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20x48 Pacemaker at auction in Chicago ending in 1.5 hours

Glug

Hot Rolled
Joined
Mar 15, 2014
Location
Midwest
Someone needs to save this from the scrappers. This ends at 5:30 PM EST. It looks like an easy load up - back up to the lathe and load it, inside.

This is in a fire station and was probably not used much.

It is a Heavy Duty version 20x48. The other bidder for my 20x48 was a scrapper. So if I had not bid... I don't need TWO.

American Pacemaker Lathe - GovDeals.com

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I worked in the shop where that lathe came from and yes very little use for the time I was there. That lathe was at the original Chicago Fire Dept. Repair Shop at 31st & Sacramento. It was then moved to their new shop at North Ave & Throop St. This is going back about 25 years ago but after the guy who ran it retired no one would use it. I think it had some clutch trouble at one time but nothing serious.
 
lol I can't believe I found this after making my first post here. yeah I bought it... how'd I do?
 
lol I can't believe I found this after making my first post here. yeah I bought it... how'd I do?

I'd say pretty damn good. Normally gov liquidation stuff's been drug outside with a dozer and left exposed to the elements for at least a couple years before listing it.

Post pics moving it and once you got it under power.
 
Great lathe, in a great size. Brut force and rigidity overcome lack of high speeds, assuming you're not machining material needing 2000 rpm's. My Monarch series 61 is a similar machine, and does everything I ask of it.
 
I have a 24x120 pacemaker in need of some help. Its the older style like this, but goes right on up to 1200 rpm, the later models went even faster. I've had it running in the highest gear, spindle is next to silent. Amazing considering how much iron is moving.

Theres a pacemaker about this size in the back corner of the shop I work in. Its a later model, but goes to 2400rpm (IIRC)
 
Biggies, like Matt's, were sold with either of these options - 800, 1200 and 1600 top end

"Little" ones - including the medium duty 20 - made out of a 16" - were sold with either of these options - 1000, 1500 and 2000

I suppose - like L&S Model X and Power Turn - you could buy more HP with the higher speed options

They actually wanted them to remove the normal gobs of metal at those higher speeds

Biggies have EIGHT drive belts, the little guys only FIVE
 
I have to find a rigger to help move this asap btw. If anyone knows someone good at a fair price in the Chicago area
 
I think you made a great buy! I would love to find that kind of deal. Your problem is getting it moved without damage at a price you can afford? Chicago is never a cheap place to get anything done. Since you got it cheap you can spend more to get it moved and still be okay. I would be there in person when its moved to help insure the riggers do it right.
 
I would be there in person when its moved to help insure the riggers do it right.

Important rule of thumb - always have someone you can trust watching your machine at all times during moves. I've had people do stupid stuff when I momentarily walked away from a machine that was in the process of being moved. My 20x48 Pacemaker was almost toppled because of that.

I would move the machine myself. But you did not ask that - you asked about hiring someone. Btw, there are suppliers in Chicago who will rent any rigging gear you could want.

Details on the load and unload could help you get a better price. Have you asked the seller if they will give you any extra time? It is nice that they are not requiring you to hire a rigger.

The load part is easy and known. Flat ground, indoors, bay door adjacent. Should be able to back a trailer or truck inside. The machine is 11.25' long and approximately 9300 lbs. I would get it on pipe or dollies and then winch it on a drop deck or shallow ramp trailer. In some states Sunbelt rents 10K drop decks, but in other states only 7K.

Since you are local I would get over there get all the tooling and loose bits ASAP. Don't wait.

A smallish 15K fork truck can put the machine on or off a truck in just a couple or few minutes. That is how mine was unloaded. An experienced rigger can pull up, unload their fork truck, load your lathe and be gone in no time.

What is the configuration of the unload? How far? What is the terrain? Building entrance? Distance inside the building to where you will be placing it?
 
I wasn't planning on taking a day off of work for this, but I think you convinced me I need to. Maybe it doesn't have to be a whole day.

I would love to move it myself, but I have neither the equipment nor the experience. for now the lathe will just be going in my garage which does not have a loading dock or ramp. It kinda sucks that I'll be moving in a few months so I get to do this all again too! if only I could find some tiny warehouse space with a loading dock in the place I'm moving to (loves park / rockford)
 
for now the lathe will just be going in my garage which does not have a loading dock or ramp.

It kinda sucks that I'll be moving in a few months so I get to do this all again too!

You should look for machinery storage warehouses. They store machines by the square foot. They also have fork trucks to unload, and it can be fairly inexpensive. Some of them will go fetch machines.

Downside is you wouldn't be able to work on the machine there. Just give it a quick protective lube and cover.

The height of your garage door likely means a rigger can't get inside with his fork truck. You'll want to take good pictures and measurements of the area for getting quotes.
 
My Monarch is a little smaller, at 10,000 lbs.. When I move big machinery like this, I hire my local heavy truck tow company. Patrick, the owner, is used to rigging 75,000 lb. trucks that have flipped over and down in ditches, etc.......12K lb. machines are a piece of cake for him, and any other in that business, using his boom truck. With wood 4X4's attached to the sides of the bed to protect the lead and feed screws, he used lifting slings over head, and quickly found the balance point. He lifted the lathe off my trailer, nice and slow, and I drove out from underneath. He then used the boom to traverse out and under my shop door, and set the lathe down on 4X4's inside my shop. Took about 10 to 15 minutes. It's also how Monarch shows, in all their manuals, how to rig their lathes. You may want to consider a tow truck company with a boom truck. Patrick's is rated at 50 tons. I asked. He unloaded my Monarch and my K&T mill (6500 lbs.) for me for a few hundred bucks.

I have personally had some bad experiences with riggers in this area (Chicagoland), which I totally blame on myself for hiring the wrong guy. The ones that I have been forced to use, due to auction restrictions, seem to not give a shit how they treat things. These "things" they like to toss around and be rough with are our new vintage prized possessions, so I suggest checking out whoever you work with so that you are comfortable with them.

I'll share one more story......before using Patrick the first time, I hired a rigger for the same job (lathe and mill). He quoted me $500 over the phone. The morning he was supposed to show up, which I scheduled with him and took the day off my normal work schedule to accomplish, he called 30 minutes ahead of the scheduled arrival time and doubled his quoted price. I can only guess that he thought he had me over a barrel. I told him to pound sand. Be aware of that as well.
 
If you’re moving in less than a year it’s usually less money to have the rigger store it than to have it moved twice. Worth asking, when they aren’t working riggers are usually pretty chatty & unlike lawyers & accountants the money meter isn’t spinning.

Nice catch BTW!

Good luck,
Matt
 
So much for Ray Sagan and Sons: "we're booked out thru the end of the month."

hmmm the place I tried to get a hold of in rockford never got back to me.
 
That's a lot of lathe to buy on a whim to put in your garage.

Riggers around here normally have their own warehouses they rent for reasonable rates.

As an aside, they are frequently selling machines like your Pacemaker there when a customer realizes the storage and rigging fees far exceed the actual value of the machine.
 
I wasn't planning on taking a day off of work for this, but I think you convinced me I need to. Maybe it doesn't have to be a whole day.

I would love to move it myself, but I have neither the equipment nor the experience. for now the lathe will just be going in my garage which does not have a loading dock or ramp. It kinda sucks that I'll be moving in a few months so I get to do this all again too! if only I could find some tiny warehouse space with a loading dock in the place I'm moving to (loves park / rockford)

No time like the present to learn how to move these beasties. I started early, now that I am older, I think about how much work it is beforehand.
That one looks pretty easy, some timbers and some pipe
 








 
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