Lifting a lathe with an engine hoist.....?

All of the above. I moved my 10L SB pedestal mount machine with an engine lift and the lift straps behind the lead screw. On that machine, the CG is right about where the headstock ends. Other machines will be different depending on bed length and numerous other factors. Point is, pay attention to the longitudinal axis of the machine. I ended up running a couple of light straps from the headstock end ,up around the lifting hook a couple of times and then back down to the tailstock end. In my case, the one at the headstock end was doing some work since the machine was trying to tip over endwise a little bit. Even though you'll be eager to get the machine moved, you can't have too many straps, but you can certainly have too few. It takes far less time to add another strap than it does to fix a tip over. You don't want to be saying, "Wow, I never though it could/would tip THAT way". When the machine is loaded onto your truck or trailer or whatever, if they use a fork lift under the bed watch the longitudinal balance and be sure they pick it up from the back side so that when it slide on the forks it doesn't smash the apron. I've seen a LOT of machines at school auctions where that had happened ( about 1/2 a dozen 10l's at one auction plus a few others). Good luck with the move.
 
Low and slow is the key. I moved my Bridgeport this spring using a similar method. I took the turret off and did it in two pieces to keep the weight down even though my cherry picker is rated for double the weight of the machine.
Whenever you're using a cherry picker to lift stuff like this (or any lift or loader for that matter), try not to roll it around much with the piece high in the air. For as long as you can, keep it just an inch or two off the ground, or better yet, put a dolly underneath one end as others have shown. As soon as I cleared my truck bed, I dropped it down to almost touching the concrete, then moved it the rest of the way. Keeping the work low means that if something lets go it's only got a little way to drop. This reduces the risk of toppling over and/or limbs finding their way underneath the lathe. Damage to the lathe, surrounding tools/vehicles/walls etc. is less likely as well. Take as much time as you need, it's not a race. I know this goes without saying, but never put any part of your body underneath the suspended piece. As my grandfather used to tell me: "It's cheap insurance."
 
I just moved my new to me 1982 12x36 enco a few days ago, first time for me so i was paranoid as hell. I removed the crossslide, tailstock, saddle and motor (stuff had to come off anyways for cleaning and inspection). Ran a strap around the closest webbing to the headstock to the cherry picker, another strap trough the spindle up to the cherry picker chain and then down to the furthest webbing on the bed to keep it from triying to turn. Picked it up a few times about an inch from the bed of the truck and rocked it around a few time to make sure everything was secured and got it off the truck.
The hardest part was rolling the cherry picker up hill on the driveway with a ....ty cement finish; wheel kept getting stuck. After movong about 2 feet rocking the hell out of the machine,.... wasnt looking safe, so we proceeded to drop the machine on the heavy duty stand it came with. Then with a 10' 2x4 steel tube i just pried the beast inch by inch up the driveway into the garage. Overall not too hard, but it took us about 3 hours to move the machine a wopping 10'.
Just take your time and definetly grab a buddy or 2, after all you are going to be making stuff for them. Be safe and if something scary happens, dont try to save it and get crushed, not worth it.
 
When I moved my 12x36, I ran the lifting strap and rope through the bed casting. Then I stuck a piece of pipe in the chuck and tailstock spindle (padded with tape in the tailstock taper) and wrapped the slings around the pipe.

The idea was not for the pipe to do any lifting, but for it to prevent the top-heavy lathe from trying to flip while it was being lifted from the bottom.

kHPIM3164.jpg

kHPIM3164.jpg
 
Too bad but I took a fall yesterday and have to postpone picking up the lathe until next Sat. I'm OK(very lucky) but my right shoulder and upper back are very sore, don't feel like driving to the LA area from Santa Barbara and tackling the job when I'm not 100%. The seller is understanding so thats a good thing because I know he wants it out of his mom's place(already bought and paid for). On the plus side the response to this thread has been outstanding(really not surprising given the great people here), so many good ideas to make lathe moving easier and most importantly safer. After initially searching this forum for info it seems like this thread now has the most/best info on the subject, maybe this info could be posted as a sticky as a resource for others in the future. Might as well get the info/pics coming, more info to help out members in dealing with this very common task.

thanks.

Brian
 
calstar said:
Too bad but I took a fall yesterday and have to postpone picking up the lathe until next Sat. I'm OK(very lucky) but my right shoulder and upper back are very sore, don't feel like driving to the LA area from Santa Barbara and tackling the job when I'm not 100%. The seller is understanding so thats a good thing because I know he wants it out of his mom's place(already bought and paid for). On the plus side the response to this thread has been outstanding(really not surprising given the great people here), so many good ideas to make lathe moving easier and most importantly safer. After initially searching this forum for info it seems like this thread now has the most/best info on the subject, maybe this info could be posted as a sticky as a resource for others in the future. Might as well get the info/pics coming, more info to help out members in dealing with this very common task.

thanks.

Brian
Click to expand...

Brian,

Hope you feel better soon!

I was actually looking foward to your moving pictures today. I was so busy when I picked up my lathe and mill that I didn't even think to take photos. The only photos I got were putting them in place a few days later.

Im curious, about your plan to tackle getting it through the narrow space? Not sure if an engine hoist will be much use there.

Chris

27f0c28c558a64faa720d94d2532bf3b_zps1c0dd49b.jpg
 
He did mention using a dolly for the narrow passage out to the street.
Pierre
 
I counted 6 bricks wide by the narrow point , if the bricks are 4 " wide then you may be stuck
 
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