There's a monster in my garage!

Morgan RedHawk

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There's a monster in my garage!

A metal eating monster, commonly known as a PM-949. I have been drooling over all yall's 949 posts, especially Chevy's for a while and finally had enough saved up to get one. I thought it might be helpful to some to post a "moving the machine" thread so future knee mill purchasers can see what to expect.

The machine comes in a big crate. The dimensions on the website say that it is 60"L x 60"W x 65"H, but mine was 60"L x 60"W x 73"H. It is attached to a stout pallet, which due to the placement of the runners, is incompatible with a pallet jack. You can move it around some with the pallet jack off center, but I would not recommend doing that for more than a foot or 2. I built a pallet out of 4x4s and 2x4s that I could bolt to the factory pallet for transportation.

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Once the pallets were joined, moving it with a pallet jack was pretty easy. It was necessary to move it over some somewhat uneven asphalt with some patches. I was worried it would be a pain in the neck, but it was so easy that I decided to pull the thing all the way around the building to the trailer.

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I rented a tilt bed trailer from Sunbelt. That was money well spent. The trailer sits down in the back and slopes at 4 degrees. We were able to shove it right up on there.

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Just kidding, we had a small forklift, too small to lift the machine, but strong enough to push it up. The plan, if the forklift was not available, was to use a chain hoist to pull it up.

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I placed a Harbor Freight floor mat, cut up into quarters, under each of the corners to help prevent sliding. DOT requires 2 straps for a crate this size and weight, but I used 6 total. 2 went front to back, 2 went side to side, 2 went around the base (front to front, and back to back to eliminate the possibility of it sliding).

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The 15 mile trip to my house was uneventful. The assembly was stable and did not move at all.

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Once at my house, we backed it up the driveway and set the back of the trailer down just in front of my garage door. The door is 81", so with my pallet attached, it would not fit (as expected). We uncrated the machine real quick, which was not difficult, despite the sturdiness of the crate. It was well reinforced with 2x4s. This reduced the overall height to 79".

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Since my driveway is at a downward angle, the angle of the trailer sat a just 2 degrees relative to the garage floor.

We lifted the crate just high enough to move and gently let it down the ramp, not even needing the chain hoist to control the descent. Once the front of the pallet reached the garage floor it stopped (again, as expected). I placed my floor jack under one of the factory pallet's inner runners and lifted the front just a tiny bit. Another gentle shove on the pallet jack and it glided right in, clearing the garage door by about an inch.

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Moving a machine like this does not have to be difficult, but it is, as we all know, very important to have a good plan. Know what is going to happen before you do it, and what could go wrong. Definitely know what you are going to do if it does (in other words how you are going to get the heck out of the way.). We also made sure that my helpers and myself knew where each other were and what we were doing at all times. Listen to that little voice in your head, and if it says that something is jankey, don't do it!

So now that this monster is sitting in my garage, the question is: "how are you going to get it off those pallets with no forklift or crane?" I have a plan that I have used in the past. Stay tuned, I am going to remove the pallets next weekend.

This machine really is as nice as everyone says. I can't wait to get it up and running. This is my 3rd PM machine, and those guys are always great! They redirected my shipment for delivery when it was discovered that the freight terminal did not have a ramp. Never heard of such a thing.
 
If I could ever afford to upgrade my mill, that would be the upgrade. Jealous. Oh, and congrats! :D
 
congrats on the new mill, and getting it home safely. Mike
 
Well, that was pretty boring. In a good way
Congrats and enjoy your new toy
 
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