Grundsau Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 I did a search for this topic but didn't see anything. Once the snow melts I will be transporting a 50lb LG to my shop. Its only 5 miles away and am using a utility trailer that is big enough to handle the weight. A loader is avaiable to put it on the trailer but not to get it off. How would you transport it? I was told to lay it down but that would probably entail some disassembly to prevent damge to moving parts. thanks, Allen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 I'd transport it vertically or lying down depending on information you haven't given us... Back roads/highways? Does the trailer have *GOOD* strong points to fasten it down to? How are you planning to unload it at your shop? What experience do you have in moving heavy equipment. Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double Y Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 I laid my #50 LG down on a bed of used tires to cushion the ride. Hauled it 200+ miles, but then was able to unload and set in place using a 4430 John Deere tractor with a front end loader. If you don't have a big loader handy, standing one back up will be a chore. I would haul it standing and lash it from every direction..twice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry W. Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 I bought a 50# Moloch. They offered to deliver it for $80.00. I was very happy to do this as it was about a 250 mile trip (one way). When it arrived, they had it bolted to two 2X12 about 7 feet long. They had these drilled and bolted through the floor of the trailer. Then they used straps and snugged it up tight. I used the front end loader of the tractor to lift it and they pulled the trailer out from under it when they got it home. Good Luck, Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knots Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 I keep normally transport my machines vertically . If you have a machine at both ends of the move that can lift this machine I would secure the base against sliding around by picture framing the base with 2x6's with ends wedged against the trailer sides. Alternatively bolt it to the trailer floor if that is not an issue with the trailer owner. I will then normally use 2x6's clamped to the top of the trailer sides to brace the machine against tipping. Then strap it all down good and tight. If a machine is not available to unload it, I generally will laminate 2 or 3 layers of 3.4" plywood together to form a base . About 3 x 4', and lag or bolt the machine to that base. That will provide a a more stable base if you plan to ramp and roll using pipes as rollers. Unloading with ramps can be pretty tricky. When ramping out of a trailer be sure the wheels are chocked on both sides of the wheel . I will normally use my loader and a ball to lift the trailer tongue up so that the trailer bed becomes part of the ramp. Secure any ramping to the trailer ! (Movers once dropped one of my heavy machines when the ramp they were using slipped off of the truck bed. ) Luckily no one was underneath the machine when it landed. Moving something like your Little Giant is serious business. If you make a mistake the consequences can be terminal. Work slow, keep clear of the down side of the move, don't try to move your machine if it looks or feels in any way insecure or awkward. Spend time on your set-up for loading and unloading. Safety First !!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grundsau Posted February 8, 2011 Author Share Posted February 8, 2011 Thank you for the replies. The 5'x8' tilt trailer can handle 2300 pounds and is towed by a Trailblazer. It is made of angle iron and the bed consists of 2x8 pressure treated boards. I'd say it has good strong points. I normally transport 1 ton pallets of wood pellets every season so it can handle the weight but I understand that is nothing like this machine. I have no experience in moving this type of equipment. It will be transported on mostly flat and well-maintained backroads. There is a short dirt lane to the back of our property where the shop is located with a slight hill to traverse down to the shop. I have moved multiple tons of pellets thru this same area with no loss of traction issues. I also volunteer with a Rescue Dept and have extensive experience with cribbing and securing unstable vehicles for patient removal and have access to any tools that our Rescue carries to help with this move. Manpower will not be an issue on moving day. I had thought about ramping and rolling. I may be able to have someone with a backhoe to unload it and would prefer that so the old tire idea might be best. But when looking at the machine, it looks like some disassembly would be required to protect it from damage by a chain or straps. Hope I didn't miss anything. thanks, Allen Here are some shots I took. They are a bit noisy due to low lighting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob S Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Looks like a nice hammer. I especially like your spring guard and also the cast? ram guide. If I remember right a 50lb LG weighs about 1600 lbs. Good luck with the move. Go slow. Be safe. