Millrite Moving Methods?

[Dave Bonzo]

I'm having trouble finding a lift-deck right in my area, but it's late and I'm tired so I might just be doing it wrong. You'd think that anywhere around Tacoma would be good for that, but the only ones I've found so far have severe mileage and destination restrictions. They also have a one-ton tow vehicle requirement, so good call on that one, guys.

Meanwhile, I'll post in the subforum that was linked. Here's to hoping that someone is headed from the Spokane area back towards I-5 and desperately needs to place 1400 pounds on their trailer in order to feel better about life.

 

[Ischgl99]

I edited your post for brevity; apologies for that.

Not a problem, makes it easier to know which part you are responding to.

Here are a few pictures to help you decide how much you might want to disassemble it. This is the quill/ram assembly.

The quill housing is mounted to the front of the ram by 4 bolts, these are the bolts I mentioned if you loosen them, the quill housing and motor can quickly rotate on you, there is no gear mechanism like on a Bridgeport to adjust the angle, it is either loose, or tight. When loosening the bolts, leave one tight and then slowly loosen while holding on to the motor and then rotate down. It’s heavy, so be prepared. You can remove the housing by taking those 4 bolts out and pulling it towards you if you are facing the mill. Do not hoist by the motor mounting plate, that is only held on by a pinch bolt that clamps to the housing and there is a risk it could come off if not secure enough. Wrap the sling around the housing instead.

You can remove the entire quill/ram assembly as one piece, but it will rotate on you, so make sure you support it to keep from rotating like in the previous paragraph if you choose to do that. If you remove the quill housing first, place a sling under the ram and lift up after removing the nuts shown below.

These bolts are 5/8” diameter, so if you are using eye bolts to lift the base, that is the maximum size to have on hand.

I removed the table to get it into my basement, you shouldn’t need to do that to move it, but if you need to, remove components from this end. You will need Allen wrenches as well as a pin wrench to remove the lock nut for the bearings. I use an adjustable type with a 3/16” pin. You then use the other end hand wheel to unscrew the leadscrew and take the table off. I used my engine hoist with eye bolts in the T slots of the table to support the weight.

I attached a pdf manual for the mill that shows the parts breakdown to give you a better visual of the parts being removed.

 

[pontiac428]

Tacoma is the regional mecca for rentals. Sunbelt, United, and Star Rentals have multiple outlets in the area, and they will pull equipment from any branch in the region. Last time I rented from Sunbelt, they delivered and picked up the equipment for a small fee.

 

[PNW_Guy]

Moving equipment is expensive and time consuming, especially if you don't have a tow rig. Doubly so if you haven't done much of it before.

The last time I moved stuff took 4 days, and probably cost me $300-$400 - and I have all the rigging I need, as well as a 1 ton truck. The shop was 15 miles away. There's no budget way to do it, unless you disassemble things down to the last nut and bolt. All that said, I was thrilled to find that much equipment so close by.

 

[Dave Bonzo]

Tacoma is the regional mecca for rentals. Sunbelt, United, and Star Rentals have multiple outlets in the area, and they will pull equipment from any branch in the region. Last time I rented from Sunbelt, they delivered and picked up the equipment for a small fee.

I'm going to look more into it today; I kind of hit a wall last night and couldn't make heads or tails of the rental terms, so I need to put fresh eyes on it and see what I can come up with.

I did see the price of truck rentals, however. If you can find one, 1+ ton stuff is not cheap. Less expensive than owning one, but still: damn.

 

[Dave Bonzo]

Moving equipment is expensive and time consuming, especially if you don't have a tow rig. Doubly so if you haven't done much of it before.

The last time I moved stuff took 4 days, and probably cost me $300-$400 - and I have all the rigging I need, as well as a 1 ton truck. The shop was 15 miles away. There's no budget way to do it, unless you disassemble things down to the last nut and bolt. All that said, I was thrilled to find that much equipment so close by.

I've moved a lot of things within a shop, and a lot of lighter things a long distance, but nothing heavy like this. And it seems like it could be so easy...

