Well my PM932 mill is sold so I spent the morning taking it down off the stand and moving the Ferro mill into it's place. Here are a few pics.
The shop started the day looking like this.
To move the big mill I screwed the leveling feet down through the base as far as possible to raise the base enough the get my floor jack under it. I removed the jack pad and the front wheels from the jack so it would fit under the base frame of the mill. I raised it one side at a time enough to get my heavy duty wheels under it, threaded onto the leveling bolts.
It's amazing how easy a 2500 lb machine moves with the right wheels under it. I rolled it about 5 feet forward to get access to the PM mill with the engine crane.
I removed the power feed motor and the motor that moves the head up-down and put them into the little wood pallets that came with the machine. I lowered the head as low as I dared and used a tennis ball under the spindle to hold the power feed motor in the box. The 2 little pallets are held down with T-nuts and studs. I also removed the X and Y axis handles.
I wrapped a 5000lb strap around the head where it fastens to the column and used my engine crane to lift the machine off the base and lowered it onto some cinder blocks where it will rest until the new owner comes to pick it up.
Then I maneuvered the big mill into the space where the PM machine was. This really gives me a lot more space.
I used the jack again to remove the wheels and install the leveling feet and get it leveled. There's only about 6" of clearance under my furnace but that won't be a problem unless I have to remove the motor from the mill.
The new owner of the PM mill is from Calgary and is going to pick it up Thursday evening. It shouldn't take more than 20 minutes to load it and get him on his way.
