Rigger selection tips?

Hey All,

I'm hoping to put a VMC on the floor in the next year or two, and don't want to have to jig up some channel iron extensions for the random fork lift I borrowed again.


There's no one within two hours that has a big enough forklift to lift a machine, but small enough to get into a building. I would be calling them from Calgary to drive 5 hours out, set the machine in place and drive back.
I'm having a hard time looking up anything machining specific, so some details might help.

What should people be looking for when they select a rigger?
Is there a certain type of forklift that's suited to setting machines?

I'd like to hear any experiences you've all got.

Try giving Rolston crane a call in Port Coquitlam they move lots of VMC. Tony is a good guy.
Collector

Pretty much any machine made outside the US will have provisions to be lifted by a crane. If it's a used machine, it might be missing some brackets, but can usually still be done.

I would consider lifting a machine with a crane as doing it the hard way, but there's a lot more riggers with a decent crane than a decent forklift. Often it's a whole lot cheaper too.

I remember installing a brand new " Colchester " Hydro CNC " lathe that came with it's own load spreader. It was a four way spreader that picked up on each corner of a large enclosure. When the crane driver had placed the machine onto my skates he drove off with the load spreader that was being taken back to the makers.

I'm not saying the machine couldn't be lifted without the load spreader but it wouldn't have been easy without maybe damaging the enclosure.

Regards Tyrone.

Many times I or the riggers I hired have use 2 forklifts to lift a machine off a trailer. One from each side of trailer and lift straight up and the truck drive out from under it. Then they lowered it to the ground. I once sold a Bullard to a company who said he could not buy it as he could not afford a rigger to drive 200 miles one way. I started to call lumber yards in his area and after about 10 phone calls we found a rock quarry near the plant that had a huge forklift they drove over and used it to unload the machine. I have also hired House Movers and wrecker services to unload machines. I would recommend you call local machine shops and factories with machines and ask who they recommend and who you should stay away from. Rich

A crane or two forklifts would be easy. Lots of them around town.
But how the heck do you get it in the building from there?
I don't think the landlord would let me take the roof off for a bit.

What's your ceiling height? Size and weight of the VMC? When I've moved large machinery in small spaces, we lifted it off the truck with 2 forks, then set it on machinery skates. Then levers or jacks and wedges onto the floor. Even small VMCs usually need 8 feet of height, and you can typically get a hilo in an 8' ceiling, and you don't need a lot of mast to get under a machine to lift it off skates. 10 foot is no problem. A good rigger can get it in place. Its what they do.

You set the machine on skates and roll it inside. If you have sketchy asphalt or gravel lay steel plates down. Even strips of plate of flatbar will work if you're careful.

As a rigger myself, we have forklift capable of lifting 100,000 lb that will fit in a 10' door. We can go up to 40,000 lb through a 8' door.

Most VMCs of any size will require 8' forks to lift with one machine and don't be surprised if it takes a lift that is twice the capacity as the actual machine weight to lift it. If it must be picked from the front side, your weight will be a long way out on the forks.

I'd be really careful allowing somebody like the local lumber yard or rock quarry unload your machine. They aren't normally insured for that type work and most operators are less than careful. You can knock around a stack of lumber without much to worry about but a high dollar machining center is a whole different situation. Then you have to worry about who is responsible if your machine gets dropped or, heaven forbid, somebody gets hurt or killed.

We've picked them overhead before but it's a pain and increases your overall height. Most require some elaborate rigging to pick them properly and stay out of the sheet metal and other fragile parts, and has already been mentioned, some require special lifting beams or jigs to lift overhead.

We do skate sometimes also but avoid it if we can. It's just slow and more labor intensive.