- Joined
- May 8, 2015
- Messages
- 86
Not a whole lotta room for error!
We had a few tense minutes as it seemed like it was going to roll off the back when he got it all the way out then turned the jack!!
Not sure who was scared more - me or the driver!
Once we got it settled from rocking the driver carefully pulled it back into the trailer and made a call to his dispatcher asking for another truck and some assistance. Apparently he is the "newbie" and has the worst liftgate!
"No one in the area..... might have to take it back and get a different truck. Better safe than sorry!"
He decided to try a different approach after I informed him that it was a very top heavy piece of machinery and maybe it would be best to keep the heavy end towards the trailer and come straight out with it... not turning the pallet jack. He did so and eased it out to just barely clear the edge of the trailer.... that worked much better!!
We did have to manually unload the jack down from the trailer but that was easy to do.
Takes up quite a bit of room in the one car garage "shop".
Tried to convince the wife to "trade sides" but she had a point that her Denali would not fit "safely" through the one car opening and she needed the larger two car side.
The crate top and sides removed.
The thought came to me of of a "Harry Potter" size spider that spins plastic wrap... must have been caught and trained by Matt to do his bidding.
Progress being made removing the wrap... someone did not want anything to move!!
The one small chip in the paint on the entire mill... a trip to Home Depot and their paint match machine will solve this quickly.
Time to reduce the footprint of the crate.
After looking at it for a bit, and remembering some rather large engines I use to deal with earlier in life... I felt pretty certain this would be fine. Detroit Diesel engines weigh quite a bit more than this mill and we did it this way many times. Lines drawn on the plywood to keep me cutting straight.
First Cut.
Followed by cut #2.
Yes... cut right through the lumber underneath.
Removing the upper sections to enable getting to the lower sections. Be sure to set depth of cut to leave 1/16" or you'll end up cutting concrete... not good for the blade!
VERY IMPORTANT !!!
BEFORE proceeding to next step....Slide (ie - drive via large hammer) in a section of 2x4 directly under the front pads of the machine. Then remove front section... top and bottom.
Note 2x4 under the front... it is not there as shipped from Matt's place. Hey Matt.... sure would help to have it there... but might make it slightly more difficult to get a pallet jack in.
I did not have a sawsall... had to take a few cuts with the 7 1/2" skill saw... then break out the upper section of the 4x4 with a hammer. Had to perform a non-OSHA approved temporary modification to the skill saw to make the close and angled cuts to the front.
With the footprint cut down to minimal size, and the front section trimmed close and at an angle... was easy to get the crane into place.
NOTE!!! Be sure your crane lift weight is in the right position!
EASY DOES IT !!!
I thought about rotating the head around to the back like Bill had done... but I did not have the room to do it so I eased it up.... she does have a bit of forward tilt!!
If I had not the experience I did with large engines in my other life, probably would not have been brave enough to do this... but as long as the weight pitches towards the crane base and not the other direction, I knew it would be ok. Does look a bit scary though.
No, the front straps did not help at all really... maybe moral support is all.
Getting into position to "land".... didn't think this through as you will see in a moment....
in my mind I was trying to get as close to the wall as possible to save space in my tiny "shop".
A battery operated 1/2" impact gun is worth every penny getting these things out!! Sure glad I had one!
Yes I have air powered ones but the hose is always a hassle.
Free from it's wooden base.
Used a section of the plywood to help guide it into position next to the "curb" in the garage.
At the time I thought ..."a perfect landing".
Not!
Oh yea... everything looking great so far...
At this point I started to make sure I had clearance for everything.
Her head is 13 1/2" from the light fixture above... I have overhead storage in my garage.
Then it hit me...
and I thought of Tom Lipton of Ox Tool when he catches himself doing something "not to good"......
"Hey Mr. Wizard"...... what about when you move the head towards the rear?
Oh, you can't do that now that you have the base up against the wall!!
Dummy!!!
So back down goes the head and reinstall the crane..... and move it so there is enough clearance for the head to move fully rearward!!
I've got a pilot's license... "touch and go" is what we do for practice until we get the landings right!!!
Will have a nice marshmallow / hotdog cook in the backyard firepit a week or so.
Did I mention the $50 of nails and staples Matt uses to build these shipping crates?
After cleaning the cosmoline off the table and ways... first order of mechanical business was to remove the collet alignment screw from the spindle I have read so much about.
Coolidge has a most excellent tutorial for doing this job here :
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/thre...ent-screw-from-the-spindle.38640/#post-330995
Hmmm.... maybe we could all chip in and pay him to write a good operators manual for the mill!
I remembered a tool from the 70's & 80's for doing AC compressor work on GM vehicles. Dug it up and made myself the required pin wrench. Cost.. five minutes of drilling /tapping and two 10x24 machine screws.
Yes, I had to make an extra hole due to me not having my glasses on while looking upside down/sideways at the spindle nosepiece.... bi-focals suck at times and I'm not as flexible as I use to be!
Well, that's all for now... thanks for visiting!!
The DRO kit I ordered is in shipping la la land I suppose, so can't proceed with DRO install yet. Might be a good thing as I decided to upgrade it so all will turn out well.
Hopefully next weekend will make some chips... with or without the DRO!!
