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Share your machinery move pictures.

tlkent

Plastic
Joined
Dec 12, 2016
Location
Bluegrass, Kentucky
Hello,

I am revising training documents for instructing workers on how to move machines and equipment in a manufacturing environment. I have discovered that there are very few pictures available; perhaps because shop owners do not like having photographers wander around their business. There are plenty of images showing professional riggers lifting huge objects with large cranes and specialized equipment, but the only useful pictures for my purpose were found in these forum pages.

Thus, I am asking everyone to post any images showing the nitty-gritty of lifting, moving, and setting down a machine.

My work is for-profit. Therefore, I must get permission from the owner of the picture to use their artwork. In return, each page displaying the image will bear an attribute crediting the owner or the owner's company.

A little bit about me:
I am a professional engineer that has worked around machining my entire life. I worked in my father's basement tool&die shop until I went off to college. Those childhood experiences have allowed me to not only make better designs, they have also allowed me to machine some of the prototype parts that I had developed.

Lastly, I have yet to read through the rules of this forum; I may have broken some rule about soliciting work or what-not. I hope that this community can forgive breaking such a rule. After all, I am asking for help educating the next generation of machinists, millwrights, and riggers.
 
Machinery rigging equipment is a bit specialized, but it's not uncommon.

There are a lot of variables in what you're asking for. Like how you move a machine from one part of a building to another is going to be different than if you need to load it on a lowboy and truck it across the country.

Often times cranes and rigger's forklifts are the only way to get the job done (because you have to load onto a truck).

If you want to see rigging tools in action be a little more specific to what situations you need and you might have good luck googling the tool rather than the work it's doing- Search "toe jack" instead of "lifting CNC mill".

There are different styles of machinery skates. Not necessarily one better than another. Many will argue there are pros and cons, but rather they are used differently.

establishing center of mass of what you are moving and grasping what you can and cannot get away with given that info is important.

The surface the machinery is on- You can have a 30K lb machine on 4" of concrete. What you cannot do is pick that machine with a 60K lb forklift even if you can drive right up to it- Fork tires will go right through the slab. Load must be distributed.

I've never taken pictures of using a Johnson bar or a toe jack, but I have pictures of a lot of moves I've done at "precarious moments" where a big machine is up on forks or sitting way up on cribbing.
 
The times where I would have had the best pics were when I was sweating a puddle in the seat of the forklift. Never got crazy or dangerous, that's not me. However, moving top heavy or one end heavy machines that cost multiple years salary tend to make my foot twitch a little at times;)
Like picking up one end of a lathe, putting skate pads under that end, then picking up the other end with forklift to slide it because it was too large and heavy to get with just the forklift.
I have seen 2 small trucks pick up machines and then back the truck under it, saw a new "still in the plastic wrap" Mori horizontal mill picked up OVER the office because it was too wide to fit through the isle way.... THAT was exciting!
A 15,000lb., $600K mill, 15' in the air...
Needless to say all employees were moved away from the risk area.:crazy:
 
My last machinery moving day was for an employee who had a mill and a lathe he wanted moved from his old house to his new house. Newer Bridgeport at probably 2000lbs and older Clausing Colchester at about 3500 lbs.

30 feet of flat broken concrete from street to base of 4 foot incline to about a 6 foot flat spot directly in front of the garage.

The forklift could barely make it up the incline by itself. We laid a few 1x4's down on the driveway and I backed my trailer up the driveway (using the 1x4's as skids) until my trailer wheels were off the ground and the trailer was supported by the hitch in the front and the 1x4's on the beavertail. Then used the forklift and come alongs to drag and spin the mill and lathe uphill to the tail of the trailer where we picked them off and put them in the garage. Removed the fork backstop/guard so we could pick the lathe with a strap around a cast web between the ways on the bed and still fit in the door.


I didn't want any pictures just in case we had an accident and folded my trailer in half. No accidents, no apparent plastic deformation of the trailer frame or scratches on the machines. A fun day.
 
got a few pictures but nothing real heavy, cincinati #3 vertical and a shaper. the mill was to top heavy for me to feel comfortable getting off the trailer the crane put it right inside the door on my skid that was built out of 4x10s lagged together. rotated it around and rolled it on 1/2" pipe into place with a skid steer wanted the smallest pipe i could use incase I rolled it off an edge getting it off the timbers I used a porta power, floor jack 2x6 boards and some trailer house wedges. the shaper was a piece of cake. besides the 10 foot of muddy driveway just lifted it and set it on the skids used 3 " pipe to get it to the slab then small pipes you can see my shop has got steadly fuller and dirtier
 

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I don't have many pictures due to the one man rigging crew.

Moving my small machines out of my home garage, yes I live in the hills. A few shots of Bertha my big forklift moving my big lathe, I have no other shots of moving stuff but, I used pipe, pallet jack, porta power, come-along and pry bars in addition to the forklift.

Steve
 

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More pictures.
 

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I moved my Prototrak from one of my shops to the other and decided to try the the tilting function on my new trailer as there is no forklift at the destination shop at the moment. I did this all by myself, getting the thing off was not too much fun. Paying the tilt and load guy is the way to go fphoto 2 (1).jpgphoto 1 (2).jpgphoto 2 (2).jpgphoto 3.jpgor the short moves.
 
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Are you talking about the picture that somehow came out sideways (that I don't know how to fix) with the green beam or the yellow Riggers lift?

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That looks cool. :)

Im guessing its the feet that stops it getting scissory.
Are there swivels at the top of rams? What kinda work does it see most?
 
The picture of the green beam, and the two Hydraulic jacks. (Yes the side ways one). Thats a cool bit of gear.

Regards Phil.

As has said above, it was rented from Lifting Gear Hire. Here is a link to the specs on it- http://www.lift-systems.com/assets/minijacks-model-2020sc-4040sc.pdf

It works great for really tight spaces but we don't use one enough to justify buying one. I'll see if I've got any more pics of that move. It was a boiler that had to go through a small door and down 7' into the basement with very little room to spare.
 
Another pic of the boiler move.

Edit- well for some reason that one is sideways too. I don't know what I'm doing wrong or how to correct it.
 

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Well, you could start by holding your phone like a camera - when using it like a camera....


Otherwise, I was wondering how that 4 post unit keeps all 4 posts in synch?
I take it that they are hydraulic eh?
Or are they some sort of thread inside thread type unit?


-----------------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox
 
Hello tlkent,
Although I have no photos to share, I have one tip that has worked very well for me; I cut several 1"X 6"redwood pads about a foot long. Lay them on your forks and lift your machine, the sound of the redwood crush will indicate that your load is secure. So never lift heavy equipment with bare forks, always use your soft wood pads to prevent slipping.
otrlt
 








 
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