Moving a mill

[kendog4570]

The bigger the bar, the less you have to strain! A sleever bar from my ironworking days, 3 1" pipe rollers, a box of "sticks" and a cheapie floor jack and it all goes easy.

[kcstott]

My last couple of moves I rented this https://www.jlg.com/en/equipment/dro.../utility/ut614

Made life easy!

Yep thats the one.

I could never remember what Bowie video the scene of the kid dragging the mill down the road was from, thanks.
I always kiddingly say "they'll probably find me slumped over a mill someday."


We bought a couple Haas VF-1's a few years ago. In prepping for their delivery I had to rearrange all the Bridgeports and move two from one aisle to the one behind.
Did all myself with a bigass pry bar. Ugh. Was feeling my oats I guess back then, wouldn't want to do that again.

Yeah I've been there, Not fun and you're sore for a week... Sucks..

I'll tell you though you can scoot a mill around the floor with a pry bar pretty easy.

[VictorFranko]

I'll tell you though you can scoot "a" mill around the floor with a pry bar pretty easy.

Exactly what I was thinking after moving the first.
My opinion changed a bit after moving the sixth

[Barbarosa]

WTH kind of car is that in the background.

[kcstott]

WTH kind of car is that in the background.

Early 70's Chrysler

[RustyIron]

I say BS a good cherry picker is all that's needed and a few strong backs motivated by beer, a drop trailer is nice to have but can be done in a Uhaul trailer too. Ask me how i know.

Wow, you rich folks sure know how to live it up.

My mill is 11x52, and just under 8 feet tall. My wife and I moved it into the garage ourselves. Oh, and we had to move it up the driveway, at about a 5% slope. We used a prybar, pipes for rollers, and a winch to get it up the driveway. I had to rotate the head, and even then we were scraping the top of the door opening.

The lathe is a 17" swing with 55" between centers. It's over four feet tall and nine feet long. Again: wife, me, pipes, prybar. It's not all that hard if you think it through, plan accordingly, and only work with people who are 100% trustworthy. One false move by a knucklehead will get you killed and scratch your pretty new milling machine.

[user120312]

A mill is easy to move, a good size lathe??? that's another issue.

Biggest mill I moved in the truck was a Greaves 2H which weighs about 4K. Biggest lathe was a Southbend 16x108. That was tricky to correctly support on an 8' truck bed but correct beams did fine. The weight is in the head anyway and that's generally at the truck center of mass. However, I only moved the lathe about 30 miles on country roads, not on the highway. CHP would have had me dead to rights. That one came out of a bankrupt deep well pump manufacturer in Madera. The truck had a good load of stainless well shafting too that was had for next to nothing.

For moving the machinery long-distance I'll do it right on a new trailer. I've got hoists at both ends to pick it and dollies to position. I've always rigged and moved my machines alone. The wild card is the other drivers on the road and the mountain passes in between. Sometimes it feels like that guy in the picture with the cars whizzing around. Funny shot.

[kcstott]

Wow, you rich folks sure know how to live it up.

My mill is 11x52, and just under 8 feet tall. My wife and I moved it into the garage ourselves. Oh, and we had to move it up the driveway, at about a 5% slope. We used a prybar, pipes for rollers, and a winch to get it up the driveway. I had to rotate the head, and even then we were scraping the top of the door opening.

The lathe is a 17" swing with 55" between centers. It's over four feet tall and nine feet long. Again: wife, me, pipes, prybar. It's not all that hard if you think it through, plan accordingly, and only work with people who are 100% trustworthy. One false move by a knucklehead will get you killed and scratch your pretty new milling machine.

Ain't rich it's called I ain't wresting with 1900LBS of cast iron. put the crap on wheels.

My cherry picker has a wide enough stance that i can spin the mill 90˚ and set it on the legs of the picker then roll it where I want it like a it's on a dolly.




The lathe is another story. way to much weight to far forward. I needed a small shop gantry. but a little at a time I got it moved.