Thread: Heavy Duty Mobile Bases for WW machinery

I have a TSC-10HB and a Jet 6" jointer both on the MB500. ALthough both machines are lighter than the 230kg.

Jet have an ultra heavy duty base that would handle that load.

I had a similar problem with moving machinery around, I have a small workshop and wanted to move stuff out of the way when not in use.

I went to an Australian manufacturer, Falshaw in Sunshine and bought wheels that bolt directly onto the machines. This was the best thing I could have done and wished that I did it a year ago, the workshop feels 3 times as big.

The wheels are well constructed and have sealed bearings and the brakes work well. The machines can be moved around easily and safely.
The table saw was the biggest concern, weighs 270kgs, the larger wheels take over 100kgs each and aren’t cheap. They cost over $30 each but were worth it.
Suresh

I've got one of the Carbatec mobile bases under my tablesaw, which weighs 180kg, around the same as the thicknesser, and it seems to handle it fine.

Hi All,

I just bought a wheel kit from my combination machine I think it was about $300, but Im sure it could be made for a lot less.
Basically there are 2 large wheels mounted slightly off centre (about 125mm in size) on the unit and there is a long lever with 2 wheels on it.

You jack up one end of the machine and the wheels drop, you lock them in place and then jack up the other end of the machine and push it around by the handle.

It reminds me of the way they jack up the front of F1 Cars when doing a wheel change.

It probably takes about 10KG of force to jack each end up (I can do it with one hand) pushing it around is very easy on a concrete floor.

The combination machine weighs in at about 650KG.

Joe

If the Carbatec model is unavailable, I would look at Timbecon or Gary Pye before spending $1000 on custom built. The Jet one sold by GPW is $85 and can reportedly carry 600 lbs (270 kg).

http://store.yahoo.com/gpwoodturning/hdmobilebase.html

George

Firstly, I know nothing about metal and their stresses, but I investiagate as much as I can.

When I lived in Sydney, my next door neighbour was a 60yo fitter and turner. He had a workshop kitted out with 'metalworking' machinery that rivalled most small to medium metal shops. He spent most of his time repairing (from ground up if need be) lathes, benders, rollers, etc.

I spoke to him once about wheel kits and he mentioned that he would steer clear of them when they got close to maximum weight. The problem was typically the axels, which, with constant moving of the machinery would stress too much as the kits were made for price, almost never quality.

His approach was to just make them up himself and as he'd point out, the decent wheels were the real cost.

I'd imagine, the risk of putting the wheels directly onto the machines base (triangular brace I suppose) is that the brace is just that, not really a support in most of the machines. I suppose you could weld something onto the base and then fit the wheels to that, but I am not a welder.

I've been told that even machines with factor supplied/fitted wheels have had their wheels and or mount collapse.

I may be wasting some money, but I don't want between 200 and 250 KG of machinery dropping at an inappropriate time.

Burn

Here's a thought; Why don't you modify the bases on your machines to allow the use of a pallet trolley .They can be had rather cheaply and can be used to lift serious loads, are very manouverable ,low to the deck and therefore fairly safe and have the advantage of being easy to store .You just park it under one of your machines when not needed. Check out this link to see what I mean http://www.absoe.com.au/shelvingstor...lletjacks.html

That is a really good idea MarkV.



Have a greenie.

Since I started this thread - I did a google search on a range of teerms and eventually found this site

http://www.castercity.com/heavy-duty-casters.htm

The most interesting thing was the tips link

http://www.castercity.com/about.htm

Raises some interesting issues which go beyond our initial does it have suffient capacity to handle the mass (weight) of the machine.

Talks about floor protection, safety, rollability, capacity etc. Interesting issues if you have a heavy machine resting on four castor wheel surfaces.

Very interesting discussion and suggestions so far though.

Cheers

Mark beat me to it! One of the large cabinet shops I worked in had a few pallet jacks as all the board for each kitchen went onto a pallet after being cut and edged. Some of the lesser used machines were bolted onto heavy duty pallets and wheeled into position when required. Pallet jacks start at around $500, but make sure you buy one that you can get spare parts for, some of the cheapies you may not be able to repair (got that tip from my brickie neighbour, he uses tham to shift pallets of blocks around). Also forget using them if your floor has large bumps or cracks as you can crack the wheels or cause the seals to leak.

Mick