Later folks!
Dale
We had a few tense minutes as it seemed like it was going to roll off the back when he got it all the way out then turned the jack!!
Not sure who was scared more - me or the driver!
Once we got it settled from rocking the driver carefully pulled it back into the trailer and made a call to his dispatcher asking for another truck and some assistance. Apparently he is the "newbie" and has the worst liftgate!
"No one in the area..... might have to take it back and get a different truck. Better safe than sorry!"
He decided to try a different approach after I informed him that it was a very top heavy piece of machinery and maybe it would be best to keep the heavy end towards the trailer and come straight out with it... not turning the pallet jack. He did so and eased it out to just barely clear the edge of the trailer.... that worked much better!!
We did have to manually unload the jack down from the trailer but that was easy to do.
Takes up quite a bit of room in the one car garage "shop".
Tried to convince the wife to "trade sides" but she had a point that her Denali would not fit "safely" through the one car opening and she needed the larger two car side.
The crate top and sides removed.
The thought came to me of of a "Harry Potter" size spider that spins plastic wrap... must have been caught and trained by Matt to do his bidding.
Progress being made removing the wrap... someone did not want anything to move!!
The one small chip in the paint on the entire mill... a trip to Home Depot and their paint match machine will solve this quickly.
Time to reduce the footprint of the crate.
After looking at it for a bit, and remembering some rather large engines I use to deal with earlier in life... I felt pretty certain this would be fine. Detroit Diesel engines weigh quite a bit more than this mill and we did it this way many times. Lines drawn on the plywood to keep me cutting straight.
First Cut.
Followed by cut #2.
Yes... cut right through the lumber underneath.
Removing the upper sections to enable getting to the lower sections. Be sure to set depth of cut to leave 1/16" or you'll end up cutting concrete... not good for the blade!
VERY IMPORTANT !!!
BEFORE proceeding to next step....Slide (ie - drive via large hammer) in a section of 2x4 directly under the front pads of the machine. Then remove front section... top and bottom.
Note 2x4 under the front... it is not there as shipped from Matt's place. Hey Matt.... sure would help to have it there... but might make it slightly more difficult to get a pallet jack in.
I did not have a sawsall... had to take a few cuts with the 7 1/2" skill saw... then break out the upper section of the 4x4 with a hammer. Had to perform a non-OSHA approved temporary modification to the skill saw to make the close and angled cuts to the front.
With the footprint cut down to minimal size, and the front section trimmed close and at an angle... was easy to get the crane into place.
NOTE!!! Be sure your crane lift weight is in the right position!
EASY DOES IT !!!
I thought about rotating the head around to the back like Bill had done... but I did not have the room to do it so I eased it up.... she does have a bit of forward tilt!!
If I had not the experience I did with large engines in my other life, probably would not have been brave enough to do this... but as long as the weight pitches towards the crane base and not the other direction, I knew it would be ok. Does look a bit scary though.
No, the front straps did not help at all really... maybe moral support is all.
Getting into position to "land".... didn't think this through as you will see in a moment....
in my mind I was trying to get as close to the wall as possible to save space in my tiny "shop".
A battery operated 1/2" impact gun is worth every penny getting these things out!! Sure glad I had one!
Yes I have air powered ones but the hose is always a hassle.
Free from it's wooden base.
Used a section of the plywood to help guide it into position next to the "curb" in the garage.
At the time I thought ..."a perfect landing".
Not!
Oh yea... everything looking great so far...
At this point I started to make sure I had clearance for everything.
Her head is 13 1/2" from the light fixture above... I have overhead storage in my garage.
Then it hit me...
and I thought of Tom Lipton of Ox Tool when he catches himself doing something "not to good"......
"Hey Mr. Wizard"...... what about when you move the head towards the rear?
Oh, you can't do that now that you have the base up against the wall!!
Dummy!!!
So back down goes the head and reinstall the crane..... and move it so there is enough clearance for the head to move fully rearward!!
I've got a pilot's license... "touch and go" is what we do for practice until we get the landings right!!!
Will have a nice marshmallow / hotdog cook in the backyard firepit a week or so.
Did I mention the $50 of nails and staples Matt uses to build these shipping crates?
After cleaning the cosmoline off the table and ways... first order of mechanical business was to remove the collet alignment screw from the spindle I have read so much about.
Coolidge has a most excellent tutorial for doing this job here :
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/thre...ent-screw-from-the-spindle.38640/#post-330995
Hmmm.... maybe we could all chip in and pay him to write a good operators manual for the mill!
I remembered a tool from the 70's & 80's for doing AC compressor work on GM vehicles. Dug it up and made myself the required pin wrench. Cost.. five minutes of drilling /tapping and two 10x24 machine screws.
Yes, I had to make an extra hole due to me not having my glasses on while looking upside down/sideways at the spindle nosepiece.... bi-focals suck at times and I'm not as flexible as I use to be!
Well, that's all for now... thanks for visiting!!
The DRO kit I ordered is in shipping la la land I suppose, so can't proceed with DRO install yet. Might be a good thing as I decided to upgrade it so all will turn out well.
Hopefully next weekend will make some chips... with or without the DRO!!
Later folks!
Dale
Last edited:
Nice write up, and great pics.
