# How Did You Handle Getting Your Lathe Home?



## Holescreek

I've been selling "extra" equipment off all summer trying to make a space large enough for a new gunsmith lathe and I'm just about ready to place an order for a 13"x40" G0709.  The only reason (well, one of them) I haven't already ordered is that I don't know how the shipping works.  Grizzly will ship the lathe for $255 but they don't specify how it's delivered, how close they'll get it to the shop, or equipment necessary (forklift?) to consummate the delivery.  Having a semi show up at the end of the driveway (even with a lift gate) won't do much for me if I can't get it up the driveway into the shop in a reasonable amount of time.

I could pull my trailer for a 16 hour round trip and pick it up but even with low fuel prices the shipping option would save my time (and I'd still need to get it off my trailer).  At least I'd be in control in that situation, not at the mercy of the shipping company for scheduling and equipment rental.

The FAQ page on the Grizzly site suggests picking it up at the shipper's terminal but that's hard to plan if you don't know who the shipper is and how close it is to home.

So what have you done, what are your experiences?


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## JimDawson

Not knowing the layout of your property It's kind of difficult to say what the best way is.  Normally local lift gate delivery's are done with a smaller truck that could back into a residential driveway.  The truck will have a pallet jack.  The shipping weight is stated at 1550# so not too heavy to move around on a pallet jack.  If the driver can back up near your shop door, just rolling it in on the pallet jack is the easy way.  Once you find out who the shipping company is, give them a call and explain your situation.  They'll most likely send out a smaller truck.

The freight terminal should be more or less local, so you could go pick it up from there.  In that case, I would recommend a drop deck trailer from your local rental place.  On Saturday I moved a 3500# mill on a drop deck, we just set the lip of the trailer just inside the garage door and drug it off the trailer with a come-along.  2x6 skids were lag screwed to the base.  We  anchored the come-along to the bollard in front of the water heater in this case, but a bolt in the floor would work too.  I used a 2x4 across a door frame as an anchor point to skid a 2000# mill across the floor.




If you went to get it from the freight terminal with your trailer, you might be able to pick it off of there with an engine hoist.  Or skid it down a ramp while still on the pallet.

Moving 1500# of lathe is pretty easy, but remember, lathes are top heavy.  Lift from the top when removing from the pallet.  Plan your moves, think about what could go wrong and plan for that.  Make sure that you are never in a position where you could get trapped by anything in case of a disaster.

Good luck!  We'll be waiting for pictures of your new toy,,,,er tool
.
.


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## tomh

"won't do much for me if I can't get it *up* the driveway into the shop"

The key seems to be word is *up* so I assume that the drive is up hill or up a grade?

Call grizzly and ask who will deliver it and find the terminal location, call and ask what type truck they will use if it's a short truck  aka a 6 wheeler  or a pup short trailer.   Every time overfright freight delivers to me they show up with a 55' van   so at the least  you will know right off what you can or can't do.  
If  you have to pick it up, the terminal will load it on your trailer so don't pay for lift gate till you find out as the terminal should be no charge for loading on your trailer.  The dimensions of the lathe is roughly 6'L x 5'H so keep that in mind if going to get it. 
Tomh


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## Texas74

Grizzly have a YouTube channel with the shipping info they said that the truck come to the curb and the driver will unload it their and you have to do the rest but if your driver wants to help you push it UP the driveway that his discretion good luck


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## Baithog

I got a mill/drill and lathe from Grizzly last year. They were significantly smaller than your machine, ~400#. They were delivered by UPS Freight on a lift truck. My driveway is uphill and the driver and I pushed them up and into the shop on his pallet jack. He would not have been able to back into the drive because of the available turning radius, so I didn't ask.

Pushing 1500# uphill ain't gonna happen and I'm not sure the driver will want to hang around long enough to pull the pallet jack up the drive with a winch or lawn tractor.


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## Uglydog

All of the above is great.
However, bear in mind that lathes also tip. It's an awful feeling watching her roll and knowing you can't catch #1500.
Preplan everything.

Daryl
MN


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## RJSakowski

I have had two large pieces delivered by Grizzly.  They ship by freight which in my case meant semi.  I had ordered lift gate service for the delivery.  Otherwise, I would have been responsible for unloading the items (a  cabinet saw and a lathe) myself.  They backed the semi off the road and dropped the items on the lift gate to ground level.  I used my tractor to then move  the freight from my driveway.

