Lathe moving question?

H

hecksf

Guest
So lets say that I get a lathe. How do I get it home and get it into the place were I need it?
I don't think I have enough friends who still trust me enough to show up to move a 2500 lb piece of equipment around. At least not after the infamous gun safe operation and that thing only weighed about 600 lbs

What is the normal procedure for this??

Ted
 
If it really weighs 2500 pounds I'd pay a rigger to move it. Once its on your concrete floor you can roll it on pipes. You will still need help and a good plan.
 
You can always hire a rigging company to move it for you if you can't get someone to help you. Most tow trucks would be happy to help you unload it from a trailer if you can have someone with a forklift load it for you. Once you have it inside the door of your shop, a several pieces of pipe is all you need to roll it into place.
 
Moving a lathe would sorta depend on what type it is and if it can be dissassembled into sorta managable sized bits. If so, a car engine crane orta
do the job,that is if its not a real big one. You would only be getting one about 1 metre between centre's ? 2500 lb . What size ?
 
I have moved my own heavy lathes and milling machine ON MY OWN. So I know what is involved.
However in all honesty and with due respect , if you could not move a measily 600lb safe , safely , then don't attempt a 2500lb lathe.
Unless you have all the right lifting gear it is not worth the risk to your safety or the machine.
A small lathe that weighs say 1500lb is a much easier task to take on.
 
I appreciate the replies. I have never moved anything quite that big.
I was guessing on the weight of the machine as the ones that people talk about on this forum seem to weight between about 1200 and 2500 lbs.

A 600lb safe may seem measly to you but up untill then the toughest thing I had ever done in my life was carry a 95 lb rucksack up the Hidu Kush mountains with another 40 lbs of webgear to an altitude of about 13,000 ft. And all the guys with me just had an AK, 2 spare magazines and a bottle of water on a string. Heck I thought something as easy as that was going to kill me so how scared do you think I would be of something really tough like moving a piece of precision equipment into my garage.

Man I was there to move that safe and I am telling you it was a wrestling match. Once the safe was off the truck it was easy to move through the garage and into the house. But the plan was to put it into a closet under the stairwell which only has a 1/2 door about 3.5 feet high. So we had to lay it down on its back and then slide it into the room and turn it 90 degrees as it was going through the door on its back, and then only 2 guys could fit into the room bending over and they had to lift it and move it at the same time as they rotated it into position. SO it was difficult and I don't think the guys who helped will show up to move a lathe. And one of them is me.
We wound up rolling it on golf balls. But lifting it back up was tough.

I suppose I will hire a rigging company. The recommendation to use pipes to role it seems good. I wasn't really sure how to lift it out of a flatbed or trailer and I just wasn't sure how delicate these things are and how much jostling they can take. This is all new ground for me and I'm not normally the adventurous sort.

Don that was a good link. Thanks
Thanks
Ted
 
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How I moved mine . .

They have it right, if it is too heavy for a Engine Lift, get a rigger to do it, you have a lot invested in it, don't ruin it, you mess up the bed and you now have a large Boat Anchor. The motor went out on mine the other day and I had to move it away from the wall to get to the motor. It only weighs about 1200# or so, heavier than I remembered it for sure. I picked it up with a car jack and put 1/4" steel pins under the feet, on the other end I put a bottle jack in the middle and took the weight off the rear feet, then just rolled it out to get access. Pic. attached. . . At one time in my life I worked for a machinery mover, they use what they call Mice and a fork lift to move them around with, but small round pins will work just as easy if you don't have to go far with it. If there is any length to move it, put something under it that will allow you to move it on 1/2" pipes, rolls so easy it isn't even a joke then . . .

