Machine transport

[RobTy]

Any suggestions on best (reasonable price, good chance machine arrives undamaged) way to arrange pickup and delivery of a Planer thicknesser?

Around 150kg machine but other end of the country from me. Seller isn't willing to put it on a pallet... I do have a small van but no lifting kit, figure it'll probably be simpler to arrange a pickup than faff with driving a few hundred miles and then struggling with loading.

 

[deema]

Hi Rob,
have you thought about hiring a Luton Van with a tail lift from say Cheshire Self Drive? It’s around £70 for the day. Sideways and I use them on occasions and they have been excellent vans as well as good service and price. Always good in my view to have a physical butchers before as it’s expensive to return it!

 

[Old.bodger]

Highly spoken of:

https://www.homeworkshop.org.uk/ind...cle&id=8:landylift&catid=18:traders&Itemid=20
not used myself.

 

[Jameshow]

Why not make a ramp from 18mm ply and 4x2 timber.

I've made a couple for when my niece visits. They will happily take 150kg.

Make a frame for the planner with castors or rubber wheels on it.

Put the ramp downhill so the gradient is reduced.

Cheers James

 

[Daniel2]

Highly spoken of:

https://www.homeworkshop.org.uk/ind...cle&id=8:landylift&catid=18:traders&Itemid=20
not used myself.

Yes, he seems to be really quite famous these days, and appears to
maintain a very good reputation.

 

[RobTy]

Thanks everyone, look like some good options. I'll have a looksie

 

[Spectric]

Depending what machine it is, you can make it easier to move by taking of the planing tables and it will be lighter to man handle. Personally I would hire a van with tail lift and collect in person so you can see it and take responsability for its journey, a lot less stressful.

 

[Inspector]

You could consider driving to the area in your van and renting a lift gate van for a few hours. Pick up the lathe in the lift gate and back it up to yours and transfer it using the liftgat to bridge the gap between the vehicles. Return the rental and then drive home. Then you can remove the machine at home at your leisure. Slide it on to a stack of cribbing and lower it to the ground one stick at a time or use a borrowed/rented engine hoist or slide it down a long ramp or get four big guys to lift it out THEN give them a case of beer.

Paying a machine mover might be cheaper and easier plus they are insured.

Pete

 

[clogs]

when I bought my Wadkin RS lathe I asked on parcel monkey for a quote....
I paid £125 to get it from just outside Blackpool to the shipper's at Peterborough....
he used a Transit luton with a tail lift, the machine was already taken apart....

 

[Sideways]

The first ever used PT I bought to refurbish for my own, I used a man and van that the seller said he used regularly and were reliable. Bloke turned up in a transit, hadn't a clue and was all set to heave it out of the back by the tables.
Sadly many sellers haven't a clue. Mine hadn't, he'd brushed some paint on a used machine and just made it 10x more difficult to strip it back and do properly. Better go get it yourself if you can.
Pallet companies are very experienced but everything depends on the seller securing the machine to the pallet so there's no risk of it toppling when picked up by forklift, nothing falling off and getting lost and being properly wrapped to cope with being loaded and unloaded in an open yard in the rain ....

 

[RobinBHM]

Around 150kg machine but other end of the country from me. Seller isn't willing to put it on a pallet... I do have a small van but no lifting kit

that would easily lift onto and off a van.

I got 170kg spindle moulder on and off on my own.

a light machine like that can be wheeled upto the van, then leant over against the van, bottom lifted up and slid into the van.

 

[RichardG]

I've used a folding engine hoist/crane to lift 200kg into the back of a van, only issue is the ground covering as they don't move on anything rough otherwise a usefull bit of kit.

 

[Jamesc]

Highly spoken of:

https://www.homeworkshop.org.uk/ind...cle&id=8:landylift&catid=18:traders&Itemid=20
not used myself.

I have used Steve in the past and would not hesitate to recomend him

 

[TFrench]

that would easily lift onto and off a van.

I got 170kg spindle moulder on and off on my own.

a light machine like that can be wheeled upto the van, then leant over against the van, bottom lifted up and slid into the van.

This is the way to do it if you already have a van. 150kg isn't that heavy if you're just tipping it in.

 

[Sideways]

Yes, that's good method for a tablesaw or a spindle which has a similar type of top but not something I'd do to a planer. A planer is not meant to have 150Kg load applied especially at the tips of it's tables.
You can take tools and depending on the machine may be able to remove the tables quite easily making it a lot lighter to lift. Take note of the position of any shims that come out and maybe duct tape them in place for safekeeping.
On any planer I'd always check the alignment of the tables and cutter block. On a used one I'd expect to have to adjust them. You'll need a good straightedge, feeler gauges etc for that.

 

[LJM]

+1… do it yourself… last machine I moved was a 500kg lump; engine hoist, a short wheel base T5 and a little perseverance did it.

 

[Ozi]

150 kg might not be a lot to a young man with arms like tractors, but a hell of a lot if it lands on your foot. I'd probably go for the do it yourself option but would definitely hire some sort of lifting kit such as an engine hoist. Make sure you get the correct chains or straps and can lift the machine high enough. Also take a mate with you and the necessary to tie the thing down in the van - it's my specialist subject the bleeding obvious.

 

[RobTy]

Well landylift transport would be ~£500 so that ones out!

I'm fairly young and reasonably fit but the bigger issue is that my van is a camper, not a work van. So whilst I can fit big stuff in, not super keen on manhandling close to 200kg into a fairly well treated (and valuable) van, especially solo.

Ive assembled and moved a 200kg bandsaw solo and whilst it's definitely possible, its far from easy (at least for me). Also i feel that manhandling in this way would be a big risk for a machine that relies so much on good alignment.

Looking like hiring an engine hoist or a luton with a lift is likely best approach unless any other good suggestions for machine couriers.

 

[TFrench]

Be very careful lifting a P/T with an engine hoist - they're not normally designed to be suspended - only picked up from underneath. Where does it need collecting from? I've got a small manual pallet stacker I use for these sort of jobs - its light enough that I can lift it into the van on my own, and it'll pick up 250kg. I used it today to load this linisher up, took about 30 seconds to get it on the van.

 

[Jameshow]

What's the general location to be picked up from and too?

Cheers James