All,
Thought I'd post about my Clausing 5917 move a few weeks ago. I did a fair amount of reading on how others do it and got some good ideas. To sum it up, I think "overplanning" with a plan B and C makes things go pretty smooth and avoids the "...now what are we going to do?" situation. Bringing a lot of wood and working smarter not harder is a good thing. Most of all, hope it helps someone out.
To start off, I have a 12x24' shed with very little room--nearly everything is on wheels, and this lathe would be no exception. The wheeled platform I put it on when I first pick it up will be its permanent home. 36x72" so the width is enough to keep it really stable from tipping. I sought out the drawings and made a dolly to fit cabinet dimensions. Ended up with a really good fit. Over-engineered the strength-to-weight requirements, but that's ok too. Dolly is 8" channel and 3/8" T angle. Used 700lb omni casters on all corners and I can move a 1,100lb lathe with one hand fairly easy on smooth concrete. 1-1/2" small angles (4) bolted to frame on inside of all 4 feet prevent lateral movement. Has built in adjusters using 1-1/8" hardened A193 b7 all-thread (whatever that is) and compatible nuts. Welded nut to underside of frame and secure the top with jamnut. So, once it's set up, I can lift whole unit off casters about 1/2". Haven't made the floor pads yet. For the move, the adjusters screwed down to wood trailer bed (sharp edges of all-thread digging in) and off casters, plus tie-downs made it worry-free from a loose cargo situation on the road.
Next conundrum was how to lift lathe onto dolly. Got a good idea from @jwmelvin. I would lift it with a 2-ton HF engine crane, slide dolly in, lower on dolly, and slide it out. Problem was the crane frame isn't wide enough to slide a 36" wide dolly in. So, I raised crane on wood blocks. Had to extend the length of the crane forks by inserting two, 2" pipes. Doesn't look very stable but add the lathe weight and it worked really well. Thought I was borrowing a 2-ton crane but ended up with a 1-ton. Wasn't really comfortable extending the lifting arm all the way. Ended up lifting majority of weight with crane, and tailstock end helped up with a Kubota front end loader.
Rolling onto trailer was less of a challenge. Some years ago, I mounted an ATV winch frame on back of my truck. Frame always stays on the truck, and I install WARN 4000lb winch when needed. Both frame channel and winch require no tools to remove/install. Use eyebolts with welded lever nuts. Winch cable spliced to jumper cables. Steered casters with a pipe wrench and it rolled up very easy.
Rolling into my shed took some time. Had to drive thru lawn with no room to turn or back trailer to shed entrance. The 2” pipes came in handy to lift and move tongue (next time I’ll mount a 2” hitch ball to my scrap yard Home Depot cart and turn it that way). Used a come-a-long to pull trailer to shed. Dropping ramp left only a 6” or so drop to shed floor. Used 750lb tie down strap (ones with spring-loaded friction stop) as sort of a climbing belay to slow the roll into shed. This worked really well.
Turned out to be a drama-free move. Hope this helps someone in future.
Currently in clean-up, lubrication, and looking at an RPC to power it.
Thought I'd post about my Clausing 5917 move a few weeks ago. I did a fair amount of reading on how others do it and got some good ideas. To sum it up, I think "overplanning" with a plan B and C makes things go pretty smooth and avoids the "...now what are we going to do?" situation. Bringing a lot of wood and working smarter not harder is a good thing. Most of all, hope it helps someone out.
To start off, I have a 12x24' shed with very little room--nearly everything is on wheels, and this lathe would be no exception. The wheeled platform I put it on when I first pick it up will be its permanent home. 36x72" so the width is enough to keep it really stable from tipping. I sought out the drawings and made a dolly to fit cabinet dimensions. Ended up with a really good fit. Over-engineered the strength-to-weight requirements, but that's ok too. Dolly is 8" channel and 3/8" T angle. Used 700lb omni casters on all corners and I can move a 1,100lb lathe with one hand fairly easy on smooth concrete. 1-1/2" small angles (4) bolted to frame on inside of all 4 feet prevent lateral movement. Has built in adjusters using 1-1/8" hardened A193 b7 all-thread (whatever that is) and compatible nuts. Welded nut to underside of frame and secure the top with jamnut. So, once it's set up, I can lift whole unit off casters about 1/2". Haven't made the floor pads yet. For the move, the adjusters screwed down to wood trailer bed (sharp edges of all-thread digging in) and off casters, plus tie-downs made it worry-free from a loose cargo situation on the road.
Next conundrum was how to lift lathe onto dolly. Got a good idea from @jwmelvin. I would lift it with a 2-ton HF engine crane, slide dolly in, lower on dolly, and slide it out. Problem was the crane frame isn't wide enough to slide a 36" wide dolly in. So, I raised crane on wood blocks. Had to extend the length of the crane forks by inserting two, 2" pipes. Doesn't look very stable but add the lathe weight and it worked really well. Thought I was borrowing a 2-ton crane but ended up with a 1-ton. Wasn't really comfortable extending the lifting arm all the way. Ended up lifting majority of weight with crane, and tailstock end helped up with a Kubota front end loader.
Rolling onto trailer was less of a challenge. Some years ago, I mounted an ATV winch frame on back of my truck. Frame always stays on the truck, and I install WARN 4000lb winch when needed. Both frame channel and winch require no tools to remove/install. Use eyebolts with welded lever nuts. Winch cable spliced to jumper cables. Steered casters with a pipe wrench and it rolled up very easy.
Rolling into my shed took some time. Had to drive thru lawn with no room to turn or back trailer to shed entrance. The 2” pipes came in handy to lift and move tongue (next time I’ll mount a 2” hitch ball to my scrap yard Home Depot cart and turn it that way). Used a come-a-long to pull trailer to shed. Dropping ramp left only a 6” or so drop to shed floor. Used 750lb tie down strap (ones with spring-loaded friction stop) as sort of a climbing belay to slow the roll into shed. This worked really well.
Turned out to be a drama-free move. Hope this helps someone in future.
Currently in clean-up, lubrication, and looking at an RPC to power it.
