Moving Heavy Stuff...what to buy in what order

[Matthew Groves]

Hey All,

I'm going to be moving soon, and though my shop is *not* filled with powerhammers and multi-ton lathes, I still have heavy stuff to move around, and now to move locations.

I bet there are some good opinions here as to how a person should progress with their "moving equipment".

A hand truck is probably first, but what comes next? cherry picker? small forklift? Maybe some intermediate steps are not worth it?

If I'm going to be moving this stuff, I might as well have the equipment to do it, and do it safely. This way, I'll be able to move stuff at my new location, and I'll own it, too.

Spread forth your collected wisdom. I'm eager to learn. Or maybe some common mistakes in purchases?

[rthibeau]

Move only what you can pick up yourself and walk with. The rest of it, leave there and publish your address. It will move before you know it.....:D

[6013]

Give us more details as to what you have to move.

Put everything on pallets. Rent or borrow a fork truck to load pallets on the truck. Place the unloaded pallets close where you want it to be in the new shop.

[son_of_bluegrass]

You don't need to buy equipment, you can rent. If you're looking at just needing something for a day or two that may be your best option

[Matthew Groves]

I realize that I can rent, but I want to embark on a long term plan. I don't think that renting is a good long term plan.

Say I want the 600lb Canedy Otto Post drill on the other side of the room, or I actually get an anvil too big for me to carry across the way. Workbenches get heavy. Wood lathes, too. Can barely wait to get a metal lathe...the list goes on.

I'm not so much worried about the move, per se, but the thought of moving all the stuff got me thinking about a long term plan for having some hoisting/moving/lifting type equipment around. *That* reminded me that I don't *have* a long term plan, and then I thought to myself, "you're not the only one with this problem, and others probably have good and not so good solutions. Go find em."

So (and this is where you guys bring reality to the situation), why buy a $100 dolly when a $300 engine hoist would work so much better? Why not a $500 used forklift for not much more?

I'm using you guys to help me find the "sweet spot" of moving equipment, realizing that I'll always have to rent to pick up the Nazel 3B that I don't have, and that I still don't want to lug that Canedy Otto beast around with an appliance dolly. Let's focus on objects more than I want to lift (200lbs) and less than a ton.

[6013]

A pinch bar, wooden wedges, and pipe rollers will move a lot of material.

[Ten Hammers]

Like 6013 says, hand moving is good for lotta stuff. Material handling is one of the most important things in a shop. How big the new shop and what kinda access you gonna have ?

[Matthew Groves]

Unfortunately, I have no idea what the new shop is going to be like. It's not happening until next May or June. Just thought I'd get a head start. This makes it an impossible question, I realize.

I hope to have overhead doors and a cement floor is all I know. The pallet idea is winning in my mind at this point.

[Dodge]

If you opt to lift anything heavy with a cherry picker, engine hoist, block and tackle etc, keep in mind the center of balance. Most of the weight of a power hammer is in the anvil but weight can fool and tragedy can strike quickly! Manny odd shaped things like power hammers, lathes, etc may have the bulk of the weight to one side. Many factors need to be considered when lifting heavy objects. Have plenty of help. Even if you can manage a cherry picker or engine hoist alone, the balance can shift if you aren't using the proper lifting straps or slings. Chain is most susceptible to shifting when weight is applied. Remember, the toes, hands, LIFE you save may be you own!!

[Swamp Fox]

Levers, fulcrums, and wedges can be used in any size shop and you can never have too much cribbing. A two wheel dolly will pay for itself many times over. Get the one with the big pneumantic tires.

Always inspect ropes, cable, chain, slings etc. for wear or abuse before you use them. Take it out of service if there is a question.

[one_rod]

Serious advice from someone who moves heavy machinery as part of his job;

The first thing to look at is the floor.

A flat, smooth, hard surface makes moving almost anything relatively easy. A toe-jack, some offcuts of steel pipe and a crow bar will see almost anything on it's way. A heavy timber board with some rubber tyred castors underneath will deal with the rest.

But a soft, uneven or sloping floor can make a simple move into a dangerous nightmare.

If your new shop has a bad floor then a few yards of concrete will be the best investment you could ever make.


one_rod.

[Rich Waugh]

I'll second what One Rod just said. My shop has a badly pitched floor that I foolishly chose to overlook in order to save a few bucks and some work. Mistake. Now everything is in place and that sloping floor drives me nuts. It also makes moving a big heavy thing like power hammer an exercise in terror.

[Ten Hammers]

OK I guess I'll just chime in one more time. A good solid level floor is a treat, yes. If I were planning a shop, I would certainly have a good flat smooth level floor. It would be concrete. I also would entertain getting a lift truck bought ( you can find them occasionally ). I mean a gas motor lift truck. I have a 2 wheeled hand truck that is invaluable to me. Air tires means I can haul stuff out in the grass or on rock, etc and be able to move stuff handily. Really handy for setup/teardown of the trailer shop. Big stuff in the shop here at home, pipe on the floor works for me OK. Pry bars too. A Mule ( which is a long wooden handle with a wheeled lift on the end) works great fro moving freezers and the like in grocery and the like. I drove a lift truck in a factory for many years. Lift trucks are handy and come in many sizes and needs.

[Matthew Groves]

I think I need clarification on the definition of "lift truck".

[T-Gold]

Pallet jack is a dang handy (and not TOO expensive) thing to have around for moving heavy stuff, provided you have a hard floor to run it on. Most of them will happily shift 5000lbs... but getting the stuff onto the pallet in the first place can be a bear. :)

[Chris Pook]

I have had forklifts in all my shops until now when I'm moving into my new shop.