Several years before, at work, we ordered a lathe and a mill from grizzly.  We didn't have a loading dock so they were dropped off outside our large door where we were responsible for moving it in.

The bottom line, is it would be very similar to you transporting the machine by yourself except that if you were to do it, you would probably use a trailer that was capable of getting much closer to its final resting place.
From what I have seen on the freight company documents and Grizzly's site, the drivers are not permitted to assist you in maneuvering the machine to a safe place although it has been my experience that they will help.  

If you have a particularly difficult layout, it may be better to have the freight company hold the machine at their warehouse and you pick it up from there.  Be aware that they most likely have a loading dock and may not have any means of loading into a vehicle or trailer whose bed is much lower than their dock height.
Grizzly does do a good job of crating and palleting their products though so you should have a secure package to move about.  I would expect that it would be delivered as a single package which would mean a top heavy package.

Bob


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## middle.road

Helps to have a skidsteer handy. An acquaintance of ours keeps his over at our place.
A 14x40 just barely fits in the bucket. This was the 2nd attempt. The initial pickup at auction
was done by fork truck and straps onto the same trailer. Then my truck sucked #3 cylinder getting
on the freeway. This was picking it up at the repair shop.


When I got it home we put it on pipes and scooted it into the shop. 
There's also the option of renting a set of forks for the SS, I've done that a few times.


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## Holescreek

I sold a 3500# T&C grinder several weeks ago and the buyer rented a forklift to get it onto his trailer from a local rental company.  We used the forklift for a grand total of 5 minutes at a cost of $150.  I've used  drop deck trailers many times to move large lathes for other people, it's actually what I used to the the 3500# T&C grinder into my shop years ago.  I also called a towing company once to send a wrecker with a boom over to lift a bridgeport off my trailer, that was a fast $100.  If I buy some slings for the lathe that could be another option.

I found a thread here last night that gave good detail on receiving a G0709 and it said that the lathe is too heavy for a lift gate so a terminal/forklift would be the way to go if I get it shipped.

Yes, my driveway has a long uphill grade.  If it wasn't for my shop and the tonnage inside we would have moved away from here long ago.  If I had a place to store it I would've bought a forklift by now.


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## middle.road

Why is it that the grade of the driveway/access seems to be negatively proportional to the amount of equipment
in the shop? The more equipment the steeper the grade...


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## David VanNorman

Most freight companies have away to get your freight on to a pickup or a low trailer.


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## wawoodman

I had a lathe delivered to the freight terminal. I went down and got it with a rented truck with a lift gate, and then I humped it into the shop with a palette jack and a helper. Pain in the butt.

When I got my mill, I had it delivered to a local rigger. They brought it to me on a their truck, towing a fork lift. Set it right on the floor inside the garage door, then moved it right where I wanted it. I stood there and watched.

Cost not much more, and one heck of a lot simpler.

Work smarter, not harder!


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## Andre

Get yourself a friend with a trailer....they come in handy once in awhile


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## ch2co

Uglydog said "It's an awful feeling watching her roll and knowing you can't catch #1500.

Almost happened to me, caught it just before it toppled too far.  Being an old codger I decided that hauling that thing out of the truck, across the back lawn, down a flight of narrow stairs into my basement, around two corners into the shop was going to be just a tad more trouble than I anticipated. Being that most of my very helpful friends were old codgers too, I caved, and ended up calling a local moving company who performed admirably.  Cost an extra 100, but well worth the price, a lot cheaper than a trip to the hospital or a munched machine.

CHuck the grumpy old guy


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## wawoodman

Andre said:


> Get yourself a friend with a trailer....they come in handy once in awhile



The friend, or the trailer?


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## Holescreek

Andre said:


> Get yourself a friend with a trailer....they come in handy once in awhile


 
I have a trailer, I need a friend with a forklift!


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## kd4gij

When Grizzly ships it they will email the info of the shipper. The shipping company will call with a delivery and set up day and approximant time. Mine was ups freight witch had a lift gate on a semi. They loaded it into the back of my pickup.