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewOC Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Hi all. My favorite 'book' of the week; "Load Restraint Guide" found at- http://www.ntc.gov.au/viewpage.aspx?documentid=00862 Also a link i've put up before; search on Youtube for Wally Wallington, he demonstrates moving heavy stuff 'easily' and safely without cranes. enjoy! AndrewOC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Sounds like vertical would be a good match then. You strap it around the top of the C frame ignoring the drive shaft above that. A friend of mine rigged up a "holder" on a *stout* cherry picker to lift from the inner top of the C frame and so moved a 50# LG on a concrete floor---even better he had an air driven hydraulic setup and so moved it with a broken hand, also a treadle hammer and a rolling mill---he did our demo last SWABA Conference "with one hand tied behind his back" Had his hand operated on the day after the Demo! I'm hesitant about top heavy weights on ramps. If I had to ramp it much I probably would lay it down and use the ramp to help stand it back up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knots Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Sounds like vertical would be a good match then. You strap it around the top of the C frame ignoring the drive shaft above that. A friend of mine rigged up a "holder" on a *stout* cherry picker to lift from the inner top of the C frame and so moved a 50# LG on a concrete floor---even better he had an air driven hydraulic setup and so moved it with a broken hand, also a treadle hammer and a rolling mill---he did our demo last SWABA Conference "with one hand tied behind his back" Had his hand operated on the day after the Demo! I'm hesitant about top heavy weights on ramps. If I had to ramp it much I probably would lay it down and use the ramp to help stand it back up. I agree with Tom, however if there is no other option ramping it out safely can be done. My picture shows the set-up I used when moving my MasterMill into my shop. The part of the machine in the trailer weighed 2400 pounds. I lifted the trailer tongue to match the ramp angle I wanted. Double chocked the wheels, and bolted 4 x 4's ramp timbers to ledger provided on the back of the trailer for this purpose. In order for the machine to be made stable at the ramp angle it was bolted to multiple layers of 3/4" which had been screwed together to form a base. The machine was lagged to that base. This arrangement provides a large enough base, projecting more to the ramp side, to make the top heavy machine stable at the ramp angle. If rollers are used to ramp the machine out it needs to be restrained from rolling with a come along to control the movement down the ramp. The ramp must be secured to the trailer . I moved this machine off of my trailer and into my shop without this assistance using this set up and come-alongs. Pipe rollers rollers were not placed under the machine until it was on the shop floor. It is not easy but it can be done. By all means use a big loader or fork lift if at all possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FieryFurnace Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 A lot can be done with a come-along winch and chain. If you us a ramp to take it off, attach a come-along on the hammer and to the front of the trailer. Then slowly feed it out! Make sure the hammer is stableized if you do this as it can slip around a fall over. That's where the man-power comes in handy! Manpower to stableize, come along to slide it down the ramp. I'm 18 and 120 pounds and I've moved my 300# treadle hammer several times by myself with rachet straps and a come-along. Just go slow and before moving the hammer at all make sure it can't tip over! Then slide it some, recheck, slide some more, etc etc. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 The swordmaker I worked with once bought a 250# LG in working condition for peanuts--and I do not use that term lightly! He rented a rock hauling truck to bring it home and was going to use the dump bed to slide it out and stand it up. Unfortunately that bed was not very smooth so he had it tipped a goodly way up and it still hadn't started sliding. So he got into the bed to figure out where it was hanging up. It shifted and he teleported from the bed onto the roof of the cab. Really I did not see him move---he was by the hammer and then he was on the roof of the cab! He then decided to call a Semi Wrecker who lifted and set the hammer for $50---dirt cheap even back then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forger Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 The easiest way I've found is to just have a tow truck pick it up and move it. For the cost and only 5 miles I would think it would be quicker and safer both for you and the hammer. I've moved many hammers both 25 and 50lb little giants and the fastest is just to sling them with a chain from the "C" and bind it to the back of the truck. just my 2 cents. