# Safely Move A Half Ton Mill



## joshua43214 (Nov 12, 2015)

I am not sure where to post this, so moderators please move if there is a better place for it.
See also my new thread "Moving a Half Ton lathe."
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/safely-move-a-half-ton-lathe.40368/

Moving heavy machinery is a topic that seems to come up on a regular basis, so I figured I would share my latest experience. I recently drove to Pittsburg and brought home a PM450G mill, and moved it down some unsafe stairs into the basement. The machine weighs in at 975lbs, so this took a bit of planning. I will try to cover as much detail as possible, and cover what I consider to be the most important and often overlooked points.

When I read comments from people about moving their new machine, the most common factor that I see is either failing to, or being unwilling to spend money. Getting a machine into the shop, and then getting it up on the stand will cost some money if you want to give even the smallest protection to your investment (not to mention your body). It is really easy to blow your wad on the machine itself and not have anything left over to rig with. The cost does not have to be high, but for a few bucks more a day long job that will leave you and your friends with sore bodies can be done easily in a few hours with ease.

In my mind, the two most important items for moving a machine are a chain fall and a folding engine hoist. I got both at Harbor Freight. A chain fall is cheap enough to easily justify the cost. It feels hard to justify the cost for the engine hoist because it will see so little use, but a crane of some kind is essential to any shop with machines that can't be lifted by hand. You can sell it for close to what you paid for it on Craig's List when you are done if you do not want it taking up space. I already had a chain fall that I acquired years ago, the hoist I purchase more recently - I just waited for it to go on sale.

After that, you need some rigging. 2" tow straps (Harbor Freight again) are about the best thing for putting on the machine. Never use twisted rope for hoisting. Some 3' lengths of chain with a hook on each end are a good idea as well. Mine are chains that tow truck drivers use, I harvested them off of cars over the years when I was a mechanic.

A helper is also a really good idea. Helpers will volunteer ideas about better ways to do things, share your misery, give you an extra set of eyes, and call 911 when you get pinned trying to catch your falling machine. If you have no one to help, at least keep your phone on your body in case the worst happens.

Trailering:
It seems simple, just stick the machine in the trailer and go.
It is really important that you get the trailer properly balanced even if going a short distance.
60% of the weight should be in front of the axle. Avoid putting more than 80% of the weight in front of the axle. Never put the weight behind the axle, go get a bigger trailer.
A metal machine and a metal trailer are a very bad combination. Metal is just too slippery. If you are going to move an un-palleted machine in a U-Haul, bring along a sheet of OSB or 1/4" plywood to go in between. OSB is dirt cheap, and if you leave it out in the rain for a few days, it will sweep up and go into the trash. Do not overlook this detail. You can't control other drivers, and your machine might come flying to the front of the trailer if you have to panic stop because of some other driver.

The really big mistake I see people make is in using tie downs. "Down" is the operative word in tie down. Never use straps to hold the machine centered in the trailer. The strap should be angled up at the very least 45 degrees, but you really want it angled up over 60 degrees. You want to apply _downward_ force. You simply can not prevent a machine that weighs 500lbs or more from shifting when strapped side to side with a piece of webbing. Chains are use for side strapping loads, and are tightened with a turn buckle or come-along.
Not only are you risking having an accident, you could very well get pulled over by the cops for improperly securing a load. In my state this is actually a high misdemeanor - it is a pretty expensive rap to get out of. State Troopers will recognize improperly secured loads.

lastly, do not trust the rings they put inside moving vans and some trailers. I have read a few stories from people who had the rings rip right off moving anything from machines to pianos. Find a larger ring, or run the strap to the outside of the trailers and hook the frame.

My mill came on a pallet attached to the stand. I asked Matt to remove the stand and bolt the machine back to the pallet. We balanced the mill just past the axle, then strapped the stand to the front of the trailer. The stand only weighs about 75lbs, so it was fine to use a 1" strap and draw it tight up against the front with a piece of 2x10 scrap as a spacer.


I did not notice that when Matt and I put the strap on that we crossed the rail differently until I was in Ohio. I figured it made it down I79 just fine, so it would be ok the rest of the way.
Since my mill is now an Ohio resident, it was also able to go votingon the way home 

Once the machine was home, I took moving it in stages. Get the machine to the back of the trailer. Hoist the machine off the trailer. Move the machine to outside the door. Move the machine through the door. Move the machine down the stairs. Move the machine to it's final home. Thinking it through in little steps like this really helps. On the same day we moved the mill, we also moved my entire shop from a first floor bedroom into the basement. Moving the mill was about the easiest part since I had planned it all out carefully. Moving my 500lbs SC8 lathe on the other hand took a lot of grunt work and cursing because we just went at it with not much planning.

