Thread: Machine Skids or Platform Trolley

Hello Rodm,
You say that the driveway is quite steep.
Would it be worth considering laying the mill in its "back" on the trolley to prevent the whole assembly from tipping forwards? The other possibility would be to put much larger wheels on the rear of the trolley, or pack them up to keep the mill closer to vertical for the trip up the driveway. Removing the top section and lowering the table/knee section would make it more stable.
Russell

Originally Posted by Log

I hope they're double plugger thongs, they are intrinsically safer having the more secure attachment at the back end of the foot straps

Cheers.

They sure are.
I buy two pair at a time and the cleanest pair on the day become my going out thongs. I was going to say my dress pair but after seeing what the collective said to BT about dresses I decided against it.

Russell,
Good thinking and it's worth floating an idea on here just to get different thoughts. I haven't lined up a mill yet so not exactly sure what I will be dealing with just yet. Laying the mill back will help get it under the carport door if that gets in the way.

You could remove a couple of fence panels, dismantle the storage shed then take off the back of your workshop and just roll the mill in. Save you having to deal with the driveway , the carport door and the bonus would be you wouldn't have to move all of your gear out of the workshop.

You wouldn't even need to move your barbeque.

I bet you wear those DPs to work.

BT.

Hi Bob,
Your just trying to get me in trouble now.
I can only wear thongs to work if I have a dress on - notice blokes have to wear covered in shoes and the ladies can wear any open style footwear. I'm going to get into trouble for saying that.

Dismantle it - Remove the bed, remove the ram, cart it up in pieces, re-assemble inside the shed. It'll be easier to get up your driveway in pieces too - less weight, no longer top heavy (if people even want to call them that).

Think of them as mecano/lego technics, the bits are just a tad heavier

Cheers
Jon

Dear Rod I had a disastrous episode when shifting my Arno Mill and a Sheridan Defiance lathe from Geelong to Melbourne. To keep in as low to the ground I made 4 inch angles with wheel at each end. Which went under the machine the two angles were held together with 1 inch All thread. Because the apparatus was only being used once I skimped on the wheels. The wheels were the weak point and did not like the 30 hundred weight of the Arno The Sheridan was much the same story even though there were four angles used. In the end it was a roller job. Your steep driveway sounds a real problem. I finished up using a crane truck saved a lot of drama. Best of British old son keep us posted.
Yours 4-6-4

Hi Jon,
I would like to get it around the back and out of view fairly quick. I have a small block in a built up area and although I get on well with the neighbors it would be best not to draw attention to my hobby. I am hoping the belt driven mill will be quieter than my noisy gear head mill I have at the moment.
If the move goes pear shaped dismantling will be plan B.

Thanks 4-6-4
I am concerned about damaging somebody or the mill. Hopefully the castors I have got will do the job.
I'll post up photos of the finshed item and please comment if you see a problem or can give advice.

Originally Posted by rodm

Hi Jon,
I would like to get it around the back and out of view fairly quick. I have a small block in a built up area and although I get on well with the neighbors it would be best not to draw attention to my hobby. I am hoping the belt driven mill will be quieter than my noisy gear head mill I have at the moment.
If the move goes pear shaped dismantling will be plan B.

Hi Rod,

You'd be surprised as to how quickly one can disassemble and reassemble them - When I got my mill I had to dismantle it to get it into the backyard, and then into the shed - this was my first mill and I had no issues what so ever with it (BM60 Turret for reference).

Best of luck with the move, just remember these things are heavy, plan ahead and think twice with each and every move.

Cheers
Jon

Hi Jon,
A BM60 is a big beast. I am only thinking Bridgeport if I can get a good one or a new BM30 or a Steelmaster if I can't.
I will take it easy on the move as it takes too long to repair injuries these days.

I have just scored eight cast 4 inch swivel castors on ebay for a reasonable price. Using Phil's design with two on each corner they will hold 2 ton all up so a good safety margin.. Castor height of 138mm so should be able to work better with that than the 6 inch castors at 190mm.


I've checked out the angle hidden deep behind the shed and have found some suitable lintels. Unfortunately they are hot dipped galvanized so will have to sand that off the ends with a flap wheel so my welder mate doesn't get poisoned.

I'll post here once they are made up.

Better get out to the shed and do a job or two as I loose a machine tomorrow and need to finish a project. At least that machine is on wheels and can be pushed up a pair of ramps.

Bloke

When my lathe was delivered it was sitting on a rather large truck who had a Hiab mounted at the front. He drove the truck up my driveway as far as he could, lifted the Lathe over my neighbours fence onto the driveway, then laid down a couple of sheets of thin steel sheet.

He used a bar to lift each end of the Lathe, slipped a load skate under and pushed it into where I wanted it.

Consider hiring a bloke with a front mounted Hiab, will take out a lot of heartache in winching a heavy load up a steep incline.

DD

rodm why don't you fix the obvious problem ?

Raise the carport roof, it will solve your problem now and in the future, just pull the roof off and extend the post's then put the roof back on.

john

Hi DD
I am on a small block and the houses are too close together to attempt an over the fence lift.
I think the safest is to get it to ground on the flat at the bottom of the driveway then skid it through the carport. I have two 150mm square posts I can rig up as anchors and use a chain block to pull it up the drive then it is flat through to the shed with no steps along the way.
I have looked at the carport sectional door and if I take it off the auto closer and push the door back I can get just over 2.1 clearance so that will help.

Hi John,
The carport is part of the main roof structure.

Hi rodm, amongst your workshop equipment do you have a folding crane or engine lifter because ifyou did or if you don't maybe another member in your location maybe able to lend you one.
What you could do is to partial disassemble of the propose mill, then using the folding crane to put tose parts into a 6 x 4 trailer , then back the trailer up to the the shed, unload it with the folding crane and reassemble the mill.