Machinist Dynapower 10x50 Vertical Mill

[mmcmdl]

I own three machine skates/dollies. I was told never use four. Does this make sense?

It does Jeff . One in the middle on one side , 2 on the other . Reason being , you'll always have 3 points of contact . Even with 4 , that 4th dollie always works it way out and you have that un-supported corner that drops . When that happens ................................run . I tried my best to hold up my Voest when I flipped it back when I was a strong but stupid youngster . Of course I failed and still have the cracked basement floor to show for it .

 

[Janderso]

It does Jeff . One in the middle on one side , 2 on the other . Reason being , you'll always have 3 points of contact . Even with 4 , that 4th dollie always works it way out and you have that un-supported corner that drops . When that happens ................................run . I tried my best to hold up my Voest when I flipped it back when I was a strong but stupid youngster . Of course I failed and still have the cracked basement floor to show for it .

You confirmed the information I got about the skates!
These machine tools can be very dangerous if the fall over.

 

[projectnut]

I've never been a fan of machine skates. Over a 20+ year career of designing and installing food processing and packaging equipment they were always a last resort. There are plenty of other ways to rig and move potentially top-heavy machines without the potentially fatal side effects.

Company employees would regularly move and install machines weighing 50 tons and under. We hired professional riggers to do the big stuff. Some of it was outrageous. I remember removing a 100-ton hot dog processing machine from the 7th story of an 8-story building. The machine was so large a section of the exterior wall had to be removed. We used a long reach 500-ton crane to get inside the building, lift it a few inches of its mounting piers and move it to the wall opening. It was set down on cribbing and rerigged for lowering it to the ground.

The whole process was a bit scarry to me, but the riggers took their time, made sure everything was properly secured and balanced perfectly. I think I held my breath the entire time the machine was in the air. All worked out well, but I wouldn't want to repeat it on a daily basis. If things didn't go well, I didn't want to be the one to tell the boss the $1,000,000.00+ machine had turned into a pile of scrap metal.

My preferred method of moving machines is rolling them to their destination on round stock. I've done it with both mills, a couple lathes, and a few saws. Here are a couple photos of moving the Sheldon lathe from the trailer to the garage.

 

[mmcmdl]

I use them under the back wheels of the tractors , and that is it !