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## Uglydog

The wifes swingset does double duty!
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/moma-got-a-swingset.37235/
Rated at 2ton. 
It took some explaining: "no I wasn't suggesting she was fat".

Daryl
MN


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## Cheeseking

I like the idea Mike suggested of shipping to a local rigger and paying them to deliver and place in your garage or wherever.   Won't be inexpensive.  Next best option is deliver to the nearest freight terminal and go pick it up with your trailer.  They will set it on the trailer for you.  Once you get home you can take your time and figure the best method of unloading.  You could always take it apart pc by pc into manageable chunks and re-assemble.  
I picked up my 11x30 lathe from freight terminal and unloaded using an 2T engine hoist.  I only lifted it high enough to be able to pull the trailer out from under and quickly lower it to a waiting dolly.   Lathe was about 1,000#  yours might be more.  The threat of the whole crane tipping forward was obvious.  I ended up blocking under the legs and added several hundred pounds of ballast to the back of it.  Not pretty or advisable but it held for the 30 seconds it was hanging as the trailer pulled out.


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## Cheeseking




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## TOOLMASTER

I MISS having an engine hoist around. if i had more room i would build another.


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## Cheeseking

Fortunately it disassembles down to reasonable pcs. but yea it does take up space most of its life.


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## kd4gij

Get the freight company to load it on your trailer. Then rent the little skid steer from Home depot.


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## Uglydog

Note: the ratings for skid steers and front end loaders vary from tractor to tractor, some very small others very-very large.  
Balance is a huge issue. Don't tip your tractor! 
Be sure that the machine you intend to use is suitable for the weight you intend to lift. 
Lift height also varies. Watch your overhead clearance.

Daryl
MN


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## tmarks11

Or rent a drop deck trailer (sunbelt rental $75) and have them load it at the freight terminal.   You can take the lathe off the trailer with a pallet jack.


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## scsmith42

I am fortunate in that I own my own trucks, trailers, and heavy equipment for load handling, so handling something like this is not an issue for me.

If I were in your shoes, I would arrange for the lathe to be shipped to your local freight terminal and pick it up there.  Inspect the crate closely for damage before signing the acceptance form, and note any damage observed on the crate on the forms.  I would use a truck and a small trailer (the smaller the better so that you can have positive tongue weight yet still fit the lathe under an engine hoist).

Most trailers will handle a 1,500 lb load, so your issue will be in manipulating the load once you have it home.  As others have mentioned the lathe is top heavy; when I brought my recent 12 x 36" lathe home I used a pair of 3" nylon web straps to pick it up by the bed (picked up by hooking the straps to some skid steer forks).  Handling the lathe suspended from the straps is safer than trying to pick it up from the bottom (won't tip over on the straps).

An engine hoist is an option (and you can rent them), but they can be a bit "tippy" too and the small wheels don't roll well across a rough surface.  It's better to back the trailer with the lathe into your shop, open up the carton, and use the engine hoist to lift it straight up.  Then pull the trailer out and lower the lathe until it is almost touching the floor before you attempt to roll it around on the hoist.

Chssesking's post with pix shows an excellent way for an individual to handle this.


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## f350ca

Where there's a will there's a way. A few years ago I bought a 17 x 80 Summit. Had it shipped up from the Oklahoma city, interesting side note, they would not release it from the warehouse unless it was a flat deck trailer where it could be chained down. Had no way to unload it at home so drove to the trucking company's yard and hauled it home myself. Could have got a large loader that would pick it up but it was 12 feet long and my shop door is 10. On the way home it hit me, excavate the driveway to make a loading dock. So I dug out the drive where the trailer axles would be and backed into the hole. Jacked the pallet the lathe was on up and put rollers under it. Three of us moved 6500 pounds around on the 5 inch rollers and got it positioned.



Since then I've installed a car hoist. A beam across the arms has unloaded quite a few heavy objects.




Sometimes you just have to think outside the box.

Greg


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## Terrywerm

When I brought my lathe home, it was strapped to a pallet with steel banding. Borrowed a Bobcat skidsteer loader with pallet forks and a trailer from a good friend. When I got to where I was picking up the lathe, I unloaded the Bobcat, picked up the lathe with the forks, then drove the Bobcat back up onto the trailer. Chained down the Bobcat and the lathe separately. When I got home I simple reversed the process.

