Bought a lathe, any ideas on unloading from pickup bed ?

FOMOGO said:
Tie off to something in the garage with a chain or strap at the appropriate height, back truck in, attach strap to lathe and slowly pull the truck forward pulling the lathe to the edge of the tailgate to get good position for the crane. That's a fairly small lathe should be pretty straight forward. Mike
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I would use this idea but with my come along so I can see directly what’s happening and have more control. Those bed liners can be tricky as things can break loose and slip faster than expected. I don’t know about that truck but I ran into clearance problems with the front wheels of the cherry picker hitting the third member housing. So going slow and working the lathe close over the tailgate is what I’ve done.
 
My friend helped me unload my lathe from a pickup truck with an engine hoist. It was very simple. Just lift the lathe a tiny bit and drive away. The problem is that the lathe might try to spin if anything shifts. I got my arm caught somehow between the lathe and the hoist when he asked me to give the straps a tug. I screamed, and he yelled back at me, "Cmon, it's only 400 pounds, not 4000 pounds. Just get in there and muscle it." Good moving practice is never to rely on muscle for anything over a few hundred pounds. You should look like you are pushing a feather. Do not body slam loaded engine cranes. Do not yank backwards on the crane to get it to roll over a crack in the driveway. If it doesn't roll, use a come-along or a winch. Even better, use one on both ends, since if you are only pulling with one, it can take a nasty hop once it clears the obstruction or once the wheel caster suddenly straightens up.
 
I pulled a similar lathe out of my truck last week. I was able to remove the tailgate but it’s still a bear. Cribbing helps as does smaller floor jacksand extra straps to control movement.

Best advice is to remember you can’t move these things with muscle, you have to move them with your brain.

John
 
I Have to do this solo, my only friends in town either have a bad back or aren’t available.

what I’m trying to do is add a small amount of tension in the head stock to lighten it, and reduce friction so I can get a 2x4 in front of it, and inch it backwards


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Where is your lathe? All I see is some Central Machinery (Harbor Freight) stuff in the back of your truck.

(JK!!)

Pull the lathe slightly off the end of the tailgate and reattach the first leg (you might have to pile on some weight on the TS end to keep it from tipping). Once attached, continue inching it off until the back end is off the truck, then bolt on the second leg. It does look like it will pinwheel from the weight of the headstock. See if you can easily remove the headstock.
 
Inched it back far enough with nudges from wood, now it just about where I can put the load leveler on it, vertical lift and drive out the truck

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DON'T LIFT LIKE THAT! YOUR STRAP IS PRESSING ON ONE OF YOUR DRIVE SHAFTS! THAT MUCH FORCE CAN BEND THEM!

Rout your strap between the webbing of the bed.
 
SLK001 said:
DON'T LIFT LIKE THAT! YOUR STRAP IS PRESSING ON ONE OF YOUR DRIVE SHAFTS! THAT MUCH FORCE CAN BEND THEM!

Rout your strap between the webbing of the bed.
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It’s between the bed and screws, not even touching the lead screw. All the load is entirely on the bed
 
A couple of short pieces of conduit will let it roll rather than dragging.
 
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