Moving my mill-any ideas

Hi All

I'm wanting to get my mill off the wooden pallet it has been sitting on for ages.

I can’t think of an easy/safe way to do it.

it weighs a ton (or 2).

I can’t get a fork lift inside garage.

I can lift pallet using a pallet truck/jack, but if I support mill when pallet is raised, can’t think of a way to get pallet out.

I have thought about running around the base of the mill with a circular saw?

Any suggestions appreciated.

Edited By JasonB on 06/11/2020 20:15:41

Grotto, when I get a machine on pallet, I fabricate machine feet from a 6mm plate, cut a suitable size of triangle for the corner, put a castor on, then 1" thick piece of square stock tapped to m12 for the machine feet, all this is fabricated off the machine, put one of those wind up Jack's you get free with your car under one corner, cut away the pallet around that area, slide your fabricated part under and weld it to the machine, repeat 3 more times, your machine is now mobile with adjustable feet.

The stuff the 1" Square stock is attached to is just some 50x25mm box section scrap I had laying around.

Chain hoist from the roof? or

Take it outside on the pallet truck, lift it with the fork truck, remove pallet, slide it back in on rollers (iron bars etc).

Don't try to do it on your own and wear steel toecap boots.

Lose a couple of the planks of the pallet. Preferably not ones that are taking the load. Lift on pallet truck an inch or so. Insert 4 wooden or steel fabricated blocks under the mill through the pallet to the floor. Lower the mill on the pallet truck so the mill is supported on the blocks. Pallet is now free of the weight but constrained by the blocks. Saw the rest of the pallet away. You now have the mill standing on 4 blocks with access all around

Lower onto smaller blocks or rollers by raising one side using the pallet truck, removing the higher blocks and dropping onto the smaller ones.

or something like that.

regards Martin

Do the corners of the base have bolt holes in? If so fit Jack screws into holes down to floor and cut away the pallet. Lower machine to floor. When you watch machine shifters move a 20 tonne machine with ease around a shop floor it shows what can be done with skates, lever bars and winches.

Most machines have holes for bars to go through and if you can Jack it on these bars till you can just slide out pallet. Put wood packers underneath to lower it on to jacking one side at a time reducing the wood packers a small amount at a time. If you need to move the machine lower it on to rollers first. I have moved many machines up to 60 tonne but the smaller machines tend to be some of the worst to move. Don't risk fingers etc and keep clear and don't try and do it on your own and plenty of wood packing is a solidly nessesary.

David

Do you have enough height to use shear legs and chain block?

Mike

Edited By Mike Poole on 07/11/2020 08:13:22

Engine hoist? That’s how I moved my mill and lathe around when I moved.

If working from the bottom, when doing such potentially rocking shifts with a mill its well worth strapping some hefty timber fabricated into H or similar section to the ends of the table.

Adjust the table so they ride 1/2" or so above the floor and do your lifts in similar small increments inserting suitable support cribbing as you go.

If it does try to tilt one of the frames will hit the floor stooping the movement long before it gets dangerous.

No danger to the machine as forces from such a small tit will be minimal. The important thing is that the machine is now safely parked so you have plenty of time to figure out how to sort the problem.

Worked for me when a pry bar and cribbing lift on a Bridgeport to get rollers under it went wahooie shape!

Clive

Edited By Clive Foster on 06/11/2020 23:13:25

Edited By Clive Foster on 06/11/2020 23:13:40

Thanks, lots of good ideas.

roof is far from strong enough to take weight.

I tried an engine crane but it wasn’t strong enough (although sticker on it said it was) It was extended quite a long way as it was hard to get over top of mill.

Ideally I’d like it on the floor (no blocks or castors) as it’s quite high & I need a step to access draw bar.

I'm not intending to move it once it’s in position.

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 07/11/2020 08:43:06

Hi is it a Bridgeport . If it is before lifting lower the knee and table to lowest position and wind bed to back remove knee handle. Unlock the head and rotate it through 90 degrees to the side and re-lock. There is a taped hole for a lifting bolt 3/4 Whitworth for lifting it with. The mill weighs 997Kg and I have hired a engine hoist from a local supplier, for the same machine, which will span a pallet so with a D link you should be able to lift it this way. Eye bolts are available from local engineering supliers for about £8.00 ish. Have you got a handbook for the Bridgeport if not drop me a message with email address and I will send a copy.