My mill and power hacksaw were both a different story, however. They each came from farther away, and were loaded into the back of my pickup with a forklift in both cases. Both were on pallets, so I could have gone and got the Bobcat again, but I hate to wear out my welcome. Instead, I disassembled both machines and took them off of the truck in pieces that were manageable all by myself. Having those machines partially disassembled made it much easier to clean them up, as they both needed it!


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## Holescreek

This is my regular machinery hauler, it's only 4' wide between the wheel wells and 14' long.  Rated for 11k pounds.  IIRC it's 14" from the ground to the top of the deck. Too bad it's not a tilt bed.  Sides are too tall for an engine hoist, would be perfect for a gantry.  I used a tow truck with a boom and some nylon straps to get the mill off and into the shop.


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## CluelessNewB

My Logan 820 on my not so great trailer.  I actually had a few more straps on it that had already been removed.  I unloaded it with the bucket on my Kubota.


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## Brnoczech

When I purchased my Bridgeport mill about 10 years ago I had it shipped to a rigging company.  They kept it for me for a few days, and then showed up with 2 or 3 trucks, air brakes hissing; looked like a teamster's convention in my otherwise quiet neighborhood.  But I will say they used a fork lift and put it right where I wanted it in my garage.  They also waited while I cut a couple of large planks and put the 4 adjustable pads at the corners of the base.  At that time they had a $500 minimum charge, which is what I had to pay, but in the end I think it was worth it.  They told me that they install monstrous air conditioning units and similar equipment in commercial building.  They did know what the proper way was to position and lift the mill.  Expensive, but I think worth it at the time.


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## Cheeseking

That's a great little trailer.   4' is plenty wide for most things and allows it to fit between most gantry hoist uprights for unloading.   When the day comes to move my shop I'll be looking for something like that.


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## BGHansen

Ordered a G0709 lathe to my brother-in-laws shop which has a loading dock and fork lift.  He loaded it on my trailer.  HF gantry crane unloaded and set it in position.


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## 6mmBR

I've ordered 3 machines from Grizzly; a band saw for wood, a metal lathe, and a small mill. The lightest was the mill at around 135#. I paid for lift gate delivery on all three items. 

In each case, the driver, 3 different drivers, insisted on helping me right into my garage with the delivery. The driveway is 60 feet long, and fairly level, maybe a slight incline up to the garage door. 

I was prepared to do that myself, and had a dolly available. It wasn't needed any of the 3 times.  I had a shop crane for moving the lathe and mill up where I wanted them. A strong friend helped with the wood band saw.


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## TOOLMASTER

every shop needs a chain hoist.


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## schor

I helped a friend move his mill, he used the same setup to move his lathe.

Here is the playlist link https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWeIwYR3Vjmcq_LkDdwOL5K-dnlXlzPXu

Here's the trailer vid.


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## Fabrickator

I had my Grizzly G0602 delivered with lift gate and they drop it off in the street.  I made a 4.wheel cart out of a hand truck and got it to the back yard via uphill driveway.  Where I wanted to put it also required that I hire  small forklift to come out and place it on the bench after I broke it in on the cart to ensure I didn't have to return it for some reason.


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## mhagadorn

Mhagadorn's Introduction

Some pics of how I move my machinery.    Same process to load and unload from my trailers.


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## KBeitz

I had my G1642 unloaded with a prentice log loader and sat down my basement steps.
2600 lbs of white knuckle lifting...


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## Holescreek

Well it's not quite 3 years since the last post, I forgot all about this thread.   Just for closure, I never did buy that Grizzly lathe, too many horror stories.  I ended up with a Clausing 5914 for about $3k less money and unloaded it from my trailer with an engine hoist by lifting it then pulling the trailer out from under it.


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## Chipper5783

Yup, the riggers helped me out.  Very painful for the Visa card - I got over that as soon as it was safely spotted right where I wanted it.

I'll have to post my "I got a Bridgeport" story.  The 30,000# lift seem overkill for 7300# machine - the forks must have been at least 8' long.  No, the forklift was not too big, with this type of machine it was hard to get close to the weight - they did everything very slowly and the move was completed very quickly.  I'd do the same again.


