Moving a table saw

I'm sure this may come across as a bit of a D'Oh question - but I also believe in having things planned a bit, and not leaving things to chance. And if I have posted this in the wrong area, my apologies, and please do move this where it belongs!

I am looking, in the coming few months, to buy a table saw and probably some other 250Kg+ equipment. It's likely to be the Harvey HW110LGE-30 or similar.

Sure, when I pick it up at the supplier, they will forklift it into the trailer, that's not the problem. The problem is, when I get it home, how am I going to get it off the trailer, and into the workshop (down 2 steps, across some grass etc).

The problem I have is, that I have only myself to move it around, and from what I gather, they don't come in a form that's knocked-down enough for one person to move piece by piece.

On that basis, could I trouble the wise people here who may have faced a similar situation, on what they did to solve it?

G'day Midnight Man,

I'm sure you could hire a couple of helping hands for not too much, if you are on facebook, try the local buy/sell page in your area.
Failing that, boards & rollers to get over the grass, maybe hire a fork trolley (not sure what it's called) to get it off the trailer.

Hope this helps

Jeff

I faced a similar problem. The first part of the solution is in this thread - https://www.woodworkforums.com/f116/s...upgrade-214334

Since installation, I've used it to get home a bandsaw about 180kg, and a jointer at 200kg. I have a manual pallet jack I used to get it to the boxes to the shed, then a chain block to get it off the jack and onto the ground. All this was done solo, though once assmebled I did need a second set of hands to move it from under the chain block to up against the wall.

Side note, barely a month later our landlord decided to subdivide so we're moving house. Sure am glad to be using the crane, chain and jack again so soon. New place will have a bigger shed though so I'm slightly looking forward to it.

Engine cranes can come in handy. You can lift the item them place it on the legs and wheel it around. Steps will be an issue but with a bit of moving around you could unload it, move the crane and pick it up again. A few sheets of ply will get you across the grass. Either buy a cheap one off Ebay or Gumtree or hire for the day.

If you are getting it with a wheeled base then you can probably push it using sheets of ply laid on the grass. The steps concern me,. Can slide it down on a couple of beams but I would take the table off the saw to move down the steps unless you are able to use a winch to let it down slowly making sure it doesn't topple over. If the rope to the winch isn't attached in a way where the saw is balanced as you let it down the base can either shoot forward or backwards and the machine topple over.
Have loaded and unloaded a 36 inch bandsaw from my trailer using a winch to hold the saw back (or pull it up) and heavy beams with lengths of pipe for the saw to roll on but it was an unnerving exercise.

Tony

Depending on how confident you are at moving large heavy items, I'll suggest getting some physical help, even if all they do is spot you/call an ambulance if things go wrong.

Engine cranes are great, but they require smooth surface to move and even then you still need a second person to stabilise the load.

If you really can't get help best thing is to take it apart. The cast iron top is easily removed and re-installed, similarly with the motor.

I'll hopefully be getting a new table saw soon, perhaps also the HW110LGE-30. I'll probably borrow an engine hoist off a mate - I can back the trailer up to the carport and then wheel the hoist into the shed. Another option is to hire a ute with a small crane on the back - I know that doesn't help you getting it down the stairs though. I did some a Youtube vid which had 3 people moving the same tablesaw base up or down stairs.

When I bought the same model Harvey I only had one other helper and I am not the tallest or strongest of guys but I successfully managed to get the tablesaw off my trailer using the following approach.
I was lucky I did not have to contend with steps or grass but getting it off the trailer was fairly easy. Firstly, I opened up the box that contained the actual saw and removed all the accessories/cast iron wings etc. so that it was just the cabinet, motor and cast iron top to reduce the weight. I had two aluminium ramps that were originally from Supercheap (rated at 200Kg each from memory) and a hand trolley rated at 200Kg at my disposal. I was lucky I could back the trailer right up to the shed floor for the task but you should still be okay with some ramps (even borrowed) and a hand trolley. With a little care and the trolley tilted back to a manageable angle it was pretty easy to get it off the trailer just remember to remove the bolt that holds the cabinet to the shipping pallet!
I built the mobile base after I confirmed the cabinet dimensions and was surprised that it was easy enough to lift the whole saw up enough to get it onto the mobile base with a friend.

Maybe hire a proper furniture removalist trolley (they are rated at about 250Kg, come with a locking strap and have a wheel setup for negotiating stairs). The sheets of ply as others have mentioned would be a must for grass.

Best of luck!

Trav.

Thank you all for your thoughts and input - overall, it's sounding more possible to achieve than I had hoped!

I think the engine crane is probably going to be the saviour here, and it begins to sound like I shall need to have a couple of ramps fabricated and/or make some myself :)

Appreciate the thoughts all, thank you indeed!

When I bought my Hammer C31 I had a similar problem. But my beast weighs in at roughly 600kg. I had to get it down a very steep drive and into a garage that was not terribly easy to access. I didn't own a forklift (but the seller did, so getting it on the ute wasn't a problem), nor did I think a forklift would make it down the driveway safely with the load. So I hired a Tele-Handler and driver from Kennards. It is a 4 wheel drive forklift with outrigger wheels. The fork can take 2500kgs, and is extendable to quite a distance under load, and rotatable around 2 axes, as well as up and down. I parked the ute with load at the top of the drive. The tele-handler comes along on the back of a semi, drives off, picks the machine off the back of the ute. We strapped it on so that it couldn't fall off. Drove down the drive, slowly and carefully. Put it in the garage easy as pie. Took about an hour from go to whoa, and cost under $200. The tele-handler was such a clever machine that I decided I want one. Which I have absolutely no use for!

When I first bought my Masterwood Chisel mortiser I had this issue, the mortiser weighs about 700kg, I thought about hiring a crane from Kennards where you assemble in place and then lift, but t he hiring cost is $$$$$

so I went away and bought myself an engine crane to lift the chisel mortiser, the mortiser it stand up like a bandsaw.

You will need the crane for other jobs, just go and buy one.


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+1 for an engine crane. I've used mine for lifting an anvil (150 kg), moving a power hammer (500 kg) and of course the changing of engine/engine+transmission.

I have a Laguna platinum which is the same saw. Definitely take the table off as it weighs
a tonne. Should make it a lot easier to handle.

I made a gantry from 45 * 90 pine to lift my metal lathe into place. Had the timber here and it only took me a couple of hours to build. I did calculate the beam load from some website so I new it would be ok before I attempted the lift.