moving wells index mill with forklift

The way I moved mine was to center the ram and put fork under each end and lift. Block of wood on the fork so you don't ding things. This is how I was told before but if this isn't the right way someone let me know as I'm getting ready to move it again.

Steve.

rigger,

straight

Tim

The height already has been take into account. Should anything be put between the forks and the dovetail that the head is mounted to?

If this is really like a Bridgeport, then before moving it the head should be rotated upside down and the knee raised to support it, with a sheet of thin plywood between. I had to move mine through a 28" door so I took the table off too (this was before the DRO was fitted). Pic:

A forklift is very commonly used and I've done this several times. I do use 1/4" plywood "shims" between the forks and the bottom of the ram. To do this, make sure the ram is set so it sticks out the same front & back.

GWE

snipped-for-privacy@cable> Tim Killian wrote:

More excellent advice. I liked the picture also. It was worth at least a few thousand words.

More excellent advice. I liked the picture also. It was worth at least a few thousand words.

Lower the knee. Put a 2x4 on the fork that goes under the table side of the ram. Put a piece of 3/4" stock on the fork that goes under the back side of the ram. Make sure you have enough fork under the head when lifing, Tilt back a bit past horizontal and go.

Oh..watch the table crank handles..crank the table away from the fork lift. They can be expensive to replace.

How far are you going with it?

Gunner

It's better to be a red person in a blue state than a blue person in a red state. As a red person, if your blue neighbors turn into a mob at least you have a gun to protect yourself. As a blue person, your only hope is to appease the red mob with herbal tea and marinated tofu.

(Phil Garding)

I dont have to go too far. I am moving it from Sugarland to Spring Tx (from the SW side to the north side of Houston.

I've done this with small-diameter iron pipe and a lift-gate truck. You can slide it on 3/4" plywood, too, to get from the truck to the garage, if needed. If the garage floor is smooth, you can slide it on that, too! If not, you lever it up with a crowbar just enough to get the 1/2" iron pipe under the base. You can lift it up onto 1x1 lumber first, slide the pipe under, and then remove the lumber to free it to roll. 3 or 4 lengths of the iron pipe can be fed under the base as you roll it slowly.

The M head is pretty light, so one person can easily take it down in pieces. The motor comes off real easily, then the belt housing, then the main head casting. Then, you can remove the round ram to lower the center of gravity even more. Don't be too surprised if the round ram is rusted in place, though. Mine was. Daily doses of penetrating oil usually frees it up in a couple of days.

But, if you have a fork lift that is beefy enough to safely lift the whole machine onto the trailer, then that may be the best way. If the trailer is small, removing the head and ram to lower the C.G. may be a good move. Definitely tie it down SECURELY, idiot drivers are everywhere. I had a woman make a left turn RIGHT in FRONT of a 20' rental truck with my Bridgeport in it. I was looking right into her face as I used the minimum brakes possible so as to just BARELY miss ramming her broadside while travelling about 40 MPH. Her eyes were as big as alarm clocks! Still, the Bridgeport made a good mess of my washer and dryer. They were repairable by using a sledge hammer to pound the cabinets back into shape.

Jon

I guess you mill wasn't tied down properly. I've moved a bridgeport a couple times with no mishaps but both times it was chained securely. I did emergency stops to be sure. I moved a lathe with a rented truck that had the bed about 4 feet in the air. The lathe weighs 5000 pounds so I was concerned about all that weight sliding and changing my center of gravity. After chaining and stopping fast to assure myself that the lathe wouldn't move I set off towards home The truck handled beautifully. The truck rental places knew what I was moving and suggested the truck. They were absolutely right. It sure pays to explain as exactly as you can what you want to move when renting a truck to move a big machine. ERS

snipped-for-privacy@cableone.net wrote in news:1107359529.785787.5410 @g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

Check the top of the ram. There should be a drilled an tapped hole there. It's for an eye bolt. Install an eye bolt and use a strap over the forks, and through the eye bolt to lift it. Also swing the head up side down, put a 4x4 block of wood on the table and run the knee up to the head, remove all handles. Do not pick up a turret/knee mill from underneath. They are top heavy and tip over easily. You can also use a hydraulic engine hoist to lift it this way to get it out of the garage safely.

Dan

Definitely

Yup, mistake lots of guys make is to think about normal sideways forces on the load when they're rolling carefully. The thing they should think about is when someone slams into them, does the load move THEN?

horse of a different color .. also, don't rely on a strap over the knee even if the knee's locked, because it can wiggle a little lower. I looked in the rearview mirror once and saw my BP gently swaying from side to side, almost had a heart attack. I was *so* lucky that time!

GWE

That swaying made me remember: Don't let anyone close to the machine when you are moving it! I rented a forflift that had a clutch/brake pedal. The thing was supposed to work like an automatic transmission. You take your foot off the clutch/brake pedal and then give the lift some gas. Like an auotmatic transmission it's supposed to take off gently, slowly building speed. The lift I rented would just sit there and then when the rpm got high enough slam into gear. This scared the shit pretty much outta me when my wife ran up to the mill and tried to steady it as it was swinging from the forks after that goddamn lift jerked forward. I yelled at her to get the hell away from it. Let it fall if it wants. That she would hardly slow it up as it crushed her. I managed to put the mill in the garage without any damage to anything or anybody. When I returned the forklift I told them about it's strange behaviour and they remarked that they knew about it and "really had to fix it some day". No wonder they went out of business after a couple years. Anyway, just be sure that no one can be injured if the mill goes somewhere you don't want it to. The advice to remove the handles etc. is good advice. It all comes off easily and quickly. You probably need to clean some gunk out and this will get you going on that. Since nobody is getting paid to move the mill you might as well take a little extra time and avoid getting a good cautionary tale out of this. ERS

I moved my Bridgeport the same way. Rented a mondo 24' truck, I couldn't even feel the weight on the drive home. And you can get insurance along with the rental too.

The only thing that wasn't perfect about the truck was it didn't have any hard points inside to tie off with, so I had to use shorter lengths of rope looped around what tie points the inside of the box afforded. It was secure enough, just annoying to set up. $150 in transport rental may seem like a lot, but when you're actually driving your 2500+ lb tool home and not having the vehicle falling apart around you, it starts looking a whole bunch better.

Gregm

Far enough..For some reason I thought it was a few feet. My bad.

Since having to replace the nuts in a knee after the mill was driven over a speed bump and the knee blew the nuts and dropped..I strongly suggest making sure that the knee gibs are locked tight! and that an approriate block of wood is placed between the quill and the spindle, the spindle is down against the block of wood and locked as well.

Others will suggest losening the head and turning it upside down, but Ive personally never found that to be necessary, nor do the vast majority of the machine tool dealers that I know.

I personally like to put a block of wood UNDER the knee, and lower it onto the block of wood so its resting there, then drop the spindle to another block of wood...so the whole thing is solidly supported. Lock all gibs etc.

But the advise others have given you is good too.

Whats your nose taper? B&S 9" The Indexes are good machines and stiffer than Bridgeports. Much heavier too.

Gunner

" We have all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare...Thanks to AOL and WebTv, we know this is not possible."

You were lucky, Richard. Based on my experience I don't trust chaining over an unsupported knee even if it's locked. A little hydraulic jack beneath to take the load would really help.

Nice photos, though.

GWE