# Getting heavy machinery home



## kb58 (Jul 2, 2019)

So after great thought and research, you finally buy that awesome lathe or mill... now how do you get it home?

I was downright shocked to get quoted $1000 to move a 2500-lb lathe three miles, so that started me thinking about how to do it myself. I mean, a lathe or mill's no heavier than a typical car,  though granted, they tend to be top-heavy, and of course they don't roll so well.

I've seen proper trailers for carrying such machinery - rentals at that - where the small bed can be dropped down flat on the ground, greatly easing getting the load on and off. The problem is that they aren't widely available, which leaves more typical rental gear. The issues is more about how concentrated the load is. A 2000-3000 lb lathe or mill puts a lot of force in a smaller area than a car does on a trailer (images of it falling through the trailer bed come to mind, in Los Angeles traffic).

Depending where the equipment is bought, the seller sometimes has a fork lift to put it onto your trailer. Heavy tiedown straps are easy to buy and not too expensive, so getting it into your driveway "probably" isn't the hard part, it's getting it off. I saw solid-bed tilt trailers for rent, so, done carefully, that could make getting it out easier... , unless of course it decides to slide sideways and tip over. Another way might be to tip the bed down, then tie a rope to it and a tree, then slowly pull the trailer out from under it. Once it's on the ground in front of your garage, you "might" be able to push it it with your truck, or not. Once off the trailer, it's probably best to use skates, bought or built, to get it into the garage, since it's going to be moved around quite a bit once inside.

So how do you guys get your 1500-lb+ prizes home and into your garage safely? Does everyone just call heavy equipment movers and pull out the credit card, or have you done it yourself, and how?


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## amsoilman (Jul 2, 2019)

Just brought home a Cholchester 15” which is around 3500#
The shop loaded it with a hilo. I have a 1 ton of electric chain hoist that lifted it and I drove the trailer from under it.  
Used 1” pipes to roll it into position.  Never a fear of the tipping which could happen with skates.


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## benmychree (Jul 2, 2019)

Sometimes it is a good plan to bolt steel channels to the machine under the front and rear leg and attach wood skids to widen the stance and counter the tendency to have the machine fall over.


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## MrWhoopee (Jul 2, 2019)

Had to move lathe & mill 250 miles. I rented a lift-gate flatbed. Forklift load, then pipe rollers, pry bar, chains & come-along to unload & position.


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## BGHansen (Jul 2, 2019)

I have a Harbor Freight 1-ton gantry crane with a 2-ton trolley and chain fall.  I figure (hope . . .) that the 1-ton limit is at the worst case point or the middle of the crane.  Should be able to handle more weight up against the columns, hence the 2-ton trolley and chain fall.

On the other hand, good rigging on something that weighs as much as a car is not over-rated.  I'm guessing the high cost isn't because of the mileage, it's for their talent, expertise and trailer/fork truck doing the loading and unloading.  Loading and unloading are the "pucker-events", transporting is the easy part.

You may try for some competitive bids, or tell them what you're willing to pay and see what happens.  There are multiple posts here where someone has had a machine lifted off a rented trailer by a wrecker and set on pipes, then rolled into the shop.

Be safe!  I recall the first "Darwin Award" went to a gent who was trying to steal some candy out of a vending machine.  He tipped it over on himself and the story had to be passed on by his survivors.  I'd hate to see a post of someone ending up under a Bridgeport.

Bruce


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## Superburban (Jul 2, 2019)

My trailer is similar to this one. I have not had any issue with winching the machines down the ramps. I usually slide a wide piece of 2" angle iron under the front edge, to help distribute the load across the ramps (together, not spread apart as in the pic), and a hand comealong to keep the machine from going down the ramps as a freeefall. I've even loaded several by using the winch to pull it up, and across the deck.




The Southbend is the one that worried me the most, I taped two taught strings from the tail end legs, to the motor base, so I could see if there were any bending of the legs, and the string stayed taught the whole time.


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## JimDawson (Jul 2, 2019)

I highly recommend a drop deck trailer.  Makes life easy.  There are several equipment rental shops near the San Marcos area, at least one of them must have a drop deck. I have moved a lot of machines in these.

