Thread: A hard lesso about gravity, impatient riggers, and unfixed axis's (Dropped machine)

So this fall I purchased a fantastic little vf2. low hours well cared for. thing looked new, looking inside the electrical cabinet it was just clean.

I was waiting on the call that the riggers were at the shop I was purchasing the machine from. I had called a few times but no answer and since it was an hour away I wasn't just going to go and wait in the way of the shop I was purchasing the machine from. I had gotten a great deal on the machine since the shop was upgrading.

Riggers show up suddenly at my shop with the machine. They had brought the machine without fixing the axis's or much of any strapping the control unit or anything. They were clearly in a hurry to unload the machine. Rather then moving the blocks and lifting from a wider stance they tried to raise the machine with the forks only inches apart. They lifted the machine up, drove the truck out of under it and as expected as soon as they started to go down the axis slid and the machine toppled off the side.

I was standing back out of the way with the fixtures to secure the axis. The riggers insisted they knew what they were doing. The damage was pretty extensive and the housing had crushed the front of the spindle. It fell from about 5ft plus.

I had them reload the machine on their truck and they wrote me a check for the machine a few days later. They got off cheap compared to the backlog I ended up with since I was expecting to have a machine up and running that day.

Still really sucks because it was a great little machine that I havent been able to find a replacement for even if I spend twice or three times what I had paid for that machine.

Bugger. What year was it? And (if you don't mind) what was the price?

P.S. May want to change your nick to "Thingsthatfall2"...

Why don't you mention who the company is? So we can steer clear of them. Riggers should take responsibility for dropping a machine like this (obviously their impatience and "skill" that ended in its demise) From the sounds of it they just wrote you a check and continue on doing the same shit. Sorry to hear you lost a good machine to ham fisted idiots. Great communication also, just the way I'd want my move to go.

That was a shame..I dropped a machine once but don't ask.

You should have called your local HAAS service provider to come out and fix it. New spindle, new enclosure, and whatever else was damaged, then sent the bill to the rigger. Or better yet, Cut out the middle man and have the repairs billed directly to the rigger.

This was posted recently in the lost lathe thread:

Originally Posted by Hardplates

An interesting fact about auctions, at least in PA is that if you win a bid and they can not produce the item in the condition it was in when you won the bid then they are obligated to replace the item with one of comparable value and condition. Comparable value being defined by what the item is worth, not what you paid for it. They will try to offer you your money back and if you accept it then it's over but if you know what their obligations are and refuse the money you will eventually end up with something equal or better than the item you won.

Originally Posted by Hardplates

I'll also add the same applies to riggers which is why many times I have gladly paid more for rigging than the item or machine itself.

post 10 & 11
Lost a Lathe Today

Sorry to see a damaged machine
I would be blaming myself as much as the idiot riggers if it was mine. You know the riggers will be in a hurry and cut corners, so you need to stay ahead of them.
This means you go to the machine after you bought it and prepare it for shipping. Riggers do not need to be there. Just you and the machine, bolt on the shipping brackets and go home and relax until it shows up. Sorry, it is not the riggers fault you did not have it ready when they showed up. That in NO way excuses them but now you have no machine and work to be done....Bad all the way around.

It went from Premier to HGR in seconds. Drop test....fail

Originally Posted by Blazemaster

Why don't you mention who the company is? So we can steer clear of them. Riggers should take responsibility for dropping a machine like this (obviously their impatience and "skill" that ended in its demise) From the sounds of it they just wrote you a check and continue on doing the same shit. Sorry to hear you lost a good machine to ham fisted idiots. Great communication also, just the way I'd want my move to go.

I had to sign some paperwork for them to even get them to pay for the cost of the machine.

2 words
Picker Truck!
Lift by the lifting points and the load is totally controlled and safe.
Do they really cost any more?
My vf2 was $500 Canadian so $350 American bucks. Cheap!

