Moving a Bridgeport Mill

[Michael_Az]

This talk about the monorail brought back memories of when I bought my mill. I brought it home on my flatbed trailer and I had a friend that made burial vaults and delivered them to the cemetary. The concrete vaults weighed 1 ton and he had a trailer custom built to haul two vaults. It had a monorail so He could lift the vault and then roll it to the rear of the trailer and then lower it to the ground. We decided to use his trailer to lift the mill off my trailer and lower it to the concrete slab outside my shop because I figured my mill weighed close to a ton. When he picked the mill up I noticed his I beam was swaying back and forth and I about paniced. He said " No problem, I just need to pull the truck forward some and back up to the slab and we got it." He jumped in his one ton duelly Chevy and it wouldn't move! The mill was lifting his rear tires off the ground. Chevy was 4X4 so we got it done, but don't think I slept for a couple nights.
Michael

[Matt_Isserstedt]

Here is how I did it....

http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/bpt_lifting_1.jpg

By the way this the Harbor Freight 3 ton unit...very heavily built and rated for 1 ton with boom fully extended. I upgraded the chain and hook to a proper grade 100 rating and shelved the far east chain and hook. I happened to get mine on one of those "free shipping" specials and I wasn't in a hurry. It has moved every machine in my shop save for the Powermatic bandsaw which doesn't lend itself well to crane lifting.

OK, so it doesn't lift to pickup truck height. No problem...
http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/bpt_rig_2.jpg

This is a Uhaul 5x9 open trailer, the number will start with "AO". It is available for local rentals in many major cities for around $20 per day. Don't confuse this all-steel version with the old beaten plywood bottomed-trailers.

The trick is this:
http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/bpt_rig_1.jpg
Steady and level the rear of trailer with floor jack. Set mill on rear end of trailer bed. Lubricate the trailer bed (I use Mobil 1 spray since it's clear and requires minimal cleanup). Then pull the mill forward with a comealong until it rides just forward of the axle. Chain down and you're done. Reverse this procedure for unloading. The hoist unbolts into some large liftable assemblies and will go along for the ride next to the milling machine.

[Anonymous]

That is exactly how I got mine off the trailer. Cherry pickers are worth their weight in gold!

Next time, turn the head all the way around and bring the table up against the pully cover with thick rubber between.

[Anonymous]

Several of us tried to move the mill on the concrete floor at my shop. 2,000 pounds seemed "welded" to the floor! We pried it up and onto 3/4" gas pipes to roll out of the way. It was still difficult, taking three of us to move it without risking hernia. Then, seeing the engine hoist effortlessly lift the whole thing off the ground simply amazed me! How those little dolly wheels held up to the weight is also amazing. I had no idea that the engine hoists were so study and powerful.

I found that with the ram and the table all the way rearward, the mill center of lift is right at the eye hook. I DID have to rotate the head to make sure nothing hit it.

Ken

[sandman2234]

I have a OLD one ton Ford with 12' bed. A Pacific-crane jib is mounted on the rear. Needed a little more height than it would do, so I put a 20' beam (8"size) under a piece or 12" beam between 2 ten foot poles. Put a single pole at the front. All poles had 12" square mounting pads. Bolted them to the frame with 3/4" bolts. Picked up my bridge port, with no problem. I was lucky to have a chainfall type of crawler to "walk" the load from one end to the other.
I have a lot of junk to fabricate this kind of stuff out of, so the cost was just a little time.
Now, you want to know what UGLY is, well it is that, to say the least. But it worked...