PM1236T Installation in Basement

[Flyinfool]

Make a plan and work the plan. Love it when a plan comes together.

That is pretty close to how mine came down to. except I had wheels on the dolly to ride down the ramp. I used my full size 4x4 truck to lower it down. with NO ONE allowed in the house or basement in case it got away. But my cable has a working load of 12,000 lbs. so escape was unlikely.

My lathe came with a forged lifting eye installed at the exact center of gravity, made it easy to lift.

 

[Ischgl99]

This is exactly how I got my lathe in my basement! Nice job!

Thanks, it’s nice to see others coming up with creative solutions too.

 

[Ischgl99]

Make a plan and work the plan. Love it when a plan comes together.

That is pretty close to how mine came down to. except I had wheels on the dolly to ride down the ramp. I used my full size 4x4 truck to lower it down. with NO ONE allowed in the house or basement in case it got away. But my cable has a working load of 12,000 lbs. so escape was unlikely.

My lathe came with a forged lifting eye installed at the exact center of gravity, made it easy to lift.

Sometimes I over think things, but in a case like this, that is a good thing. I was thinking of adding wheels, but was concerned about the skid dropping at the end of the flatbed when the wheels moved from the deck to overhanging the plywood over the stairs until it pivoted enough. I figured once we got it moving on the flatbed, we wouldn’t have any problem getting it down. I installed a pulley on the front of the skid and one on the door frame that I could use to pull it off the flatbed if necessary. We didn’t need to use it.

I was looking at a Harrison M300 that has a tapped hole for a lifting eye, it would be nice if all lathes had that. I decided against that lathe in part because I would have needed to rent a gantry crane to get it off the trailer unless I was able to find a tilting trailer I could slid it off of. In the end, I am very happy with this lathe, until I need 13” swing lol.

 

[Just for fun]

Your setup looks good, the flat bed was a great idea! When I finely get a lathe I'll have another problem. I have a step gravel driveway with an incline before I can get into the shop. I don't think it will be a problem after seeing what you just acomlished. Again Good job!

Tim

 

[Janderso]

Your setup looks good, the flat bed was a great idea! When I finely get a lathe I'll have another problem. I have a step gravel driveway with an incline before I can get into the shop. I don't think it will be a problem after seeing what you just acomlished. Again Good job!

Tim

That pic of the ramp with the lathe up top is awesome!
A scary moment and exciting too.
Congratulations!

 

[Ischgl99]

Your setup looks good, the flat bed was a great idea! When I finely get a lathe I'll have another problem. I have a step gravel driveway with an incline before I can get into the shop. I don't think it will be a problem after seeing what you just acomlished. Again Good job!

Tim

Thank you! I posted this to help others looking to do the same thing since there was not much info I could find on similar moves. We had an early snow storm a few days after this was delivered, so I had the luxury of time to figure some of this out while the snow melted. I’m very happy the next storm didn’t come through for a few weeks so I didn’t have to wait for spring to get it in the basement!

Since you don’t have the lathe yet, you have time to think through how you want to do it. I wasn’t expecting the crate to be on another pallet, of course wider than my engine hoist, so there was some head scratching to figure out what to do. I almost rented a gantry crane when I realized I had the floor jack that would help raise the skid so I could work on it. While researching this lathe, I came across an equipment trailer that lowers to the ground and could avoid needing a gantry crane to get a machine off the trailer. A tilt trailer could work too. Since you have a steep gravel driveway, it might be easier to rent a trailer like that and pick it up at the depot rather than taking the risk the truck drops it off at the curb. If you don’t have one already, a long crow bar is very helpful when needing to lift corners or raise it up a little bit to fit jacks underneath.

 

[Ischgl99]

That pic of the ramp with the lathe up top is awesome!
A scary moment and exciting too.
Congratulations!

Thanks! I like that picture too, a perfect example of gravity being your friend or foe! The scariest moment was when 2/3 of the lathe was hanging out off the end of the bed before it started to rotate down! I wish I had a picture of that!

 

[Flyinfool]

I can certainly understand the being to busy to take pics. With that much weight you have to have full attention to the job at hand to be sure no one or no machinery is hurt in the process.

The casters on my cart have 6 inch wheels to handle bumps.
I used the same cart to lower the 3400 LB mill down the steps. I will admit to doing some disassembly on that or it would have never fit thru the back door.

 

[RJSakowski]

I also used a ramp to get machines and other heavy hardware in and out of my basement. I made my ramp with two 2x8 rails tied together with 2x4 cross pieces. I used either my tractor or my neighbor's Bobcat for an anchor and a Come-Along to coax the load down the ramp. My ramp extended past the staircase by enough that we were able to place the load on it in the horizontal position and then tilting the ramp down. This eliminates the scary moment of tilting the load to meet the ramp. My basement has a 20" stone wall divider which provided a convenient lower anchor point. Once into the shop area, I was able to lift the machines onto stands with either a sky hook or an engine hoist.

 

[Ischgl99]

I can certainly understand the being to busy to take pics. With that much weight you have to have full attention to the job at hand to be sure no one or no machinery is hurt in the process.

The casters on my cart have 6 inch wheels to handle bumps.
I used the same cart to lower the 3400 LB mill down the steps. I will admit to doing some disassembly on that or it would have never fit thru the back door.

My mill is fairly small, probably only weighs 1000 lbs, but I had to disassemble that too a bit to make sure it went through the door. I took the head/ram off and then used eye bolts through the holes for the straps. Made it nice and easy to get it in there.