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## FOMOGO

I've moved three machines so far, nothing dropped or broken yet (knock wood). The first was 2500lbs, the
second 4000, and the last around 8000. Have a 12000k winch on the trailer, and so far it's been up to the task of getting the machines pulled up onto the trailer. If I buy anything larger I'm going to have to upgrade the trailer and backhoe.


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## BROCKWOOD

Well pleased with lift gate delivery from Grizzly. In both cases they brought my item right up to the garage door on a pallet jack. Above & beyond the contract so I tipped accordingly.

.


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## dtsh

When my rf-31 clone arrived, the driver was in such a hurry he unloaded the pallet and left it on the road. I'll give him credit for one thing at least, he was certainly fast as he was gone before I'd even gotten the skidsteer started. I was quite surprised that I didn't have to sign for it.

Here's a pic of the pallet, abandoned at the end of my driveway.




Given 700lbs is a lot less than some of the equipment others have acquired, but it still takes a bit of planning to get it moved. Once it was to the shop, I used a 2 ton shop crane to get it placed where I wanted it.


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## BROCKWOOD

Did you wrong dtsh. Shameful really.


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## Mitch Alsup

BROCKWOOD said:


> Well pleased with lift gate delivery from Grizzly. In both cases they brought my item right up to the garage door on a pallet jack. Above & beyond the contract so I tipped accordingly.
> 
> .
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 268152



This is nearly identical with my Griz delivery, except that the largest surface was the size of a std door rather than a garage.
De-palleting outside, and engine hoist to move the heavy stuff.


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## dtsh

BROCKWOOD said:


> Did you wrong dtsh. Shameful really.



It's not true! Whatever they said it's all lies!!! Wait....what are you referring to? I may have done it, thought about it, or saw it; but chances are I'll never tell! 

(long delay due to travelling for work)


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## dlane

Verry carfully


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## AJB

A few years ago I picked up a lathe.  The seller loaded it on utility trailer and I used an A-Frame and chain hoist to offload.  It went smoothly.

In my younger days, maybe 30 years ago, I hauled a Bridgeport mill home in the back of a 1983 Toyota pickup, then got a wrecker to offload it.  Thinking back, I can’t believe that tiny truck survived!


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## BROCKWOOD

dtsh said:


> It's not true! Whatever they said it's all lies!!! Wait....what are you referring to? I may have done it, thought about it, or saw it; but chances are I'll never tell!
> 
> (long delay due to travelling for work)



I was referring to your delivery service. But, that's funny right there LOL


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## Janderso

It was not easy!
I had a 6 hour drive one way. Loading was tedious and slow. Got home late and met my friend Ken.
We wrestled it off the trailer with a, TOO SMALL engine hoist. Learned a bunch!


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## BROCKWOOD

That's a good looking lathe Janderso!  Sounds like you had some scary moments. Looks like your engine hoist is in the 3000 lb position. How much does your lathe weigh?


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## epanzella

I took some 2x8's and mounted heavy castors on them When the truck delivered my lathe at the bottom of a windy 200 ft driveway I attached the castors and rolled it right up the hill into my garage and then into my basement.


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## ACHiPo

epanzella said:


> I took some 2x8's and mounted heavy castors on them When the truck delivered my lathe at the bottom of a windy 200 ft driveway I attached the castors and rolled it right up the hill into my garage and then into my basement.
> View attachment 268894
> View attachment 268895


Easy peasie lemon squeezie!  Of course it coulda looked like a Roadrunner cartoon.  Gravity always wins!  Be safe out there.


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## jdedmon91

Holescreek said:


> I've been selling "extra" equipment off all summer trying to make a space large enough for a new gunsmith lathe and I'm just about ready to place an order for a 13"x40" G0709. The only reason (well, one of them) I haven't already ordered is that I don't know how the shipping works. Grizzly will ship the lathe for $255 but they don't specify how it's delivered, how close they'll get it to the shop, or equipment necessary (forklift?) to consummate the delivery. Having a semi show up at the end of the driveway (even with a lift gate) won't do much for me if I can't get it up the driveway into the shop in a reasonable amount of time.
> 
> I could pull my trailer for a 16 hour round trip and pick it up but even with low fuel prices the shipping option would save my time (and I'd still need to get it off my trailer). At least I'd be in control in that situation, not at the mercy of the shipping company for scheduling and equipment rental.
> 
> The FAQ page on the Grizzly site suggests picking it up at the shipper's terminal but that's hard to plan if you don't know who the shipper is and how close it is to home.
> 
> So what have you done, what are your experiences?