My garage is on the back of the house, and has a door with access down to the basement and up to the kitchen.
My basement stairs are pretty scary, they are definitely not up to the task.



I drove two 4x4 posts under the top kick board. The top kick board is actually load bearing for the basement landing, so supporting this also supported the floor of the landing.



I was still not confident in the floor, so I made 2x12 ramps that would span the entire landing, and reach the basement with out contacting the steps. The pic below shows one of the ramps in place. Note that it sits on shims at one end on the garage floor, and above the top kick plate in the middle, and the basement floor at the bottom.



What is really critical is that the ramp bear flat on the top stair, and that the ramp is not able to slide down the stairs. I accomplished this by inletting a large strap hinge on the bottom side of the ramp. The hinge itself does not bear any weight, and I would not trust it to support any weight. It's sole purpose is to tie the ramp parts together so it can not slide down the stairs. At the top end near the door, I countersunk two 6" long lag bolts through the floor to keep the whole rig anchored at the top. I went with the hinges because it is simple, and I knew I would want to be able to block up the bottom of the ramp to assist getting machinery onto my dolly.



To shift the mill on the trailer and to lower it down the stairs, I sunk an anchor into the floor of the garage that was centered both for the basement door, and the garage door. I bolted a length of chain to the anchor so I could hook onto it.



I backed the trailer into the garage, and used a come-along attached to the anchor to drag it to the back of the trailer. It was then a simple matter to pick the mill with the crane and drive the trailer out from under it.





We then unbolted the mill from the pallet and bolted it onto a pair of 2x4 skids. Once the mill was on the skids, we set it on the crane legs to roll it over to the door.
I sunk another anchor in the basement floor as far from the stairs as I could get, but still able to reach the top with my rigging. We positioned the chain fall at the top for lowering, and put the come-along at the bottom to drag into the house and down the ramp.
This is where planning comes in really well. The table is actually wider than my door way. We had to shoe horn it around the door frame using a combination of pulling from below with the chain fall, a bit of muscle, and some prying with a pry bar. The mil also has to go past the front wheels of the crane as well. We took it slow and easy, lowering the crane as it went through the door so the whole thing sort of pivoted and soft landed on the ramp.

Once the mill was through the door, we dismantled the crane and passed it through the kitchen and into the basement. After that I attached a 1" safety strap to the upper part of the mill to prevent it from making any wild movement as it went over the edge. It is important here to rig the mill low rather than high. If you rig high, the bottom can slide out from under the mill. When rigged low, the danger is it tipping forward, and that is controlled by a safety strap and going slow. It is important to remove the strap before it goes too far over the edge, or it might tip the mill backwards.

Here is a series of pics of the mill going over the edge and down the stairs. Notice there is less than an inch to each side, and we had to bend the banister out of the way at the bottom.
















There are a lot of good details in the pics, so they are worth looking over carefully. Note that it was under tension from top and bottom until it went entirely over the edge to prevent it from making a wild tip. I removed the safety strap when it was balanced on the edge. The metal strip is a piece of shelving unit that got repurposed and keeps the chain links from catching. I pried it up and out when the big hook reached it. I also had to be constantly be on the lookout for the hook wedging between the ramps. The bottom of the ramp was blocked up on two 4x4 so the mill could reach the bottom of the ramp before the skids hit the floor. We lifted the mill off the ramp rather than let is go all the way to the floor.
An observant person might also notice that at full extension, my crane is only rater ate 500lbs. The crane had absolutely no trouble lifting the 900+lbs mill. The frame is much stronger than it is rated, and the hydraulic ram will simply fail to lift before the crane collapses. You would not want to abuse this crane this way on a daily basis, but it will be just fine done occasionally.

We did this as a three man job, though two would do it just fine. I spotted and called orders, my son Akiva ran the chain fall, and his buddy Kenneth ran the come-along. All told from when I started backing the trailer, to mill on the stand took about 1 1/2 hours. We moved slow and steady, but it went smoothly with no issues.

here is a pick of it in it's new home. Note the motor actually goes up into the rafters.





I hope someone will find this helpful.
Feel free to add comments for alternate methods, or corrections. I will endeavor to fix mistakes or answer questions.

-Josh


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## Charles Spencer (Nov 12, 2015)

Very comprehensive and well illustrated.