We rented this one to move Alloy's mill from my shop to his.  The downside is that you have to go over the side to load with a forklift and in some cases this can be a bit of an issue with a small forklift.  But it can always be loaded from the back.  In this case a ratchet puller, tied to a pipe in the floor for an anchor point, provided a way to skid it off of the trailer. 



I'll let someone else address getting the best way to unload and position when you get it home.  The way I do it is to just pick up the machine with one of my forklifts, so not a normal case.  Most home shops don't have a 10,000 lb forklift.


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## stioc (Jul 2, 2019)

Trailer + 2-ton engine hoist
Pallet jack
Furniture dollies
pipes to roll on
pry bars
jacks
winch

99% of the time the first combination does the trick for me. The rest are my support crew. If I were to add another piece of rigging tooling it would be a gantry crane but I don't have the room nor the ceiling height in my 2 car garage.


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## NCjeeper (Jul 2, 2019)

I rented a drop trailer for my 16" shaper. Put machinery skates underneath it and rolled it off the trailer into the shop. I borrowed my friends flat bed trailer when I brought home my 16x54 Monarch and Knee mill. I have an extra large engine hoist I used to unload the mill. The lathe I just backed the trailer into my 2 post lift and lifted it off the trailer by raising the arms that had straps to the lathe bed.


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## Bob Korves (Jul 2, 2019)

I had my 13x40" lathe moved about 25 miles to me by a local auto wrecker transport company.  I called the biggest company in town (the owner is a friend) and the operator picked it up for me and put it down gently on my shop like he does it every day.  Ask for an operator who has done that specific work before and has experience doing what you need done.  They used a tilt deck flat bed wrecker for the job.  Later, the owner of the company brought my Millrite mill to my shop hanging on the wrecking hook of a typical two wheel lift auto tow truck with an A frame boom.  He also added some straps to keep the mill from moving, swinging, and banging into stuff.  In both cases the machines were gently set down on the floor of my shop with not a scratch on them.  I moved them to their final locations in my shop by myself.  The lathe move was amazingly cheap, though I probably got a deal.  The mill move was free, I bought the Millrite from the towing company owner.  If I had a big, heavy, new, and expensive lathe that needed transport to a commercial shop, I would hire riggers and let them do it right, but might pass out when I saw the price...


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## Cooter Brown (Jul 2, 2019)

Tom Lipton has a great video about move a heavy lathe around.....

















I GOT A BRIDGEPORT!!!!!



__ Cooter Brown
__ Nov 26, 2017



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
















Burke Horizontal Mill



__ Cooter Brown
__ Nov 26, 2017



						Burke Horizontal Mill Pickup
					




I was able to get all my machines loaded in my F-150 on a pallet, then I put a pallet jack under it and called a flatbed tow truck, they used the winch to pull the pallet jack with the machine jacked up onto the flatbed and then they set it down in the driveway for me.... Cost me about $75 per machine....

My Bridgeport weighs 2200lbs..... lol Drove about 200 miles home like that.....


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## Stonebriar (Jul 2, 2019)

I agree with the drop trailer option.  This is the trailer I have used twice.


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## Bob Korves (Jul 2, 2019)

Drop deck trailers are great.  Large and small versions are made.


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## Illinoyance (Jul 2, 2019)

When I relocated my shop I rented a drop deck trailer.  It was great.  I bought a Harbor Freight 1500 lb. 120V winch.  I clamped t to the trailer to drag the machines onto the trailer and to control things coming off the trailer.  I found I could anchor the winch to the concrete floor and drag the machines to position them.  That turned out to be a lot easier than jacking up the machines and using skates.  The largest machines I moved were my BP amd a 16  x 40 Nardini lathe.


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## mickri (Jul 2, 2019)

My lathe and mill/drill weren't that heavy.  Under a 1,000 lbs.  I took them apart to get to manageable pieces.  The seller in each case helped me load the pieces into the back of my pick up.  When I got home I used a 1/2 ton chain hoist to lift the pieces out of the truck and onto a wheeled cart.   Rolled the pieces to where I wanted them and put them back together.

