What's new
What's new

Moving machines on parallel iron pipes

ClimbCut

Plastic
Joined
Dec 1, 2017
I recently moved a couple of light machines using iron pipes. Nothing new or innovative there. But I found that by using long spring shackles to hold the pipes in parallel pairs, my move went very well. This is one of my first posts here. I grew up on a farm in the Missouri Ozarks, so we “made do” with what was available.44C53DB3-65A6-48FC-811B-A7B88CB03B62.jpgCF56C53A-1E4B-48D0-8C56-8C3555E0DA0A.jpg
 
I have never used that many pipes, but that's o.k.

With the pipes coupled, how do you steer it ?
 
The little Bridgeport only weighs about 1,500 lbs or so, I pulled the shackles out and moosed it. I tried it on my 13,000lb Rambaudi but found that stopping it was the issue. It drug me until it ran out of pipe. B364ED78-B084-47AD-9DF1-44E4D6280939.jpg
 
Pipe is almost always a good option for a lightweight machine with a rigid base (like a knee mill) and keeps the load close to the floor. Also very easy to steer. I've never used that many pieces (usually 3 for me)
I also like the pallet jacks but understand not everyone has a set laying around.

Tough to beat pallet jacks
 
..grew up on a farm in the Missouri Ozarks, so we “made do” with what was available.View attachment 221642View attachment 221643

West By God Virginia. Arrange the next door neighbour and his team of Belgians, just toss a chain around it and slide it - initially across the fresh horseshit they so thoughtfully provide to git 'er moving.

Thereafter, anywhere you wanted them to take it, uphill or down, upper reaches of Hickory trees excepted, but damned little else.

Tractors were just never quite the same, but at least they didn't eat much whilst off-duty, nor require manure shoveled.

The carryover, ground hardly ever level, was when not machinery skates, then wood-on-wood skidding. One can safely break for a shit, load static and stable, rather than having it scared outta yah, rollers heading off for holidays in Florida, failing at it when last set run off of, and praying the load dasn't dig-in and plant face.

:)
 
Ive always used steel pipe,generally boiler stay tube,thicker wall and it wont crush easily,like ordinary boiler tube.Once pulled a boiler weighing 50 tons out of a building with 4" pipe,and a truck winch.....too many pipes will foul up the operation,they must be separated so they dont rub together and want to turn backward...Nowdays all the risk experts want you to do weeks of building demolition and giant,costly cranes to do what could have been done in a couple of days with a couple of laborers....This is why places like China and India are taking over...bet you cant find a single risk assesor ,or safety expert anywhere in Asia.They would starve.
 
I have moved machines up to 3k pounds on pvc pipe with wood runners. Amazing how much weight 1.5" pvc can handle. Plus it doesn't clang around like my iron pipe does in the back of the truck.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 
I have used a variety of stuff to move things... strong hardwood planks, even used steel and PVC pipe for 'tracks' on soft surfaces, with tubes perpendicular, rolling the machine to traverse soft ground. Moved a 7500lb generator out of a dirt-floor building using steel pipe 'tracks' with plastic pipes atop the tracks, under the machine's skid. I pulled it out by creeping it along with a hydrostatic drive garden tractor. Worked well, because that generator was less than 1/8" shorter than the overhead door header of the building. Any other method would'a been too tall...
 
Pipe is almost always a good option for a lightweight machine with a rigid base (like a knee mill) and keeps the load close to the floor. Also very easy to steer. I've never used that many pieces (usually 3 for me)
I also like the pallet jacks but understand not everyone has a set laying around.

Tough to beat pallet jacks

I’ve moved generators up to 20,000 lbs on pipe. Did one in Puerto Rico after the hurricane- used a ditch witch as a tow motor. I moved it at night and wouldn’t tell how I did it at first, but it gave us more staging area, and saved tons of welding cable.
 
I have pushed around 6000+ lb bed mills on HDPE cutting board skates -- with a forklift.* 3/8" thick material, with a line of 1/4" hex-drive wood screws shot into them as a barrier to keep the machine from sliding off. (Flip the skid over and grind off & undercut the pointy end of screws so they can't dig into the concrete.) But in many cases, just steel on well-finished concrete is pretty slick, too.

*... a forklift that was way to wimpy to actually pick it up
 
I’ve moved generators up to 20,000 lbs on pipe. Did one in Puerto Rico after the hurricane- used a ditch witch as a tow motor. I moved it at night and wouldn’t tell how I did it at first, but it gave us more staging area, and saved tons of welding cable.

Still down there? Would love to know the real situation without the media bullshit.
 
Still down there? Would love to know the real situation without the media bullshit.

I’ve been down there 4 times, last time was last week- though I was barely out of San Juan this trip.

All the media reports were correct, just realize you can pick and choose where you report from- San Juan is more or less back to normal, except for all of the businesses still closed either waiting to rebuild or they took the insurance money and ran. The #2 mall in the area, plaza Carolina is still closed except for the anchor stores. Lots of street lights are still out around San Juan- cellular service is hit and miss outside San juan- I think a lot of sites must still be running on cows and colts.

As of a month or two ago interior of San Juan was a mess. We are hauling diesel fuel everywhere, and I believe will wear out two engines per site- our backup generator that ran for the first month, and portable prime power generators we have brought it to replace commercial- that was the 20k generator I moved’ though that one was never intended for prime power.

As near as I can tell St Johns (USVI, not PR) and culebra were the slowest to recover- probably because of their remoteness. But the interior of the island is a close second- last number I heard also 1/3 didn’t have power. But between PREPA and the commonwealth, the accurcarcy of their numbers has allways been suspect- possabally and attempt to max out the fema funds. I suspect there is some hermit in the mountains that never gets his power back for a year. I remember in hurricane georges (1996) it was said to be 8 months to restore power.

ETA: I think most of the current t pain is economic- huge dearth of retail jobs -the people in the interior of the island are used to power outages’ and there has been a huge influx of harbor freight inverter generators. There will be a ton of construction work for sime time to come- pr is hell on stateside contractors unless they do critical infrastructure or something really technical. It amazing how many fast food places still need to replace their signs.
 
Last edited:
Well Done Climbcut,
I can move most of my machines in a similar way, but at the 6000lbs level things get way tougher.
 








 
Back
Top