Suggestions wanted - Long distance move revisited

You have a heavy delicate piece of machinery resting on a pallet during transport, and you're worried about it smashing through the pallet, perhaps when you hit a bump.

Lots of pallets are made from almost-reject wood. A piece of plywood wouldn't hurt. A scrap piece would be good enough. I'd use 3/4 inch, but that's because I have a bunch lying around.There must be something you have handy too. And, naturally, strap it down securely. You'll find that people who transport things daily, spend plenty of time securing their loads. It seems like a waste of time sometimes. But if you ever get into trouble, you'll be glad you "wasted" that time.

-- (||) Nehmo (||)

Like the time I got 45 - 1000m. reels (~3' dia. x 2' end to end) of airport lighting cable delivered in a closed trailer. When it was loaded, they stacked them three high, three wide, five rows across the front section of the trailer, with the rest of the contract supplies loaded behind. Unfortunately the driver hit the brakes in the first half mile, the first row rocked a little forward and the next row tipped so the reels meshed and so on. took us a whole day with a lowboy fork lift and flat bed to get the load off at the site without damaging it any further, plus each reel had to be double checked as the wire was installed. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

Take pictuers of your machines as you load them and then the full load. In case of the unthinkable happens you will need them for insurance purposes.

Best Regards Tom.

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Skids for machines are generaly build entirely out of 2" thick lumber. I'd build a special skid for each machine using 2 x 8s or similar. There's no need for boards on the bottom side, but I'd use two 2 x 4s flat for the riser part of the pallet at each of three spots. Bolt the machine to the pallet.

Sounds too sturdy, maybe, but the extra safety factor is well worth it.

Karl

I was just about to make almost the same suggestion, but I think 4 X 4s are a better idea. It gives you more surface for nails and lag bolts. Sometimes 4 X4 fence posts are cheaper than regular timbers. You could even consider landscaping timbers (like a 4 X 4 but two round sides). For the top, use 5/8" sheathing plywood.

Vaughn

Go for heavy timbers instead of a pallet or better still would be four inch square tubing. If you cannot afford four inch tube make a sub frame of four inch angles or wide flange beam welded together and drilled to accept the machine tool. I have seen many timbers slowly crush over a period of several weeks. Make the frame wide enough to prevent tipping Randy

In addition I would use deck screws instead of nails.

Wes

Hi Weyland,

The new Bridgeports we'd pickup at the Erie terminal in Chicago had 3 runners of 3x4s (irrc) on edge (no "going through the skid" for them) and a full deck of soft wood between 2" and 1" in thickness, using a combination of lag screws and 3/4" through bolts (round headed carriage bolts, actually).

This worked-out pretty well, untill the railroad would get carried away,on occasion, and hump the car. In this case (about every year or so) we'd get a call to go over to the yard to un- tangle a boxcar load of new Bridgport mills; an ugly sight if I've ever seen one.

So my point is: Use three runners, 3/4" ply on top of your

1" to 2" thick deck, use as many through bolts through the deck/plywood as possible (through an entire skid would be best) from beneath with the nuts on top instead of lags, and ding one thread immediatly above each nut so they can't rattle loose.

What all are you moving?

dennis in nca

FWIW I've put a 2500 lbs engine cattywhompuss on a pallet, loaded it in a truck, met it again a thousand miles later, and the pallet held up fine the whole way. And the driver was lousy. But there is a lot of variation. I've stepped on other pallets and cracked or broken boards. YMMV. Jump up and down on all of your pallets first. Then put a hunk of sturdy plywood across the top for insurance and be done with it. Nails will do fine.

Indeed. I receive, uncrate and set up a fair number of new machines from various manufactures..and most will use 4x4s, with counter sunk bolts to the machine bases, with all fork lift guards and so forth, put together with 3" deck screws.

Works good, less filling. And you can use crappy lumber.

Gunner

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And that crappy lumber can serve as cheap firewood. Or cheap lumber for cheap projects. I threw a 'loft' up in my storage locker using surplus 12 foot 4x4s hacked out of the skids.

I used to work at a place which bought really, really cheap boards to make shipping crates. Every board guaranteed to have a warp, cup, bark or pitch pocket. Sometimes all three. But man, the little chunks left over, I took a box of them down to the beach for a beach fire. Good thing it turned dark, the flames were orange, and the smoke - black as smoke. Looked like I had a tire in there, or something. Way cool.

-- pyotr filipivich "Quemadmoeum gladuis neminem occidit, occidentis telum est. " Lucius Annaeus Seneca, circa 45 AD (A sword is never a killer, it is a tool in the killer's hands.)