What happens if someone had died and you get shut down for investigation? Or heald liable?? Yikes!!!!

And my god! Those forks are almost touching. That's asking for it.

Originally Posted by Spruewell

You should have called your local HAAS service provider to come out and fix it. New spindle, new enclosure, and whatever else was damaged, then sent the bill to the rigger. Or better yet, Cut out the middle man and have the repairs billed directly to the rigger.

Our local haas outlet sucks. I bought a new lathe from them and I thought it had been ordered almost a month ago. Called up to check on it and they were like "oh you decided you wanted to buy that machine..."

Also I didnt want a project. the sheetmetal was destroyed. the auger was shoved through the enclosure. the thing hit the ground so hard it broke my water line burried off to the left a good few feet.

Thats just plain incompetence! They might have pulled that stunt off on flat level hard ground, but given the condition of the ground in your picture, it was also stupid.

Originally Posted by Rob F.

Sorry to see a damaged machine
I would be blaming myself as much as the idiot riggers if it was mine. You know the riggers will be in a hurry and cut corners, so you need to stay ahead of them.
This means you go to the machine after you bought it and prepare it for shipping. Riggers do not need to be there. Just you and the machine, bolt on the shipping brackets and go home and relax until it shows up. Sorry, it is not the riggers fault you did not have it ready when they showed up. That in NO way excuses them but now you have no machine and work to be done....Bad all the way around.

I had called them the day before and aranged for me to bring up the spindle brace and t nuts. They said they had their own but I insisted that I wanted to be there for the loading. I called several times throughout the day and no answer. I called the people I bought the machine from and no answer. I emailed and no answer. I figured something happened unloading the new machine at that location and that my machine probably wasn't going to show up that day.

Just as I give up the trucks roll up into my parking lot. I try helping and I wanted to fix the spindle brace since they obviously didn't have one and had lied about that. The main guy in charge told me that he has been doing this for longer then I have been alive and to just get out of his way. I walked away and told my friend who helped me prep the shop for the machine to just sit down and stay out of the way. 15 min after they showed up and about forty seconds after I walked away the machine hit the ground.

Originally Posted by Thingsthatfly2

Our local haas outlet sucks. I bought a new lathe from them and I thought it had been ordered almost a month ago. Called up to check on it and they were like "oh you decided you wanted to buy that machine..."

You need to relocate to an area where people aren't idiots.

Im shopping around for my own 25 ton forklift. I have friends with lowboy trucks and I want to go pick up used cnc machines and injection mold machines whenever I find a good deal.

Originally Posted by Thingsthatfly2

I had called them the day before and aranged for me to bring up the spindle brace and t nuts. They said they had their own but I insisted that I wanted to be there for the loading. I called several times throughout the day and no answer. I called the people I bought the machine from and no answer. I emailed and no answer. I figured something happened unloading the new machine at that location and that my machine probably wasn't going to show up that day.

Just as I give up the trucks roll up into my parking lot. I try helping and I wanted to fix the spindle brace since they obviously didn't have one and had lied about that. The main guy in charge told me that he has been doing this for longer then I have been alive and to just get out of his way. I walked away and told my friend who helped me prep the shop for the machine to just sit down and stay out of the way. 15 min after they showed up and about forty seconds after I walked away the machine hit the ground.

That sucks,
Might be a good time to review post #14

Wow I would have certainly had words for those assholes. I hope you got to see the main guys face who told you to get the hell out of the way, once it hit the ground. I also hope you got to hear his story afterwards. Then they make you sign a contract saying you wont badmouth them, in order to get paid for the machine they dropped and screwed up...priceless. Sounds like a classy company.

Post all the pics you took that day, especially the ones with their trucks in the background.

Anybody that would lift a machine with the forks that close is an idiot.

There really should be a pinned thread for riggers on this forum, I went through a couple losers before I found a good one in So Cal, then I unfortunately moved 2600 miles away from him.