to pour the slab, or at least pour in the area that you want to put the lathe out to the front door. Then you can move the machine with equipment rollers. It will be alot safer and on top of that the lathe should be placed on a solid surface. Id worry about uneven settling putting that weight on gravel.