Moving a cabinet saw

[Jerome Hanby]

I rented a 16' truck with a lift gate when I moved my shop and used that to transport the equipment. For actually moving stuff around and getting it placed, it's hard to beat that folding crane from HF. I borrowed my Dad's and I'm not anxious to give it back!

[Jon van der Linden]

I moved a few years ago and I had to move it all myself. The heavy stuff included a 700lb ICS SawStop, a 1,000 lb Jointer, and a 350 lb shaper.

Since a truck with a lift-gate is expensive, I suggest renting an engine hoist. A rental place should have one of the tow-behind models for you. You can rent them for $40 bucks a day in my area (Denver). They have a higher capacity than the HF models, a much larger reach, and they are easier to move around.

If they only have the smaller one, it will work for you. I just onloaded a 1,100 lb granite inspection plate, a few weeks ago, using one. How is that for an assembly table!

I would not move most equipment with a hoist. $40 for a hoist or $50 for a large liftgate, I'd go with the gate. Most woodworking machines aren't designed for a hoist and don't have good places to attach anything for hoisting. You can permanently damage a machine this way. Lifting by the tables is a really really bad mistake on a jointer.

Best ways to move things involve pallets to bolt the machine to and provide easy access for forklifts and pallet jacks. Using pipe rollers and a lever is a good cheap way to move machines as long as they don't need to be lifted over anything. Small pipe, 1" or less is best - on a hard surface larger rollers can allow too much speed.

With smaller saws like the Unisaw it's also easy to tilt it into a pcikup truck, flipping it upside down (using the top as a lever and lifting from the bottom) onto the truck bed. I knew a guy that used one of these on jobsites and that's how he did it.

Anyway, most of these machines are pretty light, less than 2,000 lbs, so moving them isn't much of an issue unless there are special problems or lack of experience. Trying to save money on moving is not a good idea, you risk the machine, yourself, and possibly others.

[Philip Rodriquez]

As I purchased each piece, I used my dad’s engine hoist to unload them out of my truck. It is an easy, safe, one-man operation. I suggested the tow-behind engine hoist because they are easier to move around and you do not have to take the whole thing apart to transport them. To me, the convenience is worth a few extra bucks.

To give you an idea, the stationary tools included:
ICS SawStop (700 lbs)
18" BS (250-300 lbs)
15" Planer (300 -400 lbs)
10" Jointer (1,000 lbs)
3 HP Shaper (300-400 lbs)
Perfomax 16/32

To move my entire shop, I rented a huge truck (26 feet) with a lift-gate. For one day, the truck ran me over 300 bucks...

All of my larger tools, including my jointer, are on mobile bases. In the case of the jointer, it would not roll up on the gate. As a result, I used my dad's engine hoist to lift it on to the gate. Fortunately, the jointer has lifting hooks attached to the front and rear!


The posters question was about moving a TS, cheaply. As a result, renting a lift-gate truck is not the best way to go. Even if it only took him a few hours, it would likely add $100 to $200 bucks on to the price.

[Steven DeMars]

http://www.rolalift.com/

You can rent these . . .

Steve

[Jon van der Linden]

[FONT=Arial]
To give you an idea, the stationary tools included:
ICS SawStop (700 lbs)
18" BS (250-300 lbs)
15" Planer (300 -400 lbs)
10" Jointer (1,000 lbs)
3 HP Shaper (300-400 lbs)
Perfomax 16/32

To move my entire shop, I rented a huge truck (26 feet) with a lift-gate. For one day, the truck ran me over 300 bucks...

All of my larger tools, including my jointer, are on mobile bases. In the case of the jointer, it would not roll up on the gate. As a result, I used my dad's engine hoist to lift it on to the gate. Fortunately, the jointer has lifting hooks attached to the front and rear!


The posters question was about moving a TS, cheaply. As a result, renting a lift-gate truck is not the best way to go. Even if it only took him a few hours, it would likely add $100 to $200 bucks on to the price.