It can be very tempting to buy that very large lathe or mill because of what seems like a low price.  Then you have the cost of moving it which you have found can be very expensive.  Getting the lathe and mill are a small part of the cost.  You will spend way more on the tooling then you did on the lathe and mill.  And the cost of the tooling increases dramatically as the size of the machine increases.  I would think long and hard about what you want to accomplish with your lathe and mill.   Bigger is not always better.  You can do a lot with a 10" to 12" lathe.   Just my 2 pennies.


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## kb58 (Jul 2, 2019)

Oh son of a bi***. I was just on the United Rentals site and it's one reason I posted this thread, because they didn't seem to have that drop trailer. Looked again just now and there they are. Sigh, okay, that's awesome, though this thread will still help people be more comfortable with transporting these beasts on our own. Thanks, guys.


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## ErichKeane (Jul 2, 2019)

Check out Sunbelt rentals, they have a drop deck trailer that can hold 2.5tons. I just brought home a 14" Reed Prentice (about 5k lbs). Then used a bottle jack to get it onto some machinery skates (also at Sunbelt).

A couple of ratchet straps and a come along (plus 2 friends), and it was unloaded and in place with minimal effort in a couple hours.


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## Martin W (Jul 2, 2019)

I always hire my local roll back driver. $80.00 per hour well spent. He’s moved all of my equipment. Sometimes I have to roll on pipes to get near a door but he just winches on.heres are a couple ,the lathe weighs 8000 
	

		
			
		

		
	




	

		
			
		

		
	
and the mill around 3000
Cheers
Martin


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## vocatexas (Jul 2, 2019)

I moved a 14 1/2 inch South Bend and a 14,000 lb. Lodge and Shipley using a tilt-bed trailer and a winch. I also bought a toe jack and three machinery skates. We just took our time and carefully considered each and every move we made before we did anything. If we saw something that might be a problem we came up with a solution to prevent it, such as tipping over. I actually unloaded the South Bend with no help. Took me about an hour, but it wasn't hard.


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## 7635tools (Jul 2, 2019)

All my manual machines I moved myself when I moved several years ago. Combination of engine hoist, pipe for rollers and pry bars. Heaviest machine was the Bridgeport (2000lbs). The two lathes maybe 1500 lbs apiece. Now when I brought the Mazak lathe home, that was a different story. I rented a 12000 lb tele handler to move that. That machine weighed 6500lbs. Only cost $450 to rent for the day with delivery. 


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## john.k (Jul 3, 2019)

For some reason ,there dont seem to be any trucks with self loading hydraulic cranes in Kali.I have an old Leyland with an older Atlas crane ,that can lift on 6ton easily,truck also has a tilt tray,and is then legal with 10 ton+(23ton gross mass).,which covers most large surface and cyl. grinders that run 8 to 10 ton,and 20 ft long.......and shipping containers ,too.Dunno why you cant hire something like this in Kali for around $100 hr.


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## projectnut (Jul 3, 2019)

Another vote for a drop bed trailer.


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## MikeInOr (Jul 3, 2019)

I have a 5 x 8 trailer which was my fathers.  I put several old 2x4's across the bottom with an old piece of 3/4" plywood on top to spread out the point loads of machines (lathe) legs.

All the machines I have purchased the sellers have had a fork lift or some means of loading on my trailer.  For unloading I made my own gantry crane out of trippled laminated 2x4's with trippled 2x12's across the top assembled with good 45 degree bracing.  I had to purchase a Harbor Freight 3 ton chain hoist to pick the lathe straight up then pull the trailer out from under the lathe.  I put the lathe on a frame so I could move it around with my Harbor Freight pallet jack.  When I was done it was pretty easy to dissassemble and store the wooden gantry.

When I bought my mill I used the same wooden gantry, chain hoist and pallet jack.

The pallet jack is a bit of a pain to store but it is light enough I can store it upright by just picking it up.  Chain hoist, pallet jack and wood cost me about $300 which I figure is less than I would pay someone to move just one of the machines.  It is REALLY nice to be able to move my machines around when I want with the pallet jack.