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## maker of things (Nov 12, 2015)




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## middle.road (Nov 12, 2015)

Great post + what Charles said above.
Thankfully it was only seven steps and not ten or twelve. Still a nut-sucker.
_/me thinks we're gonna need to start looking for ya, some legs or a cabinet for that thar lathe._


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## Ed ke6bnl (Nov 12, 2015)

I have to just lift my 2100lb. Bridgepoer about 10 in to get it into a storage container shop from in the garage to over DIRT about 6 foot distance. the problem is no extra height for a lift chain to get through door area.


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## RJSakowski (Nov 12, 2015)

A great writeup!  Lots of good information.  Thanks for sharing.


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## dlane (Nov 12, 2015)

And thanks for the full size pics  .


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## Franko (Nov 12, 2015)

Whew! I bet you are glad that's done, Josh. Nice job.


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## Firestopper (Nov 12, 2015)

Nice rigging work.


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## stupoty (Nov 12, 2015)

The lathe bench is making me tense :0



Stuart


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## silence dogood (Nov 12, 2015)

Stuart is not the only one who noticed the lathe bench.


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## Paul in OKC (Nov 13, 2015)

There's some pucker factor going on with that move! Nice job.


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## Bill C. (Nov 13, 2015)

Nice photos.  Glad to you were able to meet the challenge(s) of moving your milling machine and other shop equipment.  Nice shop


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## David VanNorman (Nov 13, 2015)

Nice job Nice machine. The lathe bench is kind of shakey. Is the mill three phase?


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## joshua43214 (Nov 13, 2015)

The mill is 2hp, 220v 1ph.
I am still in the middle of organizing stuff and putting the DRO on the mill. So the only running it has done so far is 2hrs of break in. I expect to start milling parts for the DRO install today.

The lathe table is extremely stout. I admit it is ugly, but I actually prefer things like this to be ugly. I will more likely to actually use it, rather than waste time protecting it's finish.
The lathe is a lightweight thing and weighs under 500lbs. The block is far more the strong enough in this application.
I will stack it up against any shop made stand or commercial stand not made from cast iron for sturdiness and vibration absorption. You can thump on the floor with a something heavy and it will not show up in the finish. It also does a great job of sucking up all the vibration that comes from the drive being entirely out of balance, and the pulleys having 1/8" of wobble.
The blocks are glues together with 3M construction adhesive. If you doubt the strength of this stuff, there are some very convincing YouTube videos of people testing it. This is not your grandfathers Liquid Nails 
Originally, the table spanned a space between two walls and was wedged at either side to prevent any side-to-side tipping. It actually does not have any side-to-side movement at all where it is sitting. I do plan to add a bracket to the wall just for peace of mind though. The front to back footprint is much longer than any lathe stand this size. I am not sure I could push it over if I tried.
The top is 4x4 glued and screwed, with a granite counter top remnant bedded with non-shrinking grout.
The top is attached to the block with long 3/4" all-thread bolts. The stretchers are free-floating, and are nutted up against the bottom of the table. The bolts pass all the way up through the granite on the top. The setup provides a means for leveling the lathe. The SC8 lathe has it's bolts all running in a line down the length of the machine, so leveling requires some type of outrigger to take the twist out of the bed. Machine vibration is absorbed by the top, and any ambient vibration must pass through the bolt to reach the table, where it gets effectively dampened there. These principles are well known, and have stood the test of time in multiple industries. Ambient vibration is not such an issue in the basement, but it was a real concern when the machine was on a wooden floor.
All told, the base cost under $100.00 to build, with the most expensive part being the all-thread and nuts. The only special tool it requires is a diamond drill for the granite. It took me about 4 hours to make, not counting drilling the 8 holes in the granite.
About the only way you would get a sturdier set up would be to make it from cast iron, or put it on a poured concrete stand like they did with the old WW II SB's. A tubular stand will get you in the same level of rigidity, but will do nothing about vibration (might even make it worse), unless you fill the tubes with concrete or sand.

If the lathe weighed more, I would rotate the blocks 90degress, and attach a piece of steel plate to the top of the stack rather than let it rest on the side of the block. The original plan was to put stretchers through the blocks and build in shelving. It was easier to use half a shelving unit I had sitting around though.


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## stupoty (Nov 13, 2015)

That makes sense to glue the blocks. 

Stuart


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## silence dogood (Nov 13, 2015)

Ah!  3M construction adhesive,   After reading your explanation  on how you built your bench, no problem.


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## AirWolf (Nov 13, 2015)

Very Nice! Great planning and execution man... really beyond what I would have ever tried.


