matt_isserstedt
Diamond
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2003
- Location
- suburbs of Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Wanted to update the group on a machine I purchased from PM member Peter...a 24" (??) Putnam planer.
We worked out transaction and payment late last year with the idea that I'd wait until spring to come to MA and pick the machine up. So...the snow melted and weather got warmer, and details fell into place and I just got back home.
I'd seen the pictures before and thought I had a scale in my head...that was about 3/4 of actual! This is one heavy duty bugger. I've posted before about how planers are deceptively heavy and this did not disappoint.
Peter had the machine staged on some heavy timbers, steel plates, and pipe rollers and after about 12 unsuccessful tries to get the trailer lined up dead center with the machine I finally hit it right and we were ready. We made a slight adjustment to the trailer deck "level" by jacking up one side and putting a 2x12 under the LH set of tires which greatly improved my "visual confidence" in not tipping anything over.
The hard work then began, I rigged up a 3T lever hoist to the vertical I-beams in the "neck" of the trailer to provide horizontal pull so the beast could climb the ramps. Pull was very heavy at first but got easier as the machine started to climb. Peter was manning the details of plates and rollers and I was working on pulling the lever...approx 4 "ratchet strokes" get 1 chain link of travel and so you can imagine this takes awhile. I ran thru the 10' of load chain and had to stop and get another bite. There was a strange combination of events as the machine was pulling along...the timbers are soft and tend to dig or "bite" where least expected, sometimes a pipe roller would create a divot and stick and other times would roll smoothly. The crowning moment was when the balance point was reached and it ever so gently eased down on the deck...then it was just a matter of reaching the travel position and getting it tied down....and I tried not to go "short" in my chaining and strapping.
Peter's drive has a quick uphill just before the main road and I tried not to repeat mistakes from another machine move where I lost momentum and traction on a similar adventure and had to be pulled out with a backhoe. So Peter blocked the road and I let the R30 work its magic and all was well.
Getting back to GA (where shop machines are stored temporarily...I realize my profile location is TN which is correct but there are no machines here
). I was worried about the possibility that my forklift wouldn't lift it off the deck. I do have 2 forklifts (7k and 3k) but the 3k had a dead battery and was surrounded by other machinery due to a rearrangement. However, I decided to have a try.
I lifted the "light" end to jockey the machine closer to the edge of the trailer and was able to pick that up. Next I lifted the heavy end and that was successful too. So I decided to have a go at the entire thing. First order of business was to get the mast as close as possible, I took off the cross-feed "stroke" linkage to get closer, approx 1" from actually contacting the machine. It lifted it up...definitely a heavy load and I could tell near the forklift's capacity as I have to rev the engine slightly to lift or tilt at those capacities...lower loads will easily lift at idle. I found myself in a "rut" in the pavement which required heavy throttle in reverse gear to back away from the trailer, but yet not overtip the machine as I did so...thankfully the steering never got light and I carefully set it down to the pavement, then moved into the warehouse with approx 1" of ground clearance under the timbers.
I'm purely guessing here that the machine is in the 7000 lb range, and that is based on a 16" x 54" Monarch lathe that I own that is in the 7300 lb range and felt and handled about the same. The good addition is that I got some proper *heavy* machine-handling forks last year, 2" x 6" cross-section and 60" long. The previous forks that came with the machine were full taper to a sharp edge and barely looked adequate for 5000 lbs of load.
Couple of unrelated trip notes. I overnighted a couple of nights at rest stops which went well, in hindsight I need to let the truck cool off more thoroughly before going to sleep...I woke up twice early on, sweating due to all the residual heat from the exhaust, transmission, etc conducting up thru the underbody.
I tried to avoid tolls as much as possible, I-90 in Mass was reasonable and I could have shaved some $$ off that if I had taken I-84 farther east. I got hit unexpectedly on I-84E in NewYork at Fishkill as I crossed the bridge. Approx $15 total so not too bad.
Gasoline is another story, this truck is *thirsty* as the best I've ever gotten is around 10mpg unloaded, downhill with a stiff tailwind. Towing the empty trailer is approx 7mpg and fully loaded as above can get into the 5mpg range. However, it never missed a beat (even at 204k on the odo) other than being sketchy at hot-starting...I resolved that problem by letting the truck idle during gasoline stops.
