Hello to everyone. I am a noob here and could use some input.
I bought my machine used and had a friend with me to load it into my enclosed trailer. (The cutting head is centered and is moved all the way to the back of the machine where it was (and still is secured). We secured the machine to tie downs in the floor and had to issue getting it home.
My shop doors are not wide enough for the machine to be “walked in” horizontally and I have no help so I am looking at moving it in by myself. My thought is to use 2 - 12"x18" dollies, strap them to the back left and right plates of the side rails and then lifting the machine vertically on it’s “back”. (I would suspect that it would be good to support the cutting head as well. I have no “feel” of the structural weak spots of the entire, etc. since I didn’t put it together.)
Basically, from there I would roll it down the rear ramp of the trailer and into the shop. (My shop is inside my barn, and the trailer is in there. Point being, it is all smooth concrete.) From there, I plan to roll it into my shop, lay it horizontally and use two heavy duty straps and lift it with a pulley and an electric winch high enough to roll the table underneath it and then lower it onto the table.
I would welcome any suggestions, warnings, comments, (prayers), whatever you got. I need to get this thing up and running. I’m way behind schedule.
Why dont you take the gantry assembly off. That will reduce the weight and make it manageable for one person. It will also be a great way to start understanding your machine too
When I had to move my 3XXL I screwed some 2x4s down to the wasteboard and used offcuts to shim under the X axis and support it front to back and vertically. I left a gap just wide enough for the Z carriage so it couldn’t go left / right either.
My machine was bolted to a table already but, given the strength of the machine, I’d likely fix down the X and Z with some scrap wood, then just clamp a 2x6 across the end plates as you suggest for the dollies and then put it on the dollies and roll.
Thanks for your response. Because I had gantry pretty well immobilized, I was able to stabilize/support it and move it easier than I anticipated. Thanks to my 4:1 deer hoist, I was able to distribute the weight as I lifted it and rolled the table under it. SO, glad that part is done!
Now, I need to seriously learn to drive this thing!
Yeah, I was actually able to roll it down the ramp, then get me blocking in place while I went vertical to get it through the door. As I mentioned above, my deer carcass block and tackle worked like a charm.
