Moving Tree Journeyman Mill - sanity check

I'm going to pick up a Tree Journeyman Mill and haul it about 300 miles, from Lancaster to Orange County, CA. The mill is about 3,500 pounds, which puts the mill alone 500 pounds over the limit I can haul with my car. So, what I'm planning on doing is renting a big SUV or a van from Avis/Budget/etc... rent-a-car and hauling on either a lowboy utility trailer or a car trailer with a wooden floor. (Another option is to rent a moving truck with alift gate, but I don't think the gates normally lift 3,500 pounds.)

I'll make sure the mill is solidly in place at it's feet by screwing some 2x4's to the wooden trialer deck as cleats. The knee will be down as low as I can get it, and I'll have eight or ten lengths of good quality rope tied to the top of the mill and the trailer to make sure it doesn't tip over.

I should have no problem loading the mill onto a trailer with a forklift, however, I won't have a forklift at my house to unload it.

The mill will be bolted to some 4x4 skids so I can haul it down the trailer into my garage. There's a post set into concrete that I can use with a come-along to haul it off the trailer.

I've moved some heavy lathes (~1 ton) and a Hardinge Mill, so I have some idea of the dangers of what I'm getting into. I'm just a little nervous about unloading the mill. Maybe I should rent a fork lift for the day...

Please let me know if you have any suggestions!

Reply to
jpolaski
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I wish you the very best and feel confident that all will go well, but...DO YOU HAVE A VIDEO CAMERA? That way, the worst case scenario may bring you a compensatory income.

Reply to
Tom Gardner

I would swap the ropes for some 3" or 4" ratchet straps. Steve

Reply to
Steve Peterson

Well, yeas, I have a video camera... How would a video camera bring me a compensatory income if I get crushed to death? Or do you mean if the mill breaks loose on the freeway and kills a bunch of other people? Or do you mean that it's a bad idea and doesn't pass a sanity check?

Reply to
jpolaski

I don't believe that any of the car rental companies will rent a vehicle for towing. The only place around here (Illinois) that I can get one is a local rent-a-center, but they charge something unholy like 90c per mile for an F-350 pickup truck.

A 24' truck is a whole lot cheaper for that distance. Typically they run about $60 a day plus 20c per mile. You can rent a fork truck on your end for about $100 a day delivered and picked up from your home.

And you are right about a lift gate. The ones that come with the aforementioned 24' truck are all rated at 2,000 Lb.

Reply to
George

Thanks, that's a good idea. I'll pick some up. I have some 1" or 2" straps, but it's better to be safe then sorry.

Reply to
jpolaski

You should be using properly tensioned chains fore and aft, secured to substantial eyes on the trailer. It should be secured as well as a vehicle or heavy equipment would be. You should get some advice from a local truck/trailer place that sells DOT approved chain and hardware. Make sure the rigging passes muster so you can avoid accidents or trouble with the policia.

Reply to
ATP*

The thing with a moving truck that troubles me is this: how do I fasten the mill down inside the truck?

Reply to
jpolaski

On 12 Apr 2005 16:05:09 -0700, the inscrutable snipped-for-privacy@rgs.uci.edu spake:

Many moving trucks have side cleats for fastening tiedowns. Ask the renter if you can also lag it down if it has a boltdown base. Put it forward in the truck as far as possible and centered. Then it won't break or become a projectile if it breaks loose if you hit something or if you have to stop really fast. (Those are 3 nasty IFs.)

Quick, order fellow rec.metalhead Ron Thompson's CD about Rigging. It'll tell you all you need to know. ;)

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CD #4

---------------------------------- VIRTUE...is its own punishment

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Reply to
Larry Jaques

The truck rentals local to me won't rent a box truck if the know it will be used to move machinery (they ask). The reason given is that there are no substantial hardpoints to tie to. Hertz (around here) will rent a 18' flatbed that would hold your mill. At $150/day and $1.50/mi, plus buying chains and ratchets (that machine is too big for straps), plus renting a big fork lift, it might be pretty close to the cost of having it shipped to you. I have also moved a Hardinge mill, and I am the Lone Ranger of moving heavy objects (I prefer that no one else be in the way). At 3500 pounds, I would bite the bullet and have it placed where it was wanted. Ask the fellows for movers in your area.

Worth what it costs.

