Preparing to Move a Lathe Safely

[ErichKeane]

I've already gotten over that shock. While not as much as the lathe, the riggers cost a substantial fraction. I decided that, particularly everything going on with the pandemic, for once I was just going to hire professionals. If I had a tow vehicle with a hitch I might do it myself with help, but arranging for truck rental, trailer rental, etc. got to be overwhelming (and would be ~$600 also so not exactly cheap).

Not that much, but I got ya I already had the pickup (though a friend with one would work too ), and it was about $150 in sunbelt rentals for a weekend, plus a cheap bottle jack. I spent about that in beer thanking my buddies for helping!

EDIT: Turns out UHaul rents pickups that can tow for only $20/day + mileage! That seems like a deal.

 

[ACHiPo]

Not that much, but I got ya I already had the pickup (though a friend with one would work too ), and it was about $150 in sunbelt rentals for a weekend, plus a cheap bottle jack. I spent about that in beer thanking my buddies for helping!

EDIT: Turns out UHaul rents pickups that can tow for only $20/day + mileage! That seems like a deal.

Around here 3/4 ton pickups go for $200/day. Trailers are $80/day. Plus rigging gear.

 

[ACHiPo]

More pictures please.

I started a thread in the "less popular machines" forum with lots of pictures.

Graziano 12S

I pulled the trigger on a Graziano 12S and thought I'd upload some information. I went from the name being vaguely familiar a few weeks ago to being convinced this was the lathe for me. I'd pretty much decided on a Hardinge HVL-H as it had the precision, work envelope, and size that works...

www.hobby-machinist.com

 

[Chipper5783]

ACHi, Using professional movers is a good decision. It is not the only good way to move a machine, but very expedient. I've moved about 10 machines that size (some several times) and I am very comfortable with all the approaches described above. When I bought the VMC, a condition of purchase was to use professional machine movers (well equipped, experienced and insured) to get the machine out of the building - it was an easy straight shot, but the owner was absolutely protecting his own business. Once the machine was out in the parking lot he didn't care what I did. Needless to say, once the movers, with all there kit were there, got the machine outside I had them deliver it the 10 miles to my shop.

The move cost me 42% the price of the machine. That was money very well spent. The job got done very smoothly, safely and quickly. Even considering the moving cost I still got the machine for a good overall price.

I read all the examples of people completing a move with very little spend. That's great (and something I find fun to do), but there is a lot to be said for just getting it done and the extra spend is soon forgotten.

You've made a good choice: go to a dealer, buy a very classy machine, get it moved and start using it.

 

[ErichKeane]

Around here 3/4 ton pickups go for $200/day. Trailers are $80/day. Plus rigging gear.

You don't particularly need a 3/4 ton pickup, a 2 door F150 ($20/day at Uhaul) will haul 6-7k all day. (I checked, Pleasanton is the same price).

Trailer is $45/day at the Pleasanton, CA Sunbelt: https://www.sunbeltrentals.com/equipment/detail/1413/0241700/8-9ft-lift-bed-single-axle-trailer-10k/
Roll-a-lift is $75/day near you (cheaper for you than me!).

Note that at Sunbelt, if you rent on a Friday and get it back by Monday at opening, that counts as 1 day! So thats $120 in equipment, plus ~$60-80 in truck rental ) is $200 in rentals + $0.79 per mile on the uhaul.

As for rigging gear, I get tiedown straps at Harbor Freight any time they are on sale, so I end up having a bunch of extras that work great.

I definitely understand if the justification for you is more "I don't want to be responsible if it breaks" and wanting a pro do it, that is reasonable justification. In my case, I was planning on paying more than I paid for the machine, and still couldn't get riggers to be willing to bid the job :/

That said, I was quite surprised at how easy it ended up being. My lathe is big 'ole arn', so its a solid 5k (since it was also full of oil when I bought it, AND has a motor 2x the factory size!), AND I had a bit of an 'uphill' portion.

I was able to bottle jack under the bed (it was forklifted into the trailer) and put it on skates, we had a touch of work getting it out of the trailer (there is a 'texture' to the bed that made the steel wheel'ed skates difficult), but a few ratchet straps as make-shift-come-alongs attached to the floor made quick work of it! After that, it was just the 3 of us pushing it (surprisingly easily!) and making sure we chocked it on the bit of an incline. It took about an hour all told to get it into place.

I've since put feet on it (it didn't come with them, so initially I had it just on the floor), but I haven't had to move it. Those feet above with the built-in-casters seem cool though!