As far as the OP goes, I think he moved his stuff back in 2007. Several of us have written about how you can move a small TS like Unisaw, Powermatic, Sawstop and similar lightweight saws by tipping it into a pickup truck, no cost other than a pickup truck.

I have no idea where you're getting the $100-$200 for a liftgate from. I've rented many trucks, and what you want is called a rail gate. It's still only about $50. (I won't rule out that it might be more elsewhere, but you're just making up prices.) It's larger than the standard liftgate. It has the added benefit that it doesn't tilt as much as the smaller gates, which means less chance of things rolling, sliding, tilting, etc.

Simple fact, with those small machines you mention, liftgate requires nothing extra, it only takes seconds to get a machine on and off of there. Using a hoist will add a LOT of time. If you're moving large machines you can't even use a box truck like that because the tie downs are part of the walls, which are flimsy.

There are certainly things for which an engine hoist is very useful, but for moving machines it would not be my first or even second choice.

[fRED mCnEILL]

Check out moving companies that move vending machines. Although I move most of my own machines when I run into a situation I can't handle (like moving a 700lb coke machine up two flights of stairs) I call the moving guy. Call a local vending supplier and ask them who they use. They have all the right equipment to move heavy things like your table saw. They will place it EXACTLY where you want it and they are not too expensive.
Good luck
\
Fred.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Tom - do you know anyone with any sort of utility trailer? I have a 6x10 trailer, and it's so easy to roll things on/off using a handtruck because it's so low compared to the bed of a pickup. I bought a new TS and found getting it off the trailer was a piece of cake.

[Pat Turner]

I've moved a DJ-20, Unisaw, 20" planer, and 14" bandsaw into my shop by myself. All were in the bed of my pickup. I just used a set of 2x12 ramps (Northern Tool and Mcmaster sell the kits- they are made in the USA and a single bent piece of steel at the top, and heavy rubber at the bottom) Worked fine- I later changed to a 2x14 LVL (not 2" nominal- 2" actual) that is 12' longer to reduce the angle.

I wouldn't be above deflating the rear tire to drop the bed another 4-6" if needed. On an 8' bed you can put the front wheels on ramps also.

The only thing I couldn't do my myself is the drill press (took the head off for safety) or the milling machine. The band saw was a bit touchy- I strapped it to the hand truck. I'd rather move a 1000 lb load that I can think through then deal with a 300 lb top heavy drill press.

[Paul Ryan]

If you have access to a pickup and 1 buddy that is all you need. Well maybe a case of beer too. Loading into the truck is the worst. Took 4 guys to load a cabinet saw in to the back of a pickup, only takes 2 guys and 2 2X10's to unload. Slide it to the back of the pickup on to the 2x10 which are now ramps, and slide it down. It is really simple no need for a cherry picker or anything like that. you can use that method with a trailer as well. I have used that method to unload 3 cabinet saws. 2 jointers, a band saw, 15" planer, drill press, and other equipment.

[Mike Kelsey]

Bucket Forks

[Mike Forsman]

I used the engine host and a flat bed trailer when I moved a 12" jointer I purchased a few years ago. (see this thread http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=82049).

I considered a truck with a lift gate, but most lift gates I had seen were a good 4" to 6" above the ground when they were all the way down. I was not sure how I was going to get the jointer from the ground to the lift gate.

I did some internet research and determined that the engine host would be the best way to lift that much weight. I have a pickup truck, but I was concerned about how high I would need to lift the equipment to get it into the truck (I was concerned about a lift strap breaking and the resulting damage it would do to a person if they did not get out of the way fast enough).

I determined that the combination of engine host and flat bed trailer would be the best approach. Once I got the jointer off of the trailer, I was able to lower it almost to the ground with the engine host and then move the jointer using the host to the garage/shop door. From there, I used 1" iron pipe under the jointer to move it around the shop.

All told, I believe that it was only about $100 to rent the engine host and the trailer for a day.