This is how my G0709 was shipped the lathe on the bottom and the stands in separate boxes on top of the lathe crate. My cousin unloaded it with a skid steer. Then we assembled it with a engine hoist.




Later I moved the lathe to my present shop I had it in dollies to get it to the door for loading. I only moved the lathe 20 miles. 




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Barncat

An engine hoist worked wonders for unloading mine and setting it on its stand.


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## Bob Korves

I usually call my friend who has a towing company with about 85 tow trucks.  Then I mostly watch the fun with my hands in my pockets.  However, I also do help my machining buddies with pick up and delivery of machines, and we use all sorts of different setups.  If it sounds or looks ugly or scary, I am ready and willing to bow out...


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## CluelessNewB

I hauled my Logan 820 home on this lame trailer, about 85 miles.  It arrived fine but that was a dumb idea!  There was a tractor with loader at both ends of the trip.


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## JimDawson

OK I can't resist   10,200 lbs


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## hman

Couple years ago, I bought  Grizzly DF1224G (AKA G1003) from a Craigslist ad in Portland (about 90 minutes from home).  Carried my HF engine hoist and load leveler in the pickumup truck, used them to load the lathe and stand.  No photos from the loading, but here's the unloading.  Note that the straps went down to the crossmembers of the lathe bed.  To keep the lathe from tipping over, I chucked up a piece of pipe (other end lightly placed inside the tailstock taper) and looped the straps around it.  Between positioning the carriage and adjusting the load leveler, this kept the lathe level end-to-end. 

Ready to lift out of truck.  Tailgate removed for easier access.



Lifted clear of truck, truck driven away



Lowered onto planks to avoid any swaying while moving into the shop



Raised onto the stand, my wife demonstrating her strength


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## Z2V

She did well, definitely a keeper! Your a lucky man!
Looks like a well planned move,


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## ukkarl

Had my lathe delivered to my shop doorway a few weeks ago, I have a fork lift so unloading off the truck was easy.  Dropped both the pallets it was shipped on down onto my welding table which has  a 1" plate top and is on heavy duty solid castors

Stripped it down, cleaned it up, oiled it, contacted Grizzly for the missing tools and damaged control panel plate, then I strapped it up and used my trusty Harbor Freight cherry picker to take it into my shops 'clean room' and lift it onto the bench.

Dear old wifey steered while I pushed/pulled, then she delicately lowered it onto straight onto the mounting bolts.  Pretty good control of the lowering valve on the cherry picker too, a slow decent that was barely perceivable

Now to level it and start making chips!


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## RandyM

I know not everyone has an automotive lift and dump trailer, but this is how I got my Logan home and on the floor.








I then just rolled it into place and used an engine crane to lift each end separately to get off the dollies.


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## hman

Randy, you definitely used the appropriate tools.  If my lathe had been any bigger, I seriously doubt the pickumup and the 1-ton engine hoist I had would have done the job.


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## RandyM

hman said:


> Randy, you definitely used the appropriate tools.  If my lathe had been any bigger, I seriously doubt the pickumup and the 1-ton engine hoist I had would have done the job.



Ah but, John, you had help.  Yeah, I sometimes take my equipment to the limit as well. In this case I was well with in the safety limits. It is good see you got it all home safe and sound.


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## mcdanlj

I used a lift-bed trailer to bring my G0907 home, with the aid of two good friends. I cut rigid metallic conduit into 2.5' and 5' sections and used them as rollers to move the lathe into position. I designed a 4' wide cradle dolly out of 2x6s, lag screwed together with 8" lag screws, in CAD, and then built it partly at home before I left but mostly on site around the lathe. I built up the headstock end first and left the tailstock end open to slide the dolly into place. I used 4 foot sections of 1" hot-roll for lift bars, and an engine hoist and a sling around the lift bars to lift it just high enough to get onto the cradle and bolt down. After the headstock end was bolted down, it was stable and I could lift the tailstock end without worrying as much about tipping. I moved the tailstock supports underneath, screwed them together with lag screws, and set the dolly down on 5' rollers. With a 51" base (48" inside longitudinal beams) it exhibited no tendency to tip over.