 

[PNW_Guy]

I've moved a lot of things within a shop, and a lot of lighter things a long distance, but nothing heavy like this. And it seems like it could be so easy...

Getting it off the floor and onto the trailer is the biggest headache. Get the center of gravity as low as possible. Use ratchet straps that you *really* trust. Think about which way the mill will try and move if you hit the brakes, go around a corner, etc.

I'd offer a hand, but I'm as far from Spokane as you can be, while still in the PNW.

Renting the truck makes it so much more expensive.

 

[Dave Bonzo]

Getting it off the floor and onto the trailer is the biggest headache. Get the center of gravity as low as possible. Use ratchet straps that you *really* trust. Think about which way the mill will try and move if you hit the brakes, go around a corner, etc.

I've never met a ratchet strap that I trust, and I've met many of them...but unlike people, I've found them to be reliable and predictable when in numbers.

Large numbers.

Very large numbers.

I'd offer a hand, but I'm as far from Spokane as you can be, while still in the PNW.

That's much appreciated, and kind of the main part of the pickle: I've looked on a map and Spokane isn't really close to anything except itself and Idaho.

Renting the truck makes it so much more expensive.

Yes it does. I found a tentative rate on a baby drop-deck trailer from Sunbelt - it's more of a tilt-and-lower deck that uses the trailer jack to level it out - at $100 and some change for the day, and that isn't bad...but trucks are stupid expensive. I just typed in "tow vehicle rentals" into Google and got some decent results, but truly indecent prices.

And, I guess there's Turo, but I've never used that service and don't know how it really works...but that's the only reasonably-priced method.

 

[pontiac428]

The small, dually rear axle U-haul box vans are 1-tons. But if you're going that route, you can ramp or dock load the box van instead of the trailer. Respect the weight of the mill, but also realize it's a small piece of equipment on the spectrum. A small warehouse forklift wouldn't even grunt getting that guy into the back of a van.

Another option is to hire a trucker. You can recruit one in Spokane or in Tacoma, arrange loading at the far end and you can manage unloading on the receiving end with a rental forklift on the ground. I've hired a few over the years, always at a cost savings over doing it myself. At one point, I was a CDL driver for an excavation company and had easy access to trucks and trailers, and it was still cheaper than my fuel cost to charter a one-way. When I bought my lathe, I paid like $0.25/mile from Cinci to Seattle, 3 day service. How was it so cheap? The business who bought the gigantic forming press that took up 75% of the trailer space paid for it, that's how! I chartered a 45' flatbed from San Francisco to Reno for $500 for a one-way haul of a cargo container (prices probably changed due to fuel and inflation), it was an easy 6-hour day for the trucker. So there are options.

 

[Dave Bonzo]

The small, dually rear axle U-haul box vans are 1-tons. But if you're going that route, you can ramp or dock load the box van instead of the trailer. Respect the weight of the mill, but also realize it's a small piece of equipment on the spectrum. A small warehouse forklift wouldn't even grunt getting that guy into the back of a van.

Another option is to hire a trucker. You can recruit one in Spokane or in Tacoma, arrange loading at the far end and you can manage unloading on the receiving end with a rental forklift on the ground. I've hired a few over the years, always at a cost savings over doing it myself. At one point, I was a CDL driver for an excavation company and had easy access to trucks and trailers, and it was still cheaper than my fuel cost to charter a one-way. When I bought my lathe, I paid like $0.25/mile from Cinci to Seattle, 3 day service. How was it so cheap? The business who bought the gigantic forming press that took up 75% of the trailer space paid for it, that's how! I chartered a 45' flatbed from San Francisco to Reno for $500 for a one-way haul of a cargo container (prices probably changed due to fuel and inflation), it was an easy 6-hour day for the trucker. So there are options.

Options are a very good thing; I'm going to look into those suggestions today and tomorrow. I'm also going to see how much a trailer costs; knowing that I'm going to move this stuff again in a year or two...it might make more sense to not have to go through this again. I'll have to figure out a hitch for the Toyota, though...

Oh, on that note...

Pictured: Inconvenience.