I couldn't bring my forklift to the shop at my house because the drive way isn't paved and its an electric forklift with solid tires. So keep that sorta stuff in mind when buying one.

I borrowed an airfilled tire Forklift from a friend but the way his forks lift the boom starts going up right away so when the forks are at 6' the mast is allready hitting my 12' cieling. My own forklift would lift to almost 10' before it hit the cieling.

So make sure you think about all that before buying one. Airfilled tires are more versitile on what kind of ground they can drive on, ground needs to be packed down still, or they get stuck. And how the mast works is a concern if cieling height is an issue.

And weight capacity is an issue too. figure out what you need, I have 6000lb lift but its a bigger package and takes up more room.

[Ten Hammers]

Lift truck = fork lift. Gas, LP or electric. I'm talkin set down but I ran standup for years. Walk behind is kinda light for movin anything really heavy. I have a friend that bought on OLD ( WW 2 ) set down lift. Really pretty nice old truck. Suspect the counterweight makes it a 2-3000 lb lift at most. This of course won't move anything awful heavy but WILL take the strain out of lotta heavy stuff. This would be of course air tired and yes, you need to look the mast over to see when it breaks ( lift heights in a small space ). Hard tired won't work off of cement or pavement for sure and you may need a gasser air tired lift to rescue a hard tired. Either one is pretty much worthless in snow or ice. Electric is no good outside in the rain for sure. Like Tyler sez, pallet jack moves lotta stuff too.
6000 lift truck is big truck for a shop. Wish I had a shop big nuff for one ! Lotta plants max out at 5000 lifts.

[Chris Pook]

The electric lifts get a good deal of weight capacity due to the battery weight being a good counter balance. My 6000lb electric is smaller than my friends 4500lb gaser.

My dad has 5 electric 6000lb at his shop I "borrowed" one for the last 5 years. I keep down sizing shops, went from a 5000sq' shop I got a real good deal on...too a 1800sq' the last 2 years and now into my own at home thats 1200sq' but 200' is given to my wife for her studio.

[mike-hr]

I'd rather have a mid-size tractor with a front end bucket. No mast to worry about, and you can't scrape snow with a forklift.

[Matthew Groves]

These are fantastic responses, guys. Keep them coming. The tractor comment has my interest piqued, too.

[Ellen]

I use my tractor and front end load for moving a lot of things but it is too big to maneuver inside most shops.....but, you can pick something up with it, put it on a pallet, and a pallet jack (hydraulic with wheels) will move a lot of stuff. The practical limit of a tractor's front end load is probably about 2,000 # for a medium sized tractor. I have a 3,000# power hammer on order and I am just going to have the trucking company take it straight to a rigging yard and they will bring it out and install it. Maybe I could do it.....but the pros have insurance....grin!

[the_sandy_creek_forge]

ten hammers:
what kind of property are you moving too? my family has lived on a farm for a long time. one of the handiest things my grandpa ever built was a kind of forklift that fit on the back of a Minneapolis Moline M5. If you are moving to a rural setting this might be something to consider. The lift would easily move a ton (although not as high up as a fork lift), and since you weren't using the bucket way up high you could get into the sheds and such. It also would provide a tractor for mowing , etc. If you are moving more urban ways probably a forklift (in my not so urbanly informed opinion).

[lefthand forge]

Hi, hope you don't mind a few random thoughts from someone in the same boat with a bit of rigging experience.
In my opinion there are several factors to consider. First is cost(which includes equipment,frequency of moving things, and setup/breakdown time). Second is available storage space for your lifting equipment. Third is experience/safety. Fourth is do you need to lift things strate up or just move them around on the floor.
So a few suggestions from my perspective.
If you can afford a forklift/tractor and have someplace to store it and feel that you will use it enough to justify tripping over it, then this is by far the best option as it is both versatile and quick allowing both vertical and horizontal movement.

Next best would be to build a rolling Ibeam H frame crane w/a good! chain hoist or simular. This is also quick and gives you both horizontal an vertical movement at a greatly reduced price, SHouldn't cost more than a couple of hundred dollars to build + hoist if you scrounge, however you lose a lot of maneverability. So add a pallet jack to squeeze things into odd corners and you have a pretty winning combination.

Next would be to scounge up some heavy wall pipe, and chain and make yourself a teepee lift+chainfall etc. and a pallet jack. again this will allow you to both lift things up and set them on a pallet jack to be moved around the shop. however it takes some time and skill to set it up each time you need to lift something, and you are severely limited to how high you can lift things.

and last but not least everybodies favorite levers,rollers,and cribbage. essentially free,but slow,hard,and dangerous if you don't know what your doing. Don't get me wrong, I've moved whole building using this technique, but it is truelly terrifying to get a really large piece of equipment up into the air using levers and cribbage. Especially if it is something you just spent rather a lot of money on.


Hope this helps
John

[clang]

mid quality come-a-longs are a great help..get several and gang them up if necessary.
6013 offering is excellent. Pipe rollers will allow a single person to move real tonnage quietly. A collection of pipe rollers is a must. If you have weight across irregular surfaces, overlapping pieces of plywood are a big help. A collection of timbers and planks is good for loading and unloading.
Whenever you move heavy stuff, stop and consider all possible accidents and complications. Figure out ahead of time how to prevent them and where to jump. Always lay out your escape routes ahead of time........Clang

[eric sprado]

Like most old farts I've moved heavy things alone my whole life. Lots of 1" pipe to roll on and pry bars is great.I can't get along without my cable comealong,but my FAVORITE thing is the used cherry picker I bought last year for 75 bucks. Just right height to lift my 25#Little Giant. Hang a spring scale on the end and weight most reasonable sized anvils. On and On.