Powermatic 66

[Stan Johnsey]

Noob here with a question. I have no woodworking experience but plan to do alot of learning soon. I have arranged to purchase a table saw, used Powermatic 66 w/2 hp 220 motor, 50" Biesemeyer fense, HTC mobility base.

Anything I should take a look at, known weak spots I should check? Second problem is I need to load the saw into the back of my pickup. How much will I have to dismantle it to get it down to a two man lift? I'm guessing the saw weighs about 700 lbs. I figure I will take off the fence, wings and top. Will I have to remove the motor, too, in order to get the weight to a managable level?

I started out looking at contractors saw and look what happened.

[Matt Day]

Good call getting a nice saw to start with - upgrading is a pain! I just got a cabinet saw and am still wrestling with the mobile base / router table assembly. GF doesn't quite get it - I was all setup with my hybrid, now I haven't produced anything in weeks b/d of my "upgrade"!

You should be able to take the top off farily easily as well if you need to which will require some setup of the blade later. But I suggest you do a full tune-up of the saw anyway since I assume it's used.

Have a good handtruck with you with a ratcheting strap to secure the saw to the 'truck, and slide the saw up some 2x8's to the bed of the pickup.

[Jason White]

Wow, that's a HELLUVA starter saw. Check the arbor bearings for noise and make sure the top is reasonably flat. You can always give it a tune-up when you get it home.

Jason

Noob here with a question. I have no woodworking experience but plan to do alot of learning soon. I have arranged to purchase a table saw, used Powermatic 66 w/2 hp 220 motor, 50" Biesemeyer fense, HTC mobility base.

Anything I should take a look at, known weak spots I should check? Second problem is I need to load the saw into the back of my pickup. How much will I have to dismantle it to get it down to a two man lift? I'm guessing the saw weighs about 700 lbs. I figure I will take off the fence, wings and top. Will I have to remove the motor, too, in order to get the weight to a managable level?

I started out looking at contractors saw and look what happened.

[Jon Grider]

That's a great saw. I've had mine for 13 years or so and it's a very reliable workhorse. I had to move mine 2 1/2 years ago from a garage shop to a new basement shop, so I know what you face.I would take off the rails and side tables, but leave everything else on. Yes it's a heavy beast, but the table is aligned with shims, and it's a pain to have to reshim the top if it's removed. Can you get a third strong back to help you move it without so much disassembly?

[Steve H Graham]

I took one apart and put it in an SUV by myself. I would recommend taking the table off; the cabinet alone, without the motor, probably weighs over 200 pounds. I had to shove it up a ramp on its side. I wouldn't recommend lifting it, even with two guys. It's awkward as well as heavy. If you have no choice, use all the mechanical advantages you can; straps or whatever.

Really, it all depends on how badly you want to be able to tie your own shoes when you're 60. A lot of guys don't like to admit there is anything so big they shouldn't lift it. They're the ones you eventually see riding the complimentary electric carts at the grocery. As for me, I wimp out whenever I can summon the maturity and patience to do so. Probably not as often as I should.

I didn't have any problems with the shims, but I was lucky. I didn't know they were in there, and when they flopped out, I had to guess which bolts they had been attached to. Make sure you know where they came from and put them back correctly.

[Stan Johnsey]

Thanks for the information. I will try to recruit a third person so that I can move it without removing the table. If I have to take the table off I will be lookin' for shims.

[David Winer]

Stan, the advice to use 2 x 8s for a ramp is good. Do yourself and helper-friends a favor--make a more elaborate temporary long ramp of larger lumber and maybe even some plywood to deck-screw on to the boards. Also, I heartily endorse the advice not to overdo your back--it doesn't take much to cause a strain that lasts a long time.

[Steve H Graham]

My saw was in a storage room, and there was a 2" rise from the pavement to the floor of the room. I backed an SUV up to the point where I could wedge a bunch of 2 x 4s between the SUV and the rise. I guess they were about six feet long, and I used enough of them to make a ramp around two feet wide. I covered the ramp in quilts and shoved. Not elegant, but it worked. Wider lumber would have been less scary.

About the shims: you need to know where they are before the table comes off, because the instant you move it, they will probably fly all over the place.

[CPeter James]

If you take the top off, check for any shimm washers under the table at the three bolt locations and put them back the same way they came out. It can affect the blade/table relationship.

CPeter

[Bob Luciano]

I have moved a couple of them in and out of my truck alone. I get the truck as low as I can and tip them in complete on a moving blanket. Reverse the procedure to get them back out. If you have a driveway with a gutter get your tires there and hopefully your gate will be closer to the ground.

[John Hedges]

used Powermatic 66 w/2 hp

Are you sure about the 2hp. I've never heard of a 66 with less than 3hp.

[Stan Johnsey]

Me either. I figured it was something that was offered a few years ago.

[Chris Rosenberger]

I have bought PM66s with 1 1/2hp & 2 hp motors.

[Ron Jones near Indy]

Got a new one at work in '75. HP was 1 1/2. Still going strong today.

[Peter Quinn]

There is no good reason to 'LIFT' this saw. It is too heavy for two people to lift, you really need four, two on each side, and you would need to make a carrier with 2X4's clamped to the cabinet just below table edges so you can achieve a mechanical advantage and lift with your legs, not your back. By this I mean you remove the extension tables and use the cabinet flange as a lip below which you place the 2X4's. Use boards at leas 5' long and work like paul bearers. I recommend as has been stated above you DO NOT remove the top if at all possible. Pulling the motor is simple enough and will drop 75-90 pounds depending on the motor, those old baldors are heavy. ITs easy to reinstall a motor, much more painful to reinstall the top and realign the top/trunion/blade.

Do pull the fence, rails, extension tables etc, anything easily removable. Arbor bearings may wear out but are easily replaced and not a show stopper, check the table for flatness and make sure the motor spins, little else goes wrong with these saws under normal use. We have at least three pretty old ones at work, all work great after more than 25 years of commercial use. Last saw you will need to buy unless you add a slider!

I moved mine into a basement with two guys, one step at a time, using a refrigerator hand truck with a pallet extension built into it. Mine was bolted to a pallet which made things a bit easier. I suggest you rent a serious hand truck to do the moving, bolting it to a crate will make it less tipsy. If you employ ramps make sure they can handle at least 600 pounds plus the hand truck plus the operator and don't bend as you go up the ramp.

Good luck and enjoy that saw. PS..the other day myself and two other guys moved a 900# powermatic shaper around the shop using some 3/4" schedule 40 iron pipe and a few 2X4's. No lifting and we can all still tie our shoes!