Honestly if the machine is not too far away your best bet is to call your local rollback wrecker companies. They routinely make in town moves of large equipment that they can just drag up onto the flatbed and away you go. That is how I moved my Cincinatti Arrow 500 into my shop. Hell he could even jog the bed and use the flat tow ram to drag the machine off the bed in such a way that he could ALMOST put it exactly where I wanted it. We had an overhead issue that kept him from getting it fully inside the building but he tried and only charged me $150.00 to move it. Then I used some rented machine mover skates to position it in its final place. Some companies don't want to mess with mills and stuff but many do. Just tell them when and where and what exactly it is maybe even send them a picture of it and get the most accurate weight of the thing and they will let you know. It works great for them too because they can schedule it at their leisure unlike a car wreck which often has to be right now. As far as the dowels on the floor. I moved a 4500 lb large lathe with myself and my wife and a come a long on some 1" diameter black iron pipe pretty easily. Just be careful of any grades it can get away from you quick. The nice thing about the small diameter pipes is that IF it happens to roll off the pipe it usually is not high enough to cause a tip over just keep your digits out from underneath it at all times. The mills are quite tall and can be scary to move if you are not familiar with moving larger heavier items so be real careful. That is why I suggest the rollback guys, they move all sorts of stuff all the time and know what the hell they are doing. The guy who moved my VMC made it look pretty damn easy. It did take a larger truck tho due to the 7k+ weight. Good luck man. Peace
Pete On Tue, Jun 25, 2013 at 9:23 PM, dave <[email protected]> wrote: > On Tue, 2013-06-25 at 18:48 -0500, Karl Schmidt wrote: > > On 06/24/2013 10:18 PM, Charles Steinkuehler wrote: > > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > > > Hash: SHA1 > > > > > > Besides my 3D printing endeavors, I am involved with trying to get a > > > hackerspace going here in Topeka. Recently a CNC mill that might make > > > a good LinuxCNC retrofit candidate popped up on the local craigslist: > > > > > > http://kansascity.craigslist.org/tls/3892182813.html > > > > hmmm it is worth $500 just if they load it for you! ... often you can > get the serial number and > > contact the company. They may know a lot about the particular machine. ( > Wells Index knew everything > > about the one I picked up). > > > > Key things would be the condition of the spindle bearings, was it used > to cut Au or steel? > Gee! I'd sure like to meet the guy rich enough to machine Au. ;-) > > > > Lubrication system? Is the company still in business? ( but often they > are in fine shape only the > > electronics died!). > > > > It appears that machines can be had for less than scrap price - they are > not fun to move. > Yep! Renting a 15,000 lb forklift is not cheap. I got by for $500 but > that was some years ago. I had a real deal for up to 8000 lb but the > price went up 10X to go to 15,000. > > > > Moving these beasts is best with a forklift - you will need to rent one > to take it off the truck. > > > > Once on the ground, realize the need for a door and ceiling that are > wide and high enough. There is > > a trick of using lots of round hardwood dowels - and kicking them to > steer. Safety is important in > > moving these beasts. > I bought a stick of 1.5" bar and cut into 30" sections for rollers. Put > a couple of 6x6 sq tubular under the machine and away we went. > > Dave > > > > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Karl Schmidt EMail [email protected] > > Transtronics, Inc. WEB > http://secure.transtronics.com > > 3209 West 9th Street Ph (785) 841-3089 > > Lawrence, KS 66049 FAX (785) 841-0434 > > > > Truth is mighty and will prevail. > > There is nothing wrong with this, > > except that it ain't so. > > --Mark Twain > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > This SF.net email is sponsored by Windows: > > > > Build for Windows Store. > > > > http://p.sf.net/sfu/windows-dev2dev > > _______________________________________________ > > Emc-users mailing list > > [email protected] > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > This SF.net email is sponsored by Windows: > > Build for Windows Store. > > http://p.sf.net/sfu/windows-dev2dev > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This SF.net email is sponsored by Windows: Build for Windows Store. http://p.sf.net/sfu/windows-dev2dev _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