We worked out transaction and payment late last year with the idea that I'd wait until spring to come to MA and pick the machine up. So...the snow melted and weather got warmer, and details fell into place and I just got back home.
I'd seen the pictures before and thought I had a scale in my head...that was about 3/4 of actual! This is one heavy duty bugger. I've posted before about how planers are deceptively heavy and this did not disappoint.
Peter had the machine staged on some heavy timbers, steel plates, and pipe rollers and after about 12 unsuccessful tries to get the trailer lined up dead center with the machine I finally hit it right and we were ready. We made a slight adjustment to the trailer deck "level" by jacking up one side and putting a 2x12 under the LH set of tires which greatly improved my "visual confidence" in not tipping anything over.
The hard work then began, I rigged up a 3T lever hoist to the vertical I-beams in the "neck" of the trailer to provide horizontal pull so the beast could climb the ramps. Pull was very heavy at first but got easier as the machine started to climb. Peter was manning the details of plates and rollers and I was working on pulling the lever...approx 4 "ratchet strokes" get 1 chain link of travel and so you can imagine this takes awhile. I ran thru the 10' of load chain and had to stop and get another bite. There was a strange combination of events as the machine was pulling along...the timbers are soft and tend to dig or "bite" where least expected, sometimes a pipe roller would create a divot and stick and other times would roll smoothly. The crowning moment was when the balance point was reached and it ever so gently eased down on the deck...then it was just a matter of reaching the travel position and getting it tied down....and I tried not to go "short" in my chaining and strapping.
Peter's drive has a quick uphill just before the main road and I tried not to repeat mistakes from another machine move where I lost momentum and traction on a similar adventure and had to be pulled out with a backhoe. So Peter blocked the road and I let the R30 work its magic and all was well.
Getting back to GA (where shop machines are stored temporarily...I realize my profile location is TN which is correct but there are no machines here
). I was worried about the possibility that my forklift wouldn't lift it off the deck. I do have 2 forklifts (7k and 3k) but the 3k had a dead battery and was surrounded by other machinery due to a rearrangement. However, I decided to have a try. I lifted the "light" end to jockey the machine closer to the edge of the trailer and was able to pick that up. Next I lifted the heavy end and that was successful too. So I decided to have a go at the entire thing. First order of business was to get the mast as close as possible, I took off the cross-feed "stroke" linkage to get closer, approx 1" from actually contacting the machine. It lifted it up...definitely a heavy load and I could tell near the forklift's capacity as I have to rev the engine slightly to lift or tilt at those capacities...lower loads will easily lift at idle. I found myself in a "rut" in the pavement which required heavy throttle in reverse gear to back away from the trailer, but yet not overtip the machine as I did so...thankfully the steering never got light and I carefully set it down to the pavement, then moved into the warehouse with approx 1" of ground clearance under the timbers.
I'm purely guessing here that the machine is in the 7000 lb range, and that is based on a 16" x 54" Monarch lathe that I own that is in the 7300 lb range and felt and handled about the same. The good addition is that I got some proper *heavy* machine-handling forks last year, 2" x 6" cross-section and 60" long. The previous forks that came with the machine were full taper to a sharp edge and barely looked adequate for 5000 lbs of load.
Couple of unrelated trip notes. I overnighted a couple of nights at rest stops which went well, in hindsight I need to let the truck cool off more thoroughly before going to sleep...I woke up twice early on, sweating due to all the residual heat from the exhaust, transmission, etc conducting up thru the underbody.
I tried to avoid tolls as much as possible, I-90 in Mass was reasonable and I could have shaved some $$ off that if I had taken I-84 farther east. I got hit unexpectedly on I-84E in NewYork at Fishkill as I crossed the bridge. Approx $15 total so not too bad.
Gasoline is another story, this truck is *thirsty* as the best I've ever gotten is around 10mpg unloaded, downhill with a stiff tailwind. Towing the empty trailer is approx 7mpg and fully loaded as above can get into the 5mpg range. However, it never missed a beat (even at 204k on the odo) other than being sketchy at hot-starting...I resolved that problem by letting the truck idle during gasoline stops.