Phantom
 

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Wow, that brought back memories - doing the survival shuffle up the flank of Chimborazo with a mere 70 Lbs, and Popocatepetl, Orizaba, Ranier, etc. No AKs there but the balance between hypoxia and motion was just as exquisite.
Speaking of balance, I just slid a porky little Hardinge DV59 off of a flat bed trailer and into a ground level shop (Thursday) by myself using a jack, tree felling wedges, 2x4s and 2x10s, sawdust as a lubricant, levers, and the obligatory black pipe. It just takes time and some care. That said, another guy nearby was nearly killed when his lathe jumped on him. It would have killed him had his son not been able to lever enough of the weight off of him to keep him alive until the calvary came. If you've got help, it'd be a good idea to enlist it - I'm just stubborn.
 
Something like your 600lb safe might be a bigger job to move than a lathe. The footprint is so small it can't be tilted too far. I moved a 61 Monarch and also a #2 Cinncinnati mill on a single axel industrial tilt trailer by myself. Not at the same time of course since either one will go over 4 Ton. About 20 mile of back roads. A tilt bed truck works good also. Kenny
 
I sure appreciate all of the advice and encouragement. After I started to think about everything that could go wrong I started rethinking the idea of getting a lathe. But you guys have be back on track.
Ted

PS do you think an average garage floor is thick enough for a 1500-2000 lb lathe?
THis is an attached garage and the house is built on a monolithic slab.
 
STARTED TO RETHINK THE IDEA OF GETTING A LATHE :eek::eek::eek:
You would be sorry, now lets not speak of doubt again.
 
having some rigging experience...meant i kinda knew what i wanted to do. my lathe is about 1200 lbs. since you are gonna be playing with the lathe to learn and get is set up..invest heavily in 1" round stock....2-3' long, tho sometimes 1' will work/help. a sturdy hand truck can be a ton(lol) of help.

a serious quanity of rope, heavy nylon web, a come-a-long.

think about what you are doing, go slow, leave room to wire.

let it settle for a while before trying to level.

(set it on a thick partial sheet of plywood, with a carpet of golf balls...it will go almost anywhere.)

mike in co
 
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Using chains, we lowered the 16"x 8' bed South Bend out of the pickup and onto 4x4s, anchored with lag screws. The tapered ends helped as we pushed it into the garage. [with the tractor] Then inserted pipes under the 4x4s and rolled into place.
 
I should have took some photos as I loaded and crated a 3700lb Lathe by my self with the help of a my receiver mounted 9000lb winch and a 3 ton floor jack. A Lathe is one hell of a dead weight !!!. I had to snatch-block it to get the tug I needed to drag it on skids up the trailer. In short it took 18,000lb of tug just to load a 3700lb lathe.
 
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For just moving one around in a shop, a pallet jack is very handy. slide it under the bed and block up. You can move a 4,000 lb lathe around the shop in seconds by yourself. The bases/feet are just a fraction of an inch off the floor. if you fell anything funny going on you can set it down instantly.
 
Went to Lowes...

I think it was some 6x4 pinewood. Made two cross beams about three feet long. Attach four 3" rollers/casters rated at 300lbs.
I selected the swivelling wheels for all wheels and made sure all wheels could rotate 360 without touching the other wheels.
Four wheels on one beam two on the other.
Used a pallet jack to raise the lathe bases above the height of the beam and wheels. Made sure the wheels were centered and perpendicular as much as possible. The four wheels go under the base that supports the headstock.
The 6x4 is then bolted to the bolt-holes that the lathe feet attach to.
Once the second beam is placed squarely under the tailstock end I then ran two 4x2's lengthwise and bolted them down to the cross beams so that no movement could be made easily. Attaching on the outside ends of the cross beams.
Used the pallet jack to slowly lower the bases onto the ground.
You then have a 1500lb 12x36 lathe on wheels. Two guys can easily move it then. If you have three guys then rolling it on to a lowered deck trailer is a piece of cake.
Reverse the process when you are locating the lathe at its new home.
Be very aware the Lathe in this configuration is in a tippy state so move slowly.
This way worked perfect for me.
Use common sense and go carefully.
:)
 
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Gentleman, would you believe that reading this thread is actually very entertaining.

Con
 
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