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## jdedmon91 (Jul 3, 2019)

kb58 said:


> So after great thought and research, you finally buy that awesome lathe or mill... now how do you get it home?
> 
> I was downright shocked to get quoted $1000 to move a 2500-lb lathe three miles, so that started me thinking about how to do it myself. I mean, a lathe or mill's no heavier than a typical car, though granted, they tend to be top-heavy, and of course they don't roll so well.
> 
> ...



I must be lucky, several years ago when I purchased my Lagun mill from a local machinery repair man “ he traded for it”. He suggest a local crane/rigging company to move the mill. I called the gentleman he came out and looked at my little shop said he could move it for $600. My mill was moved 15 miles and shoehorned in my little shop. I’d would have had a hard time renting the appropriate trailer and finding the help for that much less


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## RYAN S (Jul 3, 2019)

I usually use my skid steer to move around heavy things it is rated at 1500 lbs. It will lift more but the back tires get a little off the ground. When I brought home my Bridgeport, I rented the biggest skid steer they had at the Bobcat dealer down the street. They charged me $200 for two hours. It was a breeze with the pallet forks! I just picked up a new to me Bobcat that is rated for 2050 lbs. That should work well for me for a while!  Once I got it into the shop, rolling it on some steel pipes was incredibly easy!

As for my buddies fashion statement with the boots and shorts, he showed up in flip flops and quick changed into the steel toed boots


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## jmcghee (Jul 3, 2019)

+10 for drop deck trailer (I’ve only used the one from sunbelt). Moved 2 Bridgeport’s, hlv-h, & 16” monarch on pipes by myself with little-no fuss


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## Cadillac (Jul 3, 2019)

Drop deck trailer, two sheets of plywood stacked and lathe fastened to it securely. Throw some sand down and you’ll be able to slide the lathe where ever you want. Then just remove the plywood.


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## John TV (Jul 3, 2019)

Cal Haines gave me great advice on how to build a pallet under my mill and use a pallet jack and a drop deck trailer. My mill was only around 1800 lbs but it was quite easy using his method. You can find it by searching "is this a good fit for my first mill". Cal's posts are near the end of the thread. Awesome information. Think whole cost was around $200 for wood, paver blocks, trailer and pallet jack rental. 
	

		
			
		

		
	





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## Flyinfool (Jul 3, 2019)

I called several riggers and they all laughed at me and said they will not do residential unless they can do it with their big forklift. Forklifts do not do well on stairs. I called a bunch of movers and they would not touch a machine.
I used a flatbed trailer with car ramps. I laid 3/4 inch ply on the ramps to make a smooth surface. The shops where s got the mill and Lathe loaded the trailer with a fork lift so that part was easy. I do not have a garage so everything is in my basement. This meant that everything had to go up one step to get  in the house, down a hall with two 90° turns and down the basement stairs. 

The Mill was the first machine I got, it weighs 3400 lbs. I built a simple dolly with 4 swivel casters held together with some 1" angle iron all welded together. The 4 mounting holes in the base of the mill were used to bolt to the casters. I was able to back the trailer right up to the door so that the ramps could be in the back door to eliminate the one step up. Te jallwas covered with 3/4 ply to spread the load and protect the floor from the point loads of the casters. The stairs had two 2x12s said on theirs sides and then covered with 3/4 ply and some side rails to guide the casters. for the trip down the steps I sed a 12,000 lb rated cable run thru the house and out a windo and to the trailer hitch of my truck (7,000 lbs). I used a snatch block on the shop crane to hold the cable off the window sill.

The truck had no issues controlling the load for lowering it down the steps.  I was able to singlehandedly and easily push the mill on the dolly all over the basement to get it to its final resting place, I then lifted it with the shop crane to remove the dolly and put it down on its feet. The whole thing was actually very uneventful. I have since used that same dolly for moving the 1100 lb lathe and 1400 lb surface grinder into the basement, I just bolted some 2 x 12s to the dolly and then drilled appropriate holes in the wood to match the footprint of the later machines.


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## alloy (Jul 3, 2019)

When I moved my machining center I had no choice but to rent a truck and a forklift.  I seriously thought about using the drop deck trailer that Jim and I used in the pic in his post when we moved my manual mill,   but I didn't think it would be that easy to slide ia 6000lb machine  off the trailer. Cost me just over $300 to move my machine about 150ft plus $120 for a F450 flatbed truck..  Took about 15 minutes with the forklift. Scopped it up, then drove to my shop and sat it on the floor.  Took longer to trype that than it did to move it. There was a delivery and pickup charge of $75 each way for the forklift, and $150 a day for the rental.  I bought machinery skates from Amazon and used my porta power to lift and sit it down.

