Transporting ONEWAY lathe?

[Steve Mathews]

I need to transport a used ONEWAY 2436 lathe that was recently purchased. Would it be better to partially disassemble it and load it into my F250 or rent a trailer and transport it whole? I have a camper shell on my truck with limited headroom. Travel distance is about 400 miles if it makes a difference.

[Joe Bradshaw]

Steve, the last time I moved my 2436, I removed the tailstock and the headstock. It made everything more manageable. Take along a helper if at all possible. The 2436 should be your last lathe.
Joe

[Doug W Swanson]

It depends on how/what kind of help you have to load and unload the lathe. If you have an engine hoist, you may be better off keeping the lathe whole and using a trailer. If you don't have a hoist and a couple of people, I would probably break down the lathe into manageable pieces and just load it into the back of your truck. If it's in your truck you won't have to worry about the elements when you are hauling it home....

[andy bessette]

If you can manage loading and unloading a heavy lathe, remove the shell.

[Roger Chandler]

My recommendation is a trailer, and using two small furniture dollies with wheels, roll it into the trailer, and strap it down tight with about 6 ratchet straps. I transported a lathe up a busy interstate like this and it was stable all the way. Once inside the trailers take the dollies from underneath the legs of couese.

[Steve Mathews]

I don't have an engine hoist and the Leer camper shell is definitely a multiple person job to remove. I loaded/unloaded my previous Powermatic 3520A by myself by sliding the headstock off onto the truck's tailgate. The bed was loaded in a similar way by removing one leg at a time and sliding it onto the truck bed. I used small sections of pipe as rollers to move the bed further into the truck. The PM was about 200 lbs. lighter though. It was a time consuming process but I got the job done. I was thinking this time to get one of the low, ramped trailers at UHaul and use my come along to slide the entire unit toward the back of the trailer.

If I partially disassemble the lathe is the motor part of the headstock? Also, I see there is a box mounted on one of the legs. Does this readily come off?

[Steve Mathews]

My recommendation is a trailer, and using two small furniture dollies with wheels, roll it into the trailer, and strap it down tight with about 6 ratchet straps. I transported a lathe up a busy interstate like this and it was stable all the way. Once inside the trailers take the dollies from underneath the legs of couese.

I think this will be the way to go. Good suggestion about the furniture dollies. I probably would have not thought of bringing them otherwise.

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

I've moved several 3520's and full size Oneways.

by far the easiest way (available to most) is to use an engine hoist and a utility trailer. Sue if you have access to a forklift, that would be even better...but...

buy a used hoist on Craigslist. or rent one. Autozone used to rent large tools like that. Borrow from a friend? Buy a cheap one from Harbor Freight?

much easier than taking them apart, for sure!

[Jon McElwain]

Also, I see there is a box mounted on one of the legs. Does this readily come off?

I wouldn't try to take the box off. It is the housing for the VFD - lots of wires that would require disconnecting, plus it does not add much weight. I don't know what your timeframe is, but Oneway sells a wheel kit for this lathe that really works well. It isn't cheap ($299 on their website), but for my shop situation (three car garage) I have needed to move my 2436 around a few times and having the kit has been a life saver. The wheel kit is easy to put on the lathe, and would make it possible to roll up on a tilt trailer or up a ramp easily - even with only one or two people. I recently moved and was able to roll the whole lathe (with everything attached) up onto a lift gate and into a box truck with no hassle at all. If I had been going more than a couple of miles, it would have been easy enough to take the wheel kit off for stability and tie it down inside the truck. Good luck and congratulations on a sweet lathe!

Jon

[Robert Henrickson]

... I don't know what your timeframe is, but Oneway sells a wheel kit for this lathe that really works well. It isn't cheap ($299 on their website), but for my shop situation (three car garage) I have needed to move my 2436 around a few times and having the kit has been a life saver. The wheel kit is easy to put on the lathe, and would make it possible to roll up on a tilt trailer or up a ramp easily - even with only one or two people. I recently moved and was able to roll the whole lathe (with everything attached) up onto a lift gate and into a box truck with no hassle at all. If I had been going more than a couple of miles, it would have been easy enough to take the wheel kit off for stability and tie it down inside the truck.

This is an eminently sensible suggestion! When I recently ordered a large/heavy lathe, I got the wheel kit. Even if I have to move that lathe only occasionally within the shop, the caster kit means I can do it easily on my own. Just for getting the lathe into the shop, the caster kit was worth every penny. Every even minor move from now on is a bonus.

[Steve Mathews]

Much ado about nothing - Turns out there was already a Oneway wheel kit on the lathe and it worked beautifully. I rented a 5'x9' trailer and rolled the lathe up on its ramp with the owner's help. Actually, he did most of the hard work. I used my tractor as a backstop for unloading. A lot of straps were used to secure everything to the trailer after the front wheel of the lathe was removed and it never budged in transit. It's been a long day but I plan to start another thread later about the lathe itself. So far I'm impressed to put it mildly.