Kevin Gallimore

Reply to
axolotl

I have never seen anything in a box truck substantial enough for securing a

3,500 pound machine. Anything attached to the sides would not be sufficient. I'm thinking about putting some kind of anchors in the floor of my box truck, but for the most part I've found a trailer to be a more practical way to move machinery.
Reply to
ATP*

$12 at Home Depot for the good ones.

And Jeff? Rent the forklift, or findout if your local towing company will unload it with their boom wrecker.

Gunner

Rule #35 "That which does not kill you, has made a huge tactical error"

Reply to
Gunner

Save yourself some powerful grief. I rented a diesel flatbed that had a bed about 4 feet in the air. I think it was an Isuzu. Anyway, the lathe I was moving weighed about 5000 lbs. I told the rental place what I was planning on moving and they said "no problem". After loading with a forklift and securing the lathe properly with chains and binders I took it out on an empty road and did a few panic stops and swervs. I could hardly tell the thing was there. So I drove home with it and never had to worry about rolling or spilling my load. And having a truck with the proper capacity made a huge difference. Once back at the shop I used another fork lift to unload it. Can you have a fork lift delivered to your place? It can make life so much easier. When I removed the lathe I just lifted it clear of the truck and my son drove the truck away. This way there was no fork lift travel with a load high in the air. After lowering gently I placed the lathe in the shop. And there was NEVER any time when someone was near enough to the load to be hurt if I lost the load. Remember that those straps have a HUGE capacity to absorb and release energy. If one breaks it can whip someone really hard and cause bad injuries. Be sure the straps are protected from abrason and that if one breaks everyone is out of the way of anywhere it might land. If it costs you 200 bucks extra for the lift at home maybe it's just good insurance. Sorry about the kinda rant. I live with constant pain from crushing injuries (not related to moving machines though) and it aint worth it. I know how you feel about wanting to do it all yourself, I still try to do some thing I shouldn't. But if a 3000 lb machine gets away and you are in it's way you won't even slow it up. More likely you'll just grease the skids so to speak and it'll slide further on your blood. ERS

Reply to
Eric R Snow

By the time you rent a truck, buy tie downs, pay mileage, rent a forklift, and spend the time, could you pay someone to deliver it? I'm just wondering... Is it that expensive?

I paid a rigger to deliver my mill and it cost about the same as I would have spent had I rented the stuff needed to do it myself. Of course, my mill was only 30 miles away so obviously YMMV.

Peter

Reply to
Peter Grey

WOW, even my sick brain didn't even conceive those nasty thoughts. Your move seems perfectly orchestrated and you have the main ingredient for success---UNBRIDLED FEAR! I was just poking a little comic relief into a tense situation. Best wishes!

Reply to
Tom Gardner

would you not be cheaper and more secure to have it shipped?? surely there is a cartage company that can handle it? Train maybe?

Doug

Reply to
Doug Schultz

I think that it's one of the problems with email, the tone didn't really come through for me. I didn't mean to imply you were thinking something like that, I just didn't know what you really meant.

I'm nervous about moving this thing. If I can find a big enough truck I'll haul it on a trailer, but I'm really having a hard time finding something I can rent to haul it with.

Reply to
jpolaski

Good suggestion. I didn't even think about a boom wrecker.

Reply to
jpolaski

Weight sounds like a journeyman 325. The machine is quite top heavy, even with the knee down as the footprint is not that large.

This unit has holes for lifting eyes at the top. To the best of my knowledge the eyes have a 1" dia thread mount. If the eyes have been removed, get some to re-install and use as tie points while moving. Also, rent a lift that can crane the unit by the eyes rather than lift from the bottom.

Personaly, I'd pay to have it moved. Although you can probably scab together a move yourself, even the slightest problem could make it such a pain that it's not worth the hassle. Around my area, there is a used equipment dealer (excavators, dozers, etc) that will load a lift on their lowboy and move stuff like this for a good price. You might see of there is similar in your area.

Koz

Reply to
Koz

Thanks for the reply. I have some injuries from a motorcycle accident, and I agree that it's important to be safe. It's not worth it to hurt myself for *any* peice of equipment. And I understand that this mill would easily kill me if it fell on me. It would be a big enough problem if it just tipped over...

I don't think I can find a big pick-up truck to haul this thing on a trailer, so it looks like I'll need to find something else, and use a fork lift to unload it. I'll look into a flat bed.

Thanks for the advice.

Reply to
jpolaski

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