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grundsau Posted February 9, 2011 Author Share Posted February 9, 2011 Thanxs to everyone that took time to help me out. The LG will be loaded for free so I've decided to transport it upright in the early morning hours. Less traffic on the roads and I can go slow. The plan is to bolt it down to the trailer, use heavy lumber bracing and heavy duty straps. I made contact with an excavating company about unloading it. They'll use their extenda-hoe backhoe to unload it and set it almost in place with straps for a small fee. A tow truck is a good idea but it can't get close enough to the shop. Things are looking better and with less chance of someone getting hurt. Now I have to come up with a base to set it on, on my brick floor. thanks, Allen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FieryFurnace Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 A large piece of plate would probably do for a base! I've heard that junk yards are a good place to look for road plates. Don't know if you have a cutting torch for sizing. I used a 45" square, 5/8" plate weighing 380# under my Kinyon 60# air hammer. I haven't used it hardly at all, but when I have turned it on, it doesn't shake.....at all! It is not staked to the ground at all! I think the ideal would be to remove the bricks, dig out, lay gravel and 6 inches of concrete under/around the hammer and then anchor it down. AT JCCFS in NC they have a 25 pound LG on a base made form pressure treated 4x4's probably 2-3 feet wide. Just lag bolt the 4"x4"s together and then run some long 3/4" stakes through them into the ground. Four to six foot stakes would be my suggestion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardT Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 This is bleedingly obvious, but nobody else has said it, so I'm going to... At every step that involves people standing by to "help", it is very important to clearly state that nobody is to try to catch it if it tips. I have seen with my own eyes a person who was otherwise intelligent allow instinct to take over and try to catch a tipping piece of machinery with serious results! Saying it out loud every time before you move anything may feel a bit silly, but is much better than having to explain why your neighbour's son has only one arm (or worse). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Trez Cole Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 I just went through moving a champion power hammer. I had a wrecker come to the house where I was picking it up from we rigged it and lifted in to the back of my pick up truck and we laid it down. At my shop I lifted it out of the pick up with my chain hoist. laid it down on the floor then rerigged it and stood it up right. I set it on some 1/2" rods and rolled it around the shop with an come along to get it into place. I moved 1200 lb with ease. Good luck with the move Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 In the past I have unloaded and moved my 25#LG twice with out help from the horizontal position to the vertical out of my old 70 GMC pickup truck. I was lucky in having a forklift to load it but at the other end I was on my own. I have helped unload a 50#LG from the horizontal out of a trailer before and raise it the vertical, not easy but doable with a good chain hoist. On my 25#LG I pulled it out of the truck bed onto a bed of tires and pallets, then used a come along to get it into the vertical and then put it on 1/2" steel rods and rolled into position and bolted to the floor pad. We did the same thing for the 50#LG, scary when you caught a small bump in the concrete floor let me tell you, rock to and fro, WOW! We took all the parts off of that thing we could so we'd have less to move, motor, ram, ram guide, if we could get it off, off it came. I never want to move another one like that again, a 25 maybe but not another 50. :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Einhorn Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Years ago I paid a tow truck owner to move a power hammer and some other stuff out of the old shop and into the then-new shop. It was pretty amazing to watch, he was able to reach in much further than I expected through the door, flip the power hammer to horizontal, lift it out then insert it into the new building and flip it back to vertical. He made it look effortless. The boom has much longer reach than I thought, and because the operator can control two separate cables on the boom they have the ability and the experience to be pretty creative in manipulating heavy objects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harrismetalsmith Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 I have moved a bunch of machines. Including about 8 hammers. Stand it up. I like to use 2 chains with ratchet style load binders. Use them in an X pattern, either cross or pulling against one another. Use the chains around the waist part. Then I double strap it in another X pattern up high with heavy duty ratchet straps. Long planks or heavy plywood is good for equalizing he weight, and preventing bending an axle. when I talk about an X pattern, I mean your pulling from the corners. Alot of pro truckers stop after a few miles and check the binders again. Vibration from the road lossening stuff. Good luck!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCROB Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 thanks for all the tips , picking up my 50lb Mayer on Tuesday... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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