Getting the new knee mill off the pallet

[Pcmaker]

I ordered a Precision Matthes 835S knee mill and it's about 1400 lbs. I paid the extra 50 bucks for liftgate delivery. They'll wheel the crate into my garage. The problem is lifting the pallet so I can unbolt the mill and somehow get the pallet from below the mill. I have 2 weeks to figure this out. I have an 1 ton Harbor Freight engine hoist at my disposal. The legs of the engine hoist is V-shaped and cannot go into the mill because the pallet is too wide.

Any tips? I gotta get the engine hoist in, so I can hook it up to the eye bolt to lift

 

[Mitch Alsup]

My 1200 pound knee mill was lag bolted to the pallet from the top where the bolts were accessible.
We also use an engine hoist to lift and manouver the mill.

 

[benmychree]

Could you use a saw to partially cut the pallet away to allow the hoist to fit in?

 

[lis2323]

IF the truck with lift gate can back up to your garage door...

have the driver place the pallet with mill on the gate and lower within a foot of ground level WITHOUT the pallet jack.

Slide your engine lift under the tailgate. Pick up assembly. Hopefully wheel carefully into position. Unbolt shipping pallet. Lower to floor.



This of course is totally dependent on unloading close to your shop area on a level stable surface.

I am fortunate to have forklifts on the farm..

Good luck

 

[Danegineering]

A couple 6x6’s under the legs on the hoist to raise it above the height of the pallet. Lift the mill, and slide out the pallet. This assumes the legs on your hoist are longer than the pallet of course.


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[tq60]

Buy or borrow a pallet jack and leave it bolted to the pallet.

Real easy to move it that way.

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[addertooth]

A 1 ton engine hoist can only lift it with the boom in the shortest position. You have to use a 2 ton hoist to lift 1400 pounds with the boom at partial extension. I know this, as I have the 1 ton version. It is also possible the "V" of the legs won't open wide enough to get around the pallet. This may be where a pallet jack may help you out.

 

[hman]

I recently got a PM825S delivered to my house by liftgate truck. I had the driver leave the mill at the street end of the driveway. Don't recall if he offered to roll it to the shop (75 feet away), but no problem. I'd bought a (Craigslist, ~$150)) pallet jack in anticipation a couple weeks earlier, so I was able to move it into the shop myself. Once it was uncrated and in the shop (still lag screwed to the pallet), I was able to plan for the legs/feet. After I'd bought the steel & feet, then drilled & tapped the steel, I asked a neighbor with a backhoe to help. He lifted the mill off the pallet for me, I attached the steel bars, and moved the mill into place using the pallet jack. I bought feet with long stems, so I'd be able to raise the steel bars high enough to get the pallet jack in. Once in place, I lowered the feet nearly all the way (with a bit of fudge factor to level the mill). The whole adventure is shown in post #51 at

Base Feet for a Bridgeport

Randy That was almost 5 years ago, and I can't really remember what I did yesterday. LOL My mill is a Taiwan made clone of a Bridgeport, may even be made in the same factory that made the later models, but the supplier is one that deals only with industry, they do not have anything there that...

www.hobby-machinist.com

I gave my neighbor two nice bottles of wine as a thank-you. Don't have any idea how I could have lifted the mill off the pallet otherwise. I do have a 2 ton engine hoist, but its reach is nowhere near hight enough to have lifted the mill! Hope you can find a helpful neighbor!

 

[Stefants]

I built a gantry to lift mine for this purpose. A few 2x6’s, some bracing, a ratchet strap to hold the legs from spreading. The geometry kept it from wanting to fall over. Worked very nicely.

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[Masterjuggler]

I built a gantry to lift mine for this purpose. A few 2x6’s, some bracing, a ratchet strap to hold the legs from spreading. The geometry kept it from wanting to fall over. Worked very nicely.

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I'm definitely saving this for future use, I love it.