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## Scruffy (Nov 13, 2015)

The moving instructions for my old American pacemaker lathe instruct to use Manila rope,  before straps were invented I suppose. I've never heard of the Ohio state patrol bothering anyone about tie downs unless something falls off and I've been thru plenty of their inspections.
Thanks ron


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## John Hasler (Nov 13, 2015)

silence dogood said:


> Ah!  3M construction adhesive,   After reading your explanation  on how you built your bench, no problem.


I'd still prefer to see some cross-bracing.


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## David VanNorman (Nov 13, 2015)

Like youy say it is ugly but it is solid and that is most of all what is needed. good luck with your mill.


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## middle.road (Nov 14, 2015)

hmmm, 3M adhesive on cinder blocks... Had never thought of that. That'll take care any vibration running through the blocks.
Gonna have to research the water resistance properties of it for something here at the house.


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## Scruffy (Nov 14, 2015)

I was under the impression that blocks weren't very strong when placed on their side.wonder if their was any vibration if it could  cause cracks to start . I'm sure josh already did some research and decided it would be alright. I'm bad at over thinking things some times.
Thanks ron


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## John Hasler (Nov 14, 2015)

Scruffy said:


> I was under the impression that blocks weren't very strong when placed on their side.wonder if their was any vibration if it could cause cracks to start .


They are weaker on their sides but in this case the load is well within their capacity.  Concrete doesn't fatigue.


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## janvanruth (Nov 16, 2015)

Sorry to have to say this but you did  not tie the mill down correctly.
The strap going over the mill only kept the mill from going up not from tilting sideways.
The danger is in the mill tipping over and not in it taking off and flying away.


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## atunguyd (Nov 16, 2015)

Joshua can you please explain why you say never to use twisted rope for hoisting? Is it to do with the chances of fraying the rope on sharp corners? 

Sent from my SM-N920C using Tapatalk


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## joshua43214 (Nov 16, 2015)

atunguyd said:


> Joshua can you please explain why you say never to use twisted rope for hoisting? Is it to do with the chances of fraying the rope on sharp corners?
> 
> Sent from my SM-N920C using Tapatalk



Twisted rope has much higher friction when sliding, it can take double or more the tension to overcome the sticktion.
The same friction make it harder to rig tightly before hoisting.
Twisted rope frays much more easily, and it loses strength very rapidly once it starts to fray.
It is much harder to spot damage to a twisted rope.
Twisted rope requires a much larger bending radius.
Twisted unwinds when you put a load on it. The more it unwinds the weaker it gets, and the longer it gets.

It can be used. Sailors used twisted rope for hundreds of years on the high seas and lived to tell the tale. I would be amazed if anyone still uses it for sailing though.
Braided rope is better, webbing is best.


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## John Hasler (Nov 16, 2015)

If you do use rope for rigging be aware that knots can reduce the strength by 50%.


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## Scruffy (Nov 17, 2015)

To jh.  Concrete and a block are 2 different  things . Blocks are made with air retaking concrete to be as light as possible.  Find a 50 year old block and compare it to a new one. Same size , big weight difference.  I think vibration would weaken solid concrete over time, never mind a hollowed out rectangle made out of lite weight concrete.
Thanks ron


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## schor (Nov 17, 2015)

Nice move on the machine.


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## kwoodhands (Nov 20, 2015)

Ed ke6bnl said:


> I have to just
> mike lift my 2100lb. Bridgepoer about 10 in to get it into a storage container shop from in the garage to over DIRT about 6 foot distance. the problem is no extra height for a lift chain to get through door area.


Four bumper jacks at each corner.Lift and block as you go along.Lower onto a skid. Skid is made up with two 4 x4 's beveled on the front ends. 2 x 4 spreaders at each end and one in the middle.3/4" plywood on top.Fasten securely mill base to plywood or thru lumber.Winch skid into container.Lay a couple of planks from container to skid for ease of winching.
It is possible to lift the mill in small increments and blocking with one or two jacks.Four is safer and faster.Porta-jacks are handy too but would not be able to raise the mill 10".
mike


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## planeflyer21 (Nov 27, 2015)

joshua43214 said:


> It can be used. Sailors used twisted rope for hundreds of years on the high seas and lived to tell the tale. I would be amazed if anyone still uses it for sailing though.
> Braided rope is better, webbing is best.



We got ahold of some thin, flat webbing (3/32" x 1/2") which is used by the utility companies for pulling powerlines.  Rated at 1500#s capacity, I've used it several times to move machinery with an engine lift.


