Need Advice on Moving Table Saw ***

I am about to move to my new house and I need to move my shop (since I don't want the mover to touch my tools)

Anyway, I need to move my Rockwell (now Delta) contractor style table saw. I have removed the table extensions, the fence, the fence rails, the blade, table insert and splitter.

My question is this. The motor is on a swing arm and is held up by tension from the drive belt. Can I leave the motor attached (in it's normal operating position) for the ride? I will be driving it about 1/2 hour in a pickup truck.

I don't want to ruin the bearings or otherwise hurt the various parts, but removing the motor would be a major nuisance since I would basically have to re-wire the saw to do it.

Any and all advice would be appreciated.

TO REPLY BY EMAIL REMOVE THE STRING "SPAMNOT" FROM MY REPLY ADDRESS. Sorry for that hassles, but spammers make it necessary.

Thanks in advance, AndyB

Reply to
AndyB
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When I moved my saw, I removed the motor. First of all, because it's heavy, and anything I could get off the saw to make the main part lighter and more manageable was good. Secondly, because the motor on my saw is on a hinge, allowing the motor weight to tension the belt, and the thought of the motor bouncing up and down, slamming against it's stop didn't seem like a good idea.

Why do you have to rewire your saw to take the motor off? If you do have to rewire the saw, I'd suggest doing it something like my GI contractor saw... That is, the motor isn't wired directly to the switch; there's a plug type connection between them. This allows the motor to be easily disconnected from the saw. Should be easy to retrofit something like that, and you could even get a locking type connector to make sure it only came disconnected when you wanted it to.

Clint

Reply to
Clint

I don't think I'd have a problem moving it intact, assuming you can handle the strain of getting it in and out of the truck. As for the motor bouncing up and down, you can keep it from doing that by buying a roll of plastic shipper's tape and applying it liberally. That stuff has a 1000 uses, and is much less likely to stretch or tear than duct tape.

Reply to
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

I wouldn't leave it hanging there.

As I see it, you have two choices:

  1. Use a rope to support the motor. I would not expect the drive belt to support the motor while it is in the truck.
  2. It is rewire time. Jim
Reply to
Jim

I would lean more toward removing the motor before removing the wings and fence rails. What you have done so far is way more work than disconnecting a few wire connections. Leave the wiring in place and simply disconnect the wiring from the motor. The motor as it is way too much weight to be banging around off the back side of your saw.

Reply to
Leon

Always fun, huh?

It will be fine. Do yourself a favor before you go putting all sorts of stuff on that motor to "secure" it... Grab the motor and lift it. Take some effort? Do you really expect to subject the saw to the amount of energy to lift that heavy motor on your drive? No - of course not. You'd be rattling your teeth out. Your bearings and everything else associated with that motor hanging off there are subject to a lot more forces than you're going to expose it to during a ride in your truck.

Reply to
Mike Marlow

You've already done far more than I did to move both of the table saws I recently moved.

Just snug it down with an bungie cord so it can't bounce and it'll be fine as long as the saw stays in the truck while the truck is in motion.

Reply to
Archangel

Reply to
TomWoodman

Why not? Isn't every belt driven tool using a motor loaded that way?

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Around the block would be OK but a 30 minute commute? You can bet there will be plenty of opportunities for the vehicle to undulate causing the motor to bounce around. Typically going through an intersection on a green light is enough to bounce the motor. The force you describe on the bearing during normal operation is totally different from the force of exerted in this type application. The bearings would be the leas of my worries. I would worry more about breaking a trunion.

Reply to
Leon

How did your saw arrive at the dealership, etc. from Taiwan? Motor assembled, hung from trunnion? Blocked? Repeat that and forget about all the doomsayers.

Reply to
Unquestionably Confused

The last time I moved my TS, I removed any lose items, fence, that type of thing. Slid it over to the back of the pickup, and rolled it into the truck, flipping it over as I did so. A contractors saw will travel nicely upside down, laid on its top, plus you don't need to worry about it tipping over as the heavy parts are now at the bottom. Greg

Reply to
Greg O

Ummm..Are we forgetting that, before the advent of all these lightweight saws for contractors like the Bosch and DeWalt, etc....contractors all over the country used to haul around those contractor type saws with no problems that I ever heard of. Heck, my old Delta contractor's saw banged around in my pickup for years with nothing supporting the motor and it ran just fine.

Terry

Reply to
Terry Sumner

It should make the trip just like it is without a problem. However if you are worried lift the motor up, slide the belt off the arbor pulley, and let the motor rotate down and tie it off to the stand. Newer models have a quick electric disconnect and spring pins to quickly remove the motor, but you indicated yours was Rockwell badged so the quick disconnect would not be on yours.

Frank

Reply to
Frank Boettcher

I'd have to disagree Leon. Unless he's taking the logging road short cut, he's going to be fine. Look at how many things that are far more fragile (glass perhaps being one...) that are transported on pickups everyday. I just don't see any concern for his journey.

Reply to
Mike Marlow

Precisely.

Reply to
Mike Marlow

I am about to move to my new house and I need

You might want to take another look at your saw. On a contractor saw, the motor often has a connector either at the switch or in-line in the wiring to the switch. I have a Delta Contractor saw and it has an in-line connector between the switch and motor. besides, the motor is about the easiest thing to remove from the saw, even if you did have to disconnect the wires.

Reply to
Lawrence S Wasserman

Every TS that I have seen delivered new has the motor either braced and bolted to keep it from moving or detached altogether.

Reply to
Leon

I understand your reluctance but consider:

You move your tools and something gets broke, you are holding the bag.

You move the tools and you, a family member or friend gets hurt, you've got the bag.

A responsible mover with insurance or bond damages something, he pays for it. Likewise if he a movers employee gets hurt the mover pays the doctor.

I coordinated lots of moves at my previous company the involved personal equipment, computers, shop equipment and documents. With tons of stuff moved we had very few problems - most with damaged computer equipment. The mover picked up the damages immediately. Most reputable movers have to do this because their reputation and business is at stake. Our last two local moves were done by experienced apartment movers with zero damage. One of their guys got bummed up and I felt bad but it had no effect on my wallet or insurance.

Still.......I share your sentiment.

RonB

Reply to
RonB

Get a pair of wire cutters and about 10" from the motor snip that wire in two. Go to the hardware store and get a male and female end for an extension cord and attach them to the wire you just cut. It takes about 10 minutes and costs about $5.00 and solves the problem forever.

We used these saws on the job for years and this was always the first mod we made to them since we had to move them every two weeks or so.

A few years back, Delta finally started doing this at the factory. The standard motor now has a short pig tail on it.

Mike O.

Reply to
Mike O.

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