I loaded the lathe headstock-forward to get the right balance in the trailer.

I winched the cradle dolly on the pipe onto the trailer, running it on the rollers and leaving the rollers in place for transport. The trailer had a 2" receiver at the head that I used to mount a strap winch to pull it onto the deck; if I had it to do over again I would use a cable winch instead. I used four high-capacity ratchet straps to tie down the lathe; I used the lift bars fore and aft and tied each bar forward and backward. (Here some 2x4s alongside it obscure the dolly, sorry.)





When I removed the lathe from the trailer, I rolled it most of the way off, then lifted the headstock end with the trailer and screwed cheap wheels to the frame near the center of gravity, about 2' from the headstock end. (If I were doing it over, I would use 5/8" rod rather than 5/8" lag screws; one of the lag screws bent while I pulled it.) Then I set it on the ground, used lag screws to fasten a 2x4 tongue to my cradle dolly (now itself a trailer!) and pulled it with my lawn tractor into my shop.




The 2x4s sticking out the back were levers to help it up a slight ramp over the doorway into the shop.

In my shop, I used the engine hoist to put utility dollies under each corner and lock them in place with screws, then removed the wheels (not a trailer any more!) so they didn't interfere. I rolled the lathe into place and removed the cradle sides. Then starting at the tailstock end, I lifted it off the cradle ends, removed the cradle ends, installed leveling feet, and lowered it in place; then did the same under the headstock. Removing the chip catcher temporarily made it easier to use the engine hoist to lift the tailstock. Adjusted the feet to make it reasonably level to start with.





(Yes, there will be fire-resistant material in front of it for hot chips when it's running.) The feet are 4"x1" bars drilled and tapped for leveling screws, which are sitting on .325" x 6" load spreader bars on the shop floor, which wasn't originally intended to hole a machine this big. It's carefully placed for appropriate support though.

The 4' A36 hot-roll 1" round lift bar in the headstock end bent. That was impressive!


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## Cooter Brown

New(ish) K.O. Lee



__ Cooter Brown
__ Jul 12, 2018


















WELLSAW!!!!!



__ Cooter Brown
__ Nov 26, 2017



						Wellsaw model 600
					
















SHAPER!!!!!!!



__ Cooter Brown
__ Nov 26, 2017
__ 1



						Atlas 7b Shaper Pickup
					
















Burke Horizontal Mill



__ Cooter Brown
__ Nov 26, 2017



						Burke Horizontal Mill Pickup
					
















2nd South Bend Lathe



__ Cooter Brown
__ Nov 26, 2017



						2nd South Bend Lathe Mill Pickup
					
















I GOT A BRIDGEPORT!!!!!



__ Cooter Brown
__ Nov 26, 2017



						I GOT A BRIDGEPORT!!!!! $450!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Superburban

I use two 10K winches, one to drag the machine off the trailer, and down the ramps, and the other to keep it from going down too fast. So far has worked great for everything I moved.  For the Southbend 16", I braced the legs with two 4x4's cut to fit tight between the legs and the base, so there would not be flex. I tried using the engine hoist, with the wells index, but did not do well with the chain, and when it was in the air, waiting on the trailer to be pulled forward, the chains decided to slide around, and gave both of us a good scare, and tested the engine hoist. 2nd pic.


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## Bob Korves

Yikes on the scare...


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## Janderso

Any damage?
All OK?
Whew, that doesn't look good.


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## Superburban

No, no damage done(except for the heart beats skipped for me and my Son).  I had it chained, so the hoist could lift from just above the table, with crossed chains going through a big shackle. After it was in the air for a minute or so, the chain s slid through the shackle, allowing it to lay down on its back. It was a dumb purchase. It is a tracer mill, where there is a pin that should follow a pattern, that controls a hydraulic valve, that moves the X and Y axis (hence the two hydraulic cylinders in place of the lead screws). Before I knew much about mills, I thought I could just change the controls to hydraulic levers, and mill that way, not realizing how you need to be able to control (and know) the amount of travel. Was not much longer that I got the deal on the Van Norman 22LU, and have never done anything with the Wells Index since.


