Moving a shop

[Todd Mummert]

Went to look at a Delta 8" jointer from a local shop that was closing, and ended up purchasing all the machinery and attachments. [ Not a gloat, since I think the price, while good, was fair ].

I'm new to this, having decided last fall to find something to do during the rainy weekends here in CT. And now, I guess I've jumped into the deep end.

Assuming I'm going to move this myself, what is the best way to do it? I can rent a truck (possibly one with a rear lift), but what is the best way to move the machines in such a way that they survive the trip (~65 miles)? Two of the pieces are heavy (jointer, unisaw). And two are probably top-heavy (jet 18" bandsaw, drill press).

I can probably get mobile bases for them (which I need to have eventually anyway), but do I want to transport them in the truck that way? Once in the truck, will lashing them to the sides of the truck be sufficient to keep them in place?

And for getting them in the truck in the first place, if I don't use mobile bases, will a dolly and 2 healthy bodies be able to safely move them w/o damaging the bases? I've never tried to move a machine with a dolly before.

Thanks for any experiences you can share.

Todd Mummert [e-mail]

[Nate B]

"Todd Mummert"

Suggest you find 3 friends and just handle it like men. A lift might be nice, but it sure isn't necessary unless you guys are a bunch of wimps. If you did find a lift, which I'm not sure are that easy to find for rent, then FYI - my skinny girlfriend and I have moved the Unisaw and DJ-20 around my shop no problem. For 65 miles, I'd find a truck that can do the job in 1 trip. You can usually rent a flat little 4 wheeled thingy to set stuff on and wheel around as well.

- Nate

[Phisherman]

If you could disassemble the heavier machines into two parts, such that each piece is under 250 pounds, moving will go much easier. Make sure you box up any loose parts. Crating the machines or wrap them in old blankets or rugs will help protect them. When you load them onto the truck, brace them and use plenty bungee cords and/or duct tape. A two-wheel truck or dolly is very helpful. Wear gloves, take your time, and lift with your legs, not your back! Try to get your strongest friend to help you.

[Mark Jerde]

I still have daymares about the time about 20 years ago I almost spilled a piano out of the side of a pickup truck. I didn't realize how tippy an upright piano is. Make sure you tie everything down well.

-- Mark

[Frank Ketchum]

As for the jointer, the top bed assembly will come off of the base and you should be able to handle it with one or two friends. Just be careful not to wack the tables on anything.

The bandsaw may be a similar situation where it may come off of the stand? The drill press can be wedged in anywhere.

Frank

[Pounds on Wood]

You didn't really say just how many items. But just with the few you mentioned I suggest you visit Ryder, or whatever equivalent you have where you are, and rent an enclosed moving van with lift gate. I would not put that stuff in an open pickup truck for a 65 mile trip. The van will come with pads and wall straps so you can properly secure your treasure. For a single day it should not cost all that much, compared to what you have already spent.

[Charlie Self]

Todd Mummert asks:

To answer your last question first, 2 people and dollies should be fine. A hand truck--a good one--is a help. Three people would be better, as would 3-1/2' wide pieces of 1" diameter black iron pipe. Or galvanized. I like the roller effect better than dollies. Tip up the Unisaw, slide 1 under, yank, slide another under, pull and keep moving after you get 3 under. 1 person pull slowly, the other pick up the rollers behind and insert them in front.

Use 2" strapping to hold them in place--most rental trucks have rings to take the strap hooks. They may even have some straps. You can buy straps for under

10 bucks each at Northern Tool. Don't buy the 1" crap.

I wouldn't spend a whole lot of itme worrying about that bandsaw being top heavy--the motor is mounted way down low, so compensates for the table. If neede be, take the table off the bandsaw. Two star bolts or nuts under the table, IIRC. Take the head off the drill press. That's about the only sensible way to transport something that is that top heavy, unless you can strap it in a corner.

Get some top notch zipper lock baggies. Also a black indelible marker. Any removed hardware from any tool goes in a baggie, which gets marked with the name of the tool and gets closed. Do this IMMEDIATELY upon removal of parts small enough to fit.

Enjoy your shop.

Charlie Self "The function of posterity is to look after itself." Dylan Thomas

[Charlie Self]

Huh? The van is best, but 2 weeks or so ago, I moved a contractor's saw, 13" planer, sanding station (6" x 48" belt, 9" disc) and some other stuff in an S10. Covered it with an old tarp and some plastic and drove it 325 miles. I'll do the same a week from tomorrow with a bandsaw, small jointer, drill press and smaller items.

Moving while making family visits. We finally get out from under here, the furniture and whatnot will go in a van, but I'd rather not pay for space to move tools that can just as easily survive a pick-up ride.

Big secret: 2" wide pull tight (not that ratchet deal--the only good ratchets are the ones the truckers buy, and I don't have that kind of spare cash) straps, plenty of cover, cardboard on the truck bed, and stop every 100 miles to check tightness.