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## joshua43214 (Nov 27, 2015)

planeflyer21 said:


> We got ahold of some thin, flat webbing (3/32" x 1/2") which is used by the utility companies for pulling powerlines.  Rated at 1500#s capacity, I've used it several times to move machinery with an engine lift.



Yes, this is great stuff. I have some of it, and some 1" wide stuff left over from my rock climbing days. I have trusted my life to it countless times.
A minor caution with nylon rope and webbing. Nylon degrades with exposure to UV light, and oxygen. It is especially sensitive to sulfuric acid (think Coke or well water), some common solvents, chlorine, and plain water will also degrade it over long exposure. While it will not rot, organic matter ground into it will become a home for bacteria, some of which will produce chemicals that will degrade nylon. It is because of this that many rock climbers will date their slings and ropes and then retire them after a few years.
The stuff you describe will work fine, but when working with weight more than 1/3 it's spec it should be wound multiple times about the machine and hook. Ideally, you want the load to be about 1/10 the working strength of the sling, but in practice you should be able to go up to something like 60% of the working strength safely depending on how old and funky your slings are. For your 1500lb web, this works out to something like 3 to 5 wraps on a 1000lb load.
I only add the caution for those who might have some smaller web laying about. It can work just fine, just use common sense and do not be afraid to wrap it up like a mummy.


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## planeflyer21 (Nov 27, 2015)

/\/\/\/\ Yes, agreed.

When moving anything, it looks like Spiderman did the rigging.


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## maunesha1 (Nov 30, 2015)

When you picked the machine off the trailer, you put the sling around the head casting. This put all the machine's weight on the Z axis nut, transferring thru the screw to the thrust bearing cap at the top of the column. This appears to have only two bolts fastening it to the casting. Was there any other way the head was clamped down or the weight of the base picked up by the strap?

I suspect the eyebolts in the base were intended to provide the lifting points to pick up this machine. I have seen cases where the thrust bearing retainer failed and the screw, etc., came out the top of the casting. I would hate to see this happen to somebody else.

Very nice write-up,  great photos, and good advice for us amateur riggers. As our equipment gets bigger and bigger, moving this heavy stuff becomes more of a problem, logistically, and much more importantly, safely. You seem to have thought of the safety issues as your first priority, congratulations to you!


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## joshua43214 (Nov 30, 2015)

@maunesha1 
wow, you make an excellent point and one that in all honesty I had not considered. You are also correct that the rings on the base are the factory lifting points.

I did actually ask for a couple of 2x4's when I picked up the lathe. My intention had been to crank the quill down onto the blocks to create a bit of wedging action to maybe prevent any damage to the z-axis gib during lifting and strapping. After spending about 5 seconds with it, I realized it was built like a tank and that you would be really hard pressed to hurt it. The guys there also told me they routinely lift these the way I did with no issues.

I just went down and had a look at the z-axis lead screw. It is very well constructed and is actually anchored at both to and bottom. I can see this being an issue with a heavier machine, or possibly a Chinese machine were they used a lighter or inferior casting.







It is clear the top bearing is designed to carry the weight of the head and the bearing block is very robust.
I can only assume the lower bearing and its carrier are so robust because they assumed people would lift it the way I did.

I did in fact remember to lock the z-axis (but I forgot to mention it in my first post). I did not realize the z-axis was a worm drive, and was worried about the head running up the screw like can happen with crown gears.


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## maker of things (Dec 1, 2015)

That looks really robust!  Maybe the factory sells a version converted to CNC also?  The way your machine is configured looks like it would be ideal for it.


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## anadeau (Dec 21, 2015)

Great write up. Very helpful. Thanks!


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## kingmt01 (Dec 21, 2015)

I have to agree with Snuffy about the block. They are stacked wrong & could give for no reason. If they were turned & cracked as they do all the time they still won't give but turned like that they can & probably will fall. I have had new good looking block fall apart from picking them up or while carrying them. You should never even stack block that way not alone build with them that way.

As far as safely working with a strap it is always better safe then sorry but to reduce a good straps working ratting is unneeded. A strap that has a working ratting of 1500lbs probably has a breaking ratting of 10,000lbs. if you loop a strap it is twice as strong but it you wrap it around a few times it can no longer share the load with both sides 
& is reduced back to its rated working strength. twisting it or putting it against a corner also reduces its strength.

Your working with pretty light loads & it is pretty easy to cheat with these light loads. I have a HF knee mill that looks bigger then that but it is only about 700lbs. We pulled the motor & head then carried it all to the building I keep it in. It wasn't easy but sure was the fastest way to move it where I need it.


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