Startrite TA275 - will it fit in a car?

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DodgyLogic

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Firstly just a quick hello - I've been lurking around these forums for a while and have finally registered and posted!

After considering retiring my Aldi table saw that got me back into woodwork (mostly furniture), I've found a good deal on a Startrite TA275 that needs some TLC.

I've read that you can take the table off the Startrite saws relatively easily and then they become "easy" (easier?) to handle and that you can then fit them in an estate car.

Does anyone have any experience of this? Is this really a viable option? Do you have to be Hercules to achieve this? I would have to drive 100 miles with it in the car - am I mad to even contemplate this?

Alternatively I could hire a van with a tail lift, but then I may have to take the table apart to get it up the 5 inch step into my workshop anyway!

Any thoughts, comments or personal experience would be gratefully received!
 
I haven't done it myself or heard of anyone doing it, but I don't see why it wouldn't fit in a large car. I imagine it would be snug but with the table off it shouldn't be too difficult to get in. Best to ask for measurements of the cabinet and table from the seller before taking the plunge though, a friend of mine drove 180 miles both ways (360 combined :shock:) to go pick up a Felder planer thicknesser that he thought would definitely fit in the back of his very large people carrier, He got there and guess what, it wouldn't fit by about an inch! :lol:. He had to drive back without it and arrange a courier for it which was only £50 or so.
 
I had one of these for a short while. I got it in the back of the bigger version of the Renault Scenic.

Actually it was a slightly funny story. It was sold as spares/repairs and I thought it would be worth £50 to practise taking it apart and rebuilding it. and it was only down the road, so off I went. It was spares/repairs because the tilt was jammed at about 75 degrees and the lift at about 2 inches. The owner had an odd plywood base fitted into the bottom so I couldn't really inspect the innards.
Anyway, heaved it up into the car and drove home. I was trying to be careful but there's a particularly vicious set of speed bumps on the way home and it's impossible not to make them feel like driving onto and off a kerb.
When I got home, the plywood had fallen out of the bottom and released a lifetime's supply of sawdust - which I'm still getting out of the car a year later.
However, removal of the sawdust had completely solved the tilt and rise issues. A proper brush and oil and it was fine. Which al adds weight to the "hit it with a hammer" school of fixing.
 
No problem in a wee hatchback,seats down table off and in first, and put the biscuit tin on top,
plenty of space for a big dog in there too.
If bringing it on a very very long bumpy road at speed, I'd consider bringing a saw and a plank to stiffen the biscuit tin base
up, because the motor/arbor hangs off a cast iron bracket bolted to this flimsy bit of sheet metal,
and is difficult to assemble on your own if you don't have someone to hold the motor up for you.
I didn't bother taking the cast bracket off the base at the time, or stiffen it up with a stick on a 100km trip and it was fine.
 
Thanks for the comments everyone - helpful as always!

Ttrees - is the base really that wobbly when the top's been taken off? That unnerves me a little. Presumably it's more stable when in one piece - should I just take a van and collect it whole?

Are there any concerns with taking a van and collecting in one piece as long as I ensure it is securely fastened?
 
so i too have just purchased a 275 today . Two guys helped me to lift it into my transit van ,26 inch lift from ground to van floor , easily table top attacthed . Just strapped two ratchet straps to avoid movement . And when arrived home same again my son and his friend helped me to lift it out of van easily. Sorry this does not answer your question of fitting in car. But if using a van a tail lift may not be needed .
 
Yes the base is lightweight and wobbly, if you are concerned I would just get a friend/seller to help you hold the motor up, to take off the 3 bolts that fit the casting to the sheet metal.
That's after you take the table off.

Wouldn't take more than a minute to take the casting off, if you have to go off road, and in a hurry.
Not terribly easy to do by yourself as there is a 45 degree slope that makes blocking it up
to support the weight a pain.
I'm not talking about doing this in the car, as this is only necessary if dismantling the casting.
If you decide not to take the cast part off, you can block it up from the side of the cabinet
when in the car easily, so you won't have an angled chute to deal with
Here's the casting to show you the part that might need support if your really worried about it.
SAM_1705.jpg


For what its worth, I would rather take the table off and stick it into the car
than lift the machine by the table into a van.
 

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