Millrite Moving Methods?

[DavidR8]

I agree with John. Lots of things transpire to shift a sellers perspective.

A few years back I was looking for a surface grinder. Found one local for $3000. Contacted the seller, back and forthed a bit, didn't come to an agreement. He also had another surface grinder, two large presses and a large heat treat oven.
A few weeks later seller got in touch with me and says I can have "it" for $1000.
"It" turned out to be all of it.
Reason was he lost his lease and had to move the stuff in two weeks.
I listed all the stuff, hired a rigger to move and load for the buyers and moved it all in a morning.
I didn't make a huge amount of money but got a surface grinder for free which I later sold.

 

[mmcmdl]

I've moved more equipment in and out than I can remember over the years . I had an old buddy come yesterday to look at some of the larger equipment as I'm looking for space lately . Expecting my first retirement check in a week and will be done with full time work . As far as moving equipment , I bought a 14 ft Bobcat trailer and put a 13,000 lb winch on the front of it . It'll yank anything up the ramp that you can throw at it . Total price of the 2 was less than $1400 . I pull with a 2003 F-250 6.0 diesel . It is built and gets terrible mileage but it will tow a house . Wish I could help out here but 3000 miles away .

 

[PNW_Guy]

Buying everything certainly pushes the price down. I was in a similar spot - I found a mill I wanted, but I had to buy everything the guy had. 2 lathes, the mill, bandsaw, tooling, 200# of mostly aluminum stock, drill bits, end mills, and *so many* vintage, high quality metrology tools.

I got two weeks to move it, but a work trip gave me a week. I got the deal of a lifetime, and after I sell the lathes and some of the other items, I'll have a pretty darn cheap mill.

Do you have the desire and ability to buy everything, and make a bunch of money?

 

[pontiac428]

@Dave Bonzo, find out what he has and get pics. If he has lots of tooling, a surface grinder, or a T&C grinder in that offer, I might be convinced to go out there with you and help offset costs. It all depends, I don't leave my shop much on weekends of late. But I have those calibrated equipment assessing eyes and a little cash reserve for times like this.

 

[ryanjg118]

Thanks to @macardoso for tipping me off on this thread and convincing me to sign up for this forum. Nice to meet you all.

What are the chances that someone within a 90-minute drive of @Dave Bonzo is also purchasing a different Millrite this month and is looking for advice on how to move it? I'll have to brush up on my probability equations, but I'm pretty sure that would be a very small number.

I'm fortunate the seller put me in touch with an acquaintance who is also a hobby machinist with rigging experience, and this individual has kindly offered to help on the day of the move, along with providing me advice on how best to move this machine. One complicating factor: the machine is located in a basement and the easiest egress is going to be out the back door, and around a paved walkway along the side of the house to reach the road. The width of this walkway (and the back patio door) are 32-33", so some disassembly will be required.

Here is our rough moving plan:

1. Disassemble the machine as @Ischgl99 mentioned earlier in this thread. In this order, remove the table, then the quill/motor, and finally the ram. We will be using a 2-ton engine hoist with heavy duty ratchet straps to remove these components. (I have read and noted the concerns with engine hoists earlier in this thread; we will only be using it to remove these subassemblies, not for the actual move outside.)
2. Install 5/8" eye bolts into the base casting and use as our lifting points. Hoist the base onto a heavy-duty plywood dolly with large casters.
3. The side walkway does have a slope, so each component we move on the dolly will be strapped with a tree saver connected to an anchor point at the top of the slope, and pulled up the hill with a Warn Pullzall or come-along.
4. Build a simple gantry crane from 4x4 posts that can be assembled on-site. Posts will be 12-feet in length to provide enough headroom to hoist the machine and components high enough to drive a flatbed trailer underneath it. I have a chainfall, or we could also use the Warn Pullzall (capacity of 1,000 lb hoisting) or come-along for lifting.

