1340gt By Fedex To Its New Home

[Alan H.]

I received my new PM1340GT via Fedex Freight this week. I ordered it late Friday morning last week and picked it up at the terminal at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday! Many thanks to Matt and the good folks at QMT (Precision Matthews) for shipping it out the same day I ordered it. Yes, they seem to be focused on solid customer service.

I requested that I pick it up at the terminal and it was properly shipped and marked for that. Fedex loaded it into my trailer with ease. The crate was in good shape with only minor damage.

I got it home and moved my trailer into the garage. Recruited some help (my two sons who are big men) and away we went. We lifted it up off the trailer with a sling and set it on cribbing, jack stands, and a floor jack. We pulled the cover off the crate by removing all the lag bolts around the bottom and the top came off with ease. The lathe was stretch wrapped and my extras had been put into the crate made the trip very well and did no damage to the equipment. We unpacked the extras; removed the back splash, the tailstock and the motor reducing the weight somewhat; and did some preliminary cleanup in order to move the carriage.

We then moved the lathe on the engine hoist, still bolted to the pallet, and staged it to be pulled through the personnel door from the garage into shop. The shop floor is higher than the garage and of course the personnel door was not wide enough to accommodate the motor hoist. We got it started through the door, let it down on a floor jack and some 2x8 slides, and us three mules shoved and pulled it on through the door.

Once in the shop, we slid it across the shop to its resting spot until the stand comes. In the interim I will be working on the remainder of the clean up and the electrical. I did clean it up a bit before we moved it into the shop so I could move the carriage toward the headstock without plowing the cosmoline.

I thought I would share this in case someone might benefit from seeing what it looks like and how we moved it into the shop. I do have some french doors on the back of the shop but you have to travel the yard and grass quite a distance before you get to concrete. It is just not conducive to getting a trailer there without tearing the yard and landscaping up.

 

[tweinke]

Thanks for the pictures! Cant wait to see more once you get the stand.

 

[mksj]

I have always had good shipping success using Fedex, a bit more pricey, but usually gets there in one piece. Good you didn't get a heavier lathe, nice thing about the 1340GT is it is still manageable with an engine hoist. Looking real good, now the fun begins.

 

[Rich V]

Congratulations on getting a fine lathe, moving them can be fun. See my avatar, that's my 1340GT on it's way to my house in the background.

 

[Billh51]

Congrats on the new lathe, I'm sure your going to enjoy it. Seems like everyone who has one likes it. We need pics when it's up and running.

 

[tmarks11]

Just a suggestion for future purchases. A drop deck trailer from sunbelt rental is definitely worth the $85. I have a landscape trailer, but being able to use a pallet jack to get the machine directly off a trailer and not mess with an engine hoist is a huge benefit.

 

[davidpbest]

Or, you can always do it this way and test the lifting capacity of that import chain fall.

 

[sanddan]

That picture freaks me out.

I assume everything ended ok. I hope.

 

[Alan H.]

Tim,
Thanks for the photo on you retrieving your mill. For my situation with the lathe using the hoist was inevitable and pulling the crate off the trailer was quite easy. It does require a proper lifting strap and I have one that is about 20 feet long that I can double. My difficulty was getting the lathe thru the personnel door from the garage into my shop and the engine hoist was a necessity for that.

David, I had seen your photo before and it taught me to tag the headstock and tailstock end when lifting!

 

[davidpbest]

Yea, it all ended ok, but that headstock and apron make the lathe VERY top and front heavy - easy to get it up in the air and then have it start spinning out of control. Making a seat-swing board to go under the bedways with four points of connection outboard from the front & back of the machine would be a safer approach.