moving the 5000lb engine lathe

[swines]

You're outside of St. Louis. There has to be at least 5 or more firms that specialize in moving machine tools. If you can get the lathe to your location, spend the money and have a professional move it into place and level it.

A rigger who's experienced in moving machine tools can get it off of a trailer and into place in less than 30 minutes if he doesn't have to wiggle it through small doorways and around other tools. Having owned a machine shop and had tools move on numerous occassions - having a qualified rigger move a tool is worth the money.

A very good friend of mine regularly moved machine tools (up to large 5-axis machines) - because the machine shop he worked at had forklifts and swivel plate roller dollies. A swivel plate roller dollie kit is about $1400 - you can probably get a rigger to move it into place for less than $500 - and level it.

The advice about pouring a slab for it is right on - if you don't put it on a slab, you'll risk damaging the lathe.

 

[schmism]

hmmmmmm

based on feed back i may wait for the next one and move forward with the concrete.

 

[Airic]

I think you need to consult this guy, pretty amazing. I think he can move anything and without a tractor.

The J-Walk Blog: Moving Big Rocks

 

[jmc]

Apologies for going slightly off topic but you may regret putting a nice lathe in a gravel floored building. You will always have a coat of abrasive gravel grit on your ways, only to be ground in when you move the carriage or tailstock. Assuming you keep rust preventer on it because of condensation and moisture that comes up from the bare ground, the grit will stick to the rust preventer making it difficult to wipe or blow off. Just sayin'.

John

 

[tomd999]

Hiya,

Well, I could tell you how I moved the last lathe I bought but I don't think it would help much, it was a 4x18" Craftsman Atlas, weighed about 60 Lbs....

Tom

 

[Diamondpilot]

Do not put it on gravel. Wait till you get the concrete in and them move it. We moved one, it was a vertical mill, probably weight 10,000# or more for a neighbor. We use 1" pipes and come-along's plus my tractor. Rolled really easy with a come-along.

Like others said all these machines are really top heavy so be careful.

Chris

 

[3RRL]

Steve,
I just got through moving my big lathe to my new barn/shop. In fact I moved all my machinery.
I was lucky, I have a fork lift at my Rancho home and loaded the lathe on the trailer myself. It was all it could handle. I took the lathe up to the property and lucky for me, the construction guys still had their Gradeall there. I borrowed it to get the lathe off the trailer because everything is dirt. I used the Gradeall to place the lathe into the barn. But my barn has a 6" to 8" concrete floor. The next week I took the fork lift up on the trailer. It was all it could handle too. When I unloaded the fork lift at the property, into the barn, I used it to place my lathe. My 5,000lb capacity fork lift barley lifts the lathe. It's wheels are too small for dirt or gravel and sink in.

My suggestion is to concrete your work shop first or you will be pulling your hair.
Not just now but later too. First, your lathe needs a super good concrete floor so you can level it and it will remain steady and stable under load as it's used. I've seen pits dug out for much larger machinery so the floor under some was like 3 feet thick just so the machine could remain steady, stable and repeat. Second is that once you have the concrete floor in, your options for moving it will be multi-fold. And in case you don't choose the right spot the first time, you can move it again. I've used pipe and a good pry bar many times to move machinery by myself. Not easy but surely about a hundred times better than trying it on gravel.

You could try the plywood thing but I'm telling you I drove my forklift onto 3/4" plywood over dirt.
The fork lift weight alone caused the front tires to go right through it. I couldn't believe it. Even loading it onto the trailer I put another 3/4" sheet of plywood down which supported the tires. I drove it off the trailer and onto a naked 2 x 6 and cracked it. Now add a 5 or 6 thousand pound lathe onto that forklift and you could have a problem.
Just my 2 cents...
Rob-

 

[Treemonkey1000]

If you had the spare change and lived near Seattle this little rig would work for you. The bid right now is $3100 at a place called Bidadoo auctions.Bed Length: 12'
Bed Width: 6
Hitch: 2-5/16" ball, coupler type
Adjustable tongue height
G.V.W.R.: 9,690 lbs
Curb Weight: 2,700 lbs
Payload/Capacity: 7,000 lbs
Hydraulic lift Bed
D-Rings: 6
Tires: 8-14.5 good condition
Tandem Axel
Suspension: leaf spring
Wiring: 4-way; end is cut not functional
Color: Green
Onboard Battery Charger
Quad electric drum brakes

 

[J_J]

Among-st the many good methods of moving things, let me offer this simple way of moving heavy items. Have you ever watched the mobile home people move a mobile home, and slide the two halves together. It's really very simple. A 6 in channel of steel is laid down, and a 4 X 4 is greased on top surface and laid inside the channel. Then another 6 in channel steel is laid on top of the 4 x 4, flat side up. The top piece of channel will slide with the mobile home. They then place hydraulic jacks between the trailer frame and the steel channel, jack it up and slide it into place. They push it by hand. I have also moved a trailer by myself using this method. . So, if you could install two rails like tracks, and do the wood and steel thing it just might work. You could make this as long as you want.

 

[jdmar]

Rob,
I am jealous...you got all the toys pal!

Peter