We are selling the last of the Fadals at my work and I may buy one that has a 4th axis.  It's heavier though and have to rent a larger forklift.

So, what will I do with two machining centers???


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## alloy (Jul 7, 2019)

I've just been presented the opportunity to get an Okuma LC20 CNC lathe  This one is no light weight.  It's about 175 miles away and weighs in at 14,00lbs. I'm thinking about what it will take to get it here, and if I can rent a forklift that will lift it.  

The lathe itself is $2400 and in running condition, but I'm not sure if I can rent a truck  and forklift large enough to get it here.  It has a 10" chuck and it's a chucker with no tail stock.

I have a few things I'd like to make, but I'm on the fence if it's worth it or not. 

Decisions, decisions.


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## JimDawson (Jul 8, 2019)

alloy said:


> I've just been presented the opportunity to get an Okuma LC20 CNC lathe  This one is no light weight.  It's about 175 miles away and weighs in at 14,00lbs. I'm thinking about what it will take to get it here, and if I can rent a forklift that will lift it.
> 
> The lathe itself is $2400 and in running condition, but I'm not sure if I can rent a truck  and forklift large enough to get it here.  It has a 10" chuck and it's a chucker with no tail stock.
> 
> ...



That's a lot of lathe.  Of course you need it. At 14K lbs, I think you're going to want a 20K forklift. A Gooseneck trailer would be ideal https://www.portlandrentall.com/equipment.asp?action=category&category=5&key=255060713-2 



But then you will need a 1 ton truck to tow it with.  Time to go truck shopping


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## Janderso (Jul 8, 2019)

In other words, use your brain not your muscles.


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## alloy (Jul 8, 2019)

JimDawson said:


> That's a lot of lathe.  Of course you need it.
> 
> But then you will need a 1 ton truck to tow it with.  Time to go truck shopping


Somehow Jim it doesn't surprise me that you said I need it.   So a 1ton pickup,  say $20k. They probably can't load it so $2k for that.  Then maybe $500 to get it here,  then I'd bet well over $500 to rent a forklift (that's if they rent and deliver them).  

So my $2400 lathe turns into about $25k. That's if my RPC is big enough to run it.  I'm guessing it's not. It says the spindle motor is DC 15-22 kw.

All this for one multi start gear I need made.


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## JimDawson (Jul 8, 2019)

alloy said:


> Somehow Jim it doesn't surprise me that you said I need it.   So a 1ton pickup,  say $20k. They probably can't load it so $2k for that.  Then maybe $500 to get it here,  then I'd bet well over $500 to rent a forklift (that's if they rent and deliver them).
> 
> So my $2400 lathe turns into about $25k. That's if my RPC is big enough to run it.  I'm guessing it's not. It says the spindle motor is DC 15-22 kw.
> 
> All this for one multi start gear I need made.



Of course you need one because you don't have one, but when you put it that way maybe it doesn't make so much sense.   I might be able to help you out with the gear, send a drawing if you have one.


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## aliva (Jul 9, 2019)

will your floor take a 14,000 lb load?


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## alloy (Jul 9, 2019)

That's definitely something to consider.  I didn't build the shop so I know nothing about the floor. 

Something else to consider is will my gravel driveway support 40k?   I'm betting a 20k forklift has to weigh at least 25k or more. Combine the forklift and lathe and that's pretty heavy.


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## JimDawson (Jul 9, 2019)

As long as the drive is dried out should be no problem.  Really depends on the footprint of the machine.  An Abrams tank (~120K lbs) has about the same weight /sqft as you and I do.  The large pneumatic tires on a large forklift have a pretty light footprint.

The shop floor?  Not sure about that.  My lathe is 10,200lb and sits on four 6 inch sq plates, hasn't broken my 3.5 inch floor yet.  But that is about the only part of the floor that is not damaged, my small forklift with hard tires has taken a toll on the floor.


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