David

I tried an engine crane but it wasn’t strong enough (although sticker on it said it was) It was extended quite a long way....

If it has a lifting eye, as David indicates, the clearly obvious solution is to lift it from that point with equipment that is up to the application. Safe, for both machine and operator with no no tipping problem. A one person operation, even.

Hi, lifting with suitable equipment is far safer than pry bars etc. this is how I lifted my Warco Major, albeit just a third of the weight, but still not to be messed with. Maybe you could beg, steal or borrow something to make a similar rig up if an engine hoist isn't suitable. I have had to move machines weighing as much as five tonnes using pry bars and timbers etc. during my working years, but not by myself and a proper risk assessment and strategy with room to move out of the way if things went pear shaped, never put yourself between a rock and a hard place.

Regards Nick.

Speedy hire do rent out small alloy gantry cranes 2 Tone but don't know what the costs are. May be other company's do also.

David

David you are correct with this method, my Bridgeport has a 4" raising block which makes it a bit more top heavy but doable. Is the lifting eye point not UNC ? May be different on OP machine as it looks like a clone.

Entirely agree that lifting from the top is far safer, especially on your own.

Do verify the thread for the lifting eye. Bridgeports can be found with both Whitworth and UNC, imports could well be metric. Its worrying that the size is such that the wrong thread may still seem to fit. Obviously get a proper, certificated eye. Some of the bargains from "who they suppliers" are a bad joke.

I'd pull the head off completely as it gives better access to the top eye and reduces the weight.

From the square base casting that looks to be a series 2 Bridgeport variety not the normal series 1. Lots heavier and beyond the capacity of an engine hoist. Gantry crane time. If you have a roof beam sufficiently close to the right position a short RSJ attached to it and held up by acro props so the beam doesn't take any real load, just a acts as a stabiliser, may do the deed.

But then you can't swing the machine for positioning. Drop it on 1/2" or 3/4" round rails to slide into position. Prybar lift to pull the rails is safe.

I slide my Bridgeport on 1/2" rails if I need to move it and use 4 modified car scissor jacks to lift it via brackets held in the bolt down eyes by rawlbolt expanding anchor studs. One piece bracket across the front, separate ones braced against the column at the back. The brackets are bolted to the (ex-SAAB 900) jacks. Slow process but safe enough if you keep it pretty level. If I had to get a pallet out from underneath I'd initially lit it just enough to let teh pallet move and stack piles of 1/2" or 5/8" cribbing under the corners. Doing one at a time. Then I'd go round one corner at a time lifting just enough to pull one piece of cribbing and dropping back onto the stack. So the amchine stays pretty level at all times.

Really slow job and, frankly, need to be out of other options. But my experience is that it can be done safely.

Clive

Edited By Clive Foster on 07/11/2020 09:47:02

The handbook says 1/2" Whitworth but if it is a clone you would need to check the thread size in the lifting bolt hole. I would just screw in a known bolt before buying an eye bolt. I believe I still have my spare somewhere in my tools.

David

I’ll have a good look this weekend.

It was lifted onto the pallet with a couple of strops, although there is a thread for a lifting eye.

I may be able to borrow a stronger engine crane, I’ll measure it up to see if it will do the job.

lifting from above would certainly be the safest option.

I'll also remove the coolant tray for a better look. There are holes in each corner so I may be able to bolt a couple of lengths of RHS to, and then use bottle jacks under the ends.

Bottle jacks have a well deserved reputation for falling over if the load goes off centre.

Compact and powerful makes them good at the lifting bit but the footprint is small and the usual small circular lift button slippery. Especially if used steel on steel.

Guess how I know!

Best to have a timber pusher between jack and the thing being lifted. Plus safety cribbing.

Did I say how much I hate lifting from below. Even though thats the way I usually have to do it. So much brainwork wasted on thinking about how to make sure it doesn't tilt'n crash. At least lifting it just swings and its easy to drop it back on its feet before it moves significantly.

If you do jack it up off the pallet make sure you can jack it right back down to the floor. I know a man who didn't and ended up putting it all back whist stuff was rustled up and necessary modifications made for another try. Got rush headed trying to get done by teatime!

Clive