Charlie Self "The function of posterity is to look after itself." Dylan Thomas

[John P Veger]

I recently moved my shop or rather my wifw and I did. I disassembled everything and repacked it all virtually the way it came from the factories, i.e. I removed fence from jointer and then jointer from stand, Removed aux table from unisaw, removed cast table ext from left side etc. I really tore everything down to lower the weight and protect all the expensive pieces that can easily break. The dj20 and the unisaw are both top heavy to the extreme. I removed the dj20 from its stand and with 1 inch wooden rollers rolled it onto a4 wheel dolly in a trailer and then secured it in the trailer. I only moved all this stuff 4 miles but felt it was worth the work to protect the machines. A lift gate would be very nice and with a couple dollies wil save a lot of work. Make sure you rent lots af moving pads(blankets) and secure them to the machines with packing tape. Pad everything that will touchanything or be touched and secure with strqps or rope and check all the securement 10 or so miles into the trip. Strong friends will be a big help. My wife (110 lbs), and I have ten yrs experience moving very expensive machnes, robots, mainframes, hazardous materials etc. If you can afford it get a bigger truck than you actually need, plan things out dont rush and pad pad pad and secure secure secure and check check check. My wife came upon a table saw lying in the middle of the road accompanied by the pickup truck and the hapless fools who didnt follow these suggestions one day. The saw was totalled. John

[LRod]

Do NOT use bungee cords. Do NOT use duct tape (except to secure pads).

You might as well use the rubber bands that come with the morning paper as use bungee cords on machines that weigh in excess of 200 lbs.

Duct tape has even less strength.

You need to tie those babies down with an appropriate material. The straps mentioned elsewhere are good. I've always used manila rope, mostly because I have knot knowledge that allows me to really rig them right. Watch out for straps/ropes going over sharp corners.

Someone else mentioned stopping a couple of times (20 or 30 miles, then 50 or 100 miles) to make sure everything is still snug. You do not want to find out at the end of a 200-2000 mile trip what you could have found out AND FIXED after 20 miles.

SWMBO and I moved an entire household (4/2½, two story, w/full basement/shop and full attic storage) with a 12' enclosed utility trailer from Chicago to Ft. Lauderdale (took several trips; much of the stuff is in storage at an intermediate location). It's all about leverage, dollies, hand truck, pads, and rope.

- - LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

[Lyndell Thompson]

I don't know if you have access to these or not............but a pallet jack and/or forklift would really help out on each end. I moved my uncle's shop in a day (only two miles apart) with my tractor and loader w/forks and pallet jack and every pallet I could beg from various people. Ask if the shop you bought, borrowed a forktruck from a local person occassionaly. If so you might be able to do the same for a fee. The tighter you pack things in a box truck(for your situation is the only way to go, it could rain anytime in the spring) the better chance you have of getting to your place in one piece. Good Luck Lyndell

[Bernard Randall]

None of them is what I would classify as real heavy, I would suggest that a heavy duty trailer is a better bet than a truck, one they are lower and usually have a ramp, two unless it's a BIG truck they probably have a higher load capacity.

For this type of exercise you need a bunch of racheting cargo straps, Lowes, BORG any of those have them. Cross tie them diagonally across the vehicle, if possible anchor to chassis members.

For this type of job I would use a pallet jack, think I've seen them for hire at places like Budget, I move things enough that I picked one up for $50. A dolly is really two high and not wide enough to be stable. You need some 2x4s for those items that don't span the forks of the pallet jack and use your straps while you are manouvering things around on the jack.

You probably do less damage moving the BS and DP upright, providing they're properly braced high enough with the rachet clamps they're not going anywhere you don't want.

Bernard R

[Mark and Kim Smith]

[Pounds on Wood]

You're right. I shouldn't have said I wouldn't do it in an open truck. In fact I have done it a few times. My point is about convenience. The lift gate makes this an easy loading job, and there is no need to disassemble anything, also a convenience.

On a side note, have you noticed that friends who will help you move get scarcer as you get older? Pizza and beer just don't draw a crowd like it did when we were younger.

[bryanwi]

When I moved my shop, a tommy/lift gate on the truck was VERY helpful

- a truck big enough for the whole shop will be quite a ways in the air.

After that, how hard it is falls rapidly with the number of strong people to help.

The drill press, being very heavy, and VERY top heavy, is the hardest thing to move safely (for it and you), I suggest you take the head off if at all possible.

There is no such thing as too much lashing...

bmw

[nospambob]

[Charlie Self]

Bill Pounds responds:

Yeah. But the cost of rental for some of us aims us straight in the direction of inconvenience.

No one at this end. The friends I'd thought I had made in this place turned out not to be, so I'llbe searching out HS kids to load. When I get back home, one friend has a screwed up back, while another has a screwed up heart. Thank heavens for an unmarried daughter! Actually, I kind of wonder if maybe the oldest kid can't get her church youth group to drop over, too. I can teach them a whole new language to go with ehavy lifting and banged up shins and fingers.

Charlie Self "It is not strange... to mistake change for progress." Millard Fillmore

[Bernard Randall]

That's one reason I suggested a heavy duty trailer/

Actually, I kind of wonder if maybe the

Unless its skilled help I prefer to do it myself. I moved a 1 1/2 ton mill, SouthBend lathe, 12" sliding table saw, and all the rest by myself. Careful preparation, analysis of the potential forces and applied mechanical forces are the keys as far as I'm concerned.

As a matter of interest I'm retired, 5'7" and weigh 130# wet.

Bernard R

[Robert Bonomi]

[[.. munch ..]]

I _did_ actually learn some new language at the church youth group, many years ago. From the minister, no less.

I don't remember what the preceeding discussion was, but his wife cuts in, claiming: "Oh, Ron, you're just being facetious!".

To which Ron replied, in absolutely outraged tones: "I am not! Name one thing all day I've done that has been fasheesh!" (spelling? )

I *still* don't know how to spell that word, but I've used it on more than one occasion. Usually in a similar context! *snicker*

[Robert Bonomi]