For trailer rentals, the closest thing to a flatbed near me would be a "14-Foot Deck Tandem Axle Trailer" from Sunbelt rentals or a "6x12 Utility Trailer Rental with Ramp" from U-Haul. I'm also purchasing and moving a Boxford tool room lathe at the same time, so the extra space on the trailer will be beneficial. I have an F150 for pulling it.

I left out a few details, but this is pretty much the gist. This will be my first mill and lathe, having come from woodworking and TIG. A natural progression.

 

[Ischgl99]

Sounds like a good plan. Enjoy your new to you machines!

 

[PNW_Guy]

For trailer rentals, the closest thing to a flatbed near me would be a "14-Foot Deck Tandem Axle Trailer" from Sunbelt rentals or a "6x12 Utility Trailer Rental with Ramp" from U-Haul. I'm also purchasing and moving a Boxford tool room lathe at the same time, so the extra space on the trailer will be beneficial. I have an F150 for pulling it.

Make sure to check with your rental place. Many won't rent a trailer unless you have a 3/4 ton (or larger) truck.
I'd also ask what size ball it takes, and if it has electric brakes or surge brakes.

At least in my experience, Sunbelt will have much better equipment that is much better maintained. They rent to construction companies who expect better equipment that what U Haul provides.

 

[pontiac428]

Make sure to check with your rental place. Many won't rent a trailer unless you have a 3/4 ton (or larger) truck.
I'd also ask what size ball it takes, and if it has electric brakes or surge brakes.

At least in my experience, Sunbelt will have much better equipment that is much better maintained. They rent to construction companies who expect better equipment that what U Haul provides.

I agree, especially U-haul with their overkill tow vehicle requirements. I moved my (big) mill with one of the u-haul utility trailers. Loaded with a fork lift, no problem, hauled no problem, unloaded... well, be sure to put jack stands under the rear corners of the trailer before using the ramp. The axle held weight fine, but once the machine was on the ramp and the weight came off the tongue, I needed to stop to change my overalls. I appreciated the lower deck of the U-haul, but for ramp unloading it was a bit sketchy. The drawback to the equipment hauler from Sunbelt is the deck height. All depends on what you have to unload with.

 

[gard]

I am not an expert rigger but would not be concerned with backing a trailer under a tool suspended from an engine hoist. The biggest thing I have noticed is the need to push or pull the tool from a low point. With a rope tied on down near the castors, the tool can be pulled over a crack in the floor. If someone tries to help by pushing on the lathe headstock, the lathe can tip over very quick.

 

[Dave Bonzo]

So...update:

It's taken over three weeks, but I'm finally almost finished with getting my Toyota wired up to pull a trailer. It's honestly been about a ten-hour job, but it's one where I have to work for 30 minutes to get to the next decision-making point, then make a decision, then order parts, and then wait for them to arrive, then install them, and then begin the entire process again. It would have been faster and easier (and probably cheaper, in the end) to rent a truck, but this method gives me future options. So, that's a plus.

The other news is that now, for whatever reason, there's a 2,000-pound gear hobber included, if I want it. I can't think of why I actually would want that - I mean, if it did rack gears that would be one thing, but I don't know that it does - but it's available. I was already considering that a second trip might be necessary, depending on what I end up getting...but now that seems more likely. Hopefully I will be going this Sunday to get things...and I may have to leave the night before, because it's a 5.5-hour trip, one way, without stops. That's closer to 7 hours in real-world travel time, which makes for a 14-hour day of driving without any time allotted for loading anything. So, I'm thinking that I'll:

1. Pick up the trailer and some roll-a-lifts on Friday.
2. Move the last couple of large things out of my garage on Saturday morning.
3. Leave Saturday afternoon.
4. Overnight nearby.
5. Get up early on Sunday, load up everything possible, and then head back.

Naturally, that process has to be repeated if there's a second trip. Small price to pay for some decent tools, though...so let's hope that they're in good shape. If they aren't...this is not going to be a fun experience for me.