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## Winegrower

Ok, here’s a scare story for you...when I bought my Bridgeport (clone) the seller said he’d deliver it to my hangar.   He did, brought it on a low trailer.   He had a chain hoist, and we lifted it from the main I-beam, which was plenty sturdy.   He then pulled the trailer out, and the mill was suspended about 18” above the concrete floor.  He went over to the chain hoist, looked at it a bit, and said “ I think you just throw this lever here”.   POW, the mill dropped straight down, smashed onto the floor.   Incredibly, it stayed upright, and missed him by a couple inches!   We were both stunned and lucky we weren’t killed or even worse.  I thought it was ruined, but believe it or not, there was zero damage.  It’s been a great asset for 12 years now.

So please be careful, guys and gals.   This is serious stuff we’re doing.


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## Z2V

Very lucky nobody was hurt, for sure. It sounds like the guy didn’t know how to use the tools he had, but it should not have dropped the load just by “throwing a lever”. The guy didn’t know how to use the broken tools he had.


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## mcdanlj

mcdanlj said:


> The 4' A36 hot-roll 1" round lift bar in the headstock end bent. That was impressive!



Also, one of the 5/8" lag screws I was using as axles for the wheels bent too. I forgot that I took pictures to memorialize these:






I preached a sermon before we started something about not being a hero, don't try to catch falling machinery, move slowly, and it's OK to call stop if you aren't sure and want to think things through more.


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## Bob Korves

Here is how I moved my mill and my lathe:
https://www.collegeoaktow.us/
The owner is a friend and former customer of mine, back when I was selling International (now Navistar) truck parts.  He has over 80 tow trucks now (I think, all are International), and multiple yard locations in Sacramento county.  I sold a bunch of machinist machines and tooling of all kinds for him that he had accumulated over the decades, also bought some for myself, including my mill.
I think towing companies are a good choice for moving equipment.  Less expensive, and they get it done.  Ask for an wrecker operator with plenty of experience moving machines.


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## middle.road

We got real lucky with the Birmingham, except for the part about my 2500 blowing her engine after we first loaded up the lathe and were on the ramp onto the freeway.
The lathe fit nicely in the bucket, the hydraulics held luckily. The LS170 supposedly had a capacity of 1700 LBS when new, and I shave off 20% for age and figured the lathe @ 1000LBS 
Door to door second time around. Kept the ramps level when loading and unloading and then @home drove it into the garage door and placed it on pipes and rolled it into position.


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## stupoty

ch2co said:


> across the back lawn, down a flight of narrow stairs into my basement,



always the best place for a shop  

I don't have the lawn in their but the rest I understand 

stu


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## Be_Zero_Be

I brought mine home on a flatbed trailer.
We used two engine hoists to raise it off the trailer bed and pulled the trailer out from under the lathe.
We lowered it down onto blocks and then moved it in with a pallet jack.



On the trailer.



The hoist on the headstock is a heavy duty U.S. made engine hoist.
The tailstock hoist is a China special.






Refurbished and installed


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## Downwindtracker2

I'm a retired millwright, so rigging was one of the things we did.  Never Never get anywhere it can land on you.  Use a chain come-a-long to balance and level the load. Nylon straps are getting common, get a bunch, but buy them in pairs, every brand has a different idea of length. To take up difference in length, use wood blocks. In fact use wood blocks as softeners and spacers to protect dials, handles, etc.. If you are using a fork-lift ,tie to the mast , there is always a bump somewhere. Ratchet straps come in handy, but get the 1500# ones.


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## Be_Zero_Be

Downwind track,

All good advice.

My installation was supervised by a good friend that is a Certified Rigger.
All lifting apparatus was certified for condition and capacity.
The two engine hoists only did a vertical lift - no horizontal movement.

I am an avid fan of safety and doing it right.


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## Downwindtracker2

On engine hoists. Mine is one of those folding leg ones.  The bolts that hold it together are Chinese metric 3.8 grade. In SAE, that's grade 3, pretty soft.  One of the problem in using nylon slings is that the loops thick enough that they build up on the hook. Then they can slide off. It's good practice to use a shackle to tie them together. Ideally , put the shackle on the hook. Being a hobbyist, my machine tools are light bench tops, just a 1000# or so.


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