Industry Term for Moving Compressor with Forklift

[DonIvey]

Is there a term used in the industry for someone who moves heavy things, like a Quincey compressor, with a forklift and truck. I'm trying to figure out who to call to get a compressor moved about thirty miles, from old garage to new one. I've looked under "movers", "forklift", but feel there might be a more appropriate keyword. Thanks,

Don Ivey
Raleigh, NC

 

[csp]

Look under rigging or crane service.

 

[Gokart]

Try a millwright service

 

[89GLH]

Why not just rent a u-haul? You dont need someone to move that. My brother and I picked mine up off the pallet and secured it ourselves. Not that heavy empty for 2 people to move. A truck and a couple ratchet straps are all you need. It's not like moving a piano or something.

There are folks here who have used engine hoists to get them loaded as well.

 

[klean63]

Look under rigging or crane service.

^^^^^this^^^^^

 

[bradweingartner]

I've disassembled them for transport myself. Even a 120gallon tank isn't impossible to move by yourself if it doesn't have 300lbs of compressor and motor sitting on top. So with a few guys it would be cake to load up in the back of a pickup.

Myself and another guy moved my recently aquired 80Gal two-stage compressor without disassembly. Used a snowmobile tilt trailer. Wasn't bad at all.

 

[Zrexxer]

Riggers.

Not that heavy empty for 2 people to move.

How is there any difference if an air compressor is "empty?" And yes, even an 80 gallon two stage Quincy is pushing 600 pounds, two people aren't just going to ****** it up and throw it in a truck.

To the OP, I can provide picture of how I loaded and moved - safely I might add - an 80 gallon Champion using an engine hoist and a utility trailer, if it would be helpful to you.

 

[Cryptic1911]

To the OP, I can provide picture of how I loaded and moved - safely I might add - an 80 gallon Champion using an engine hoist and a utility trailer, if it would be helpful to you.

^ do this. We have moved our compressor with an old engine hoist multiple times. Just hook a chain around the top frame and lift away. We've done it in a pickup truck, pick the compressor up, load it in the truck, then put the engine hoist in the truck aruond it, and drive to where you're going, then unload in reverse

 

[metal1313]

i would go pallet jack and rent a drop deck trailer or liftgate truck. unless its a huge compressor moving it with a pallet jack should be easy.

as far as the trailer rent one like this. http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...&ndsp=28&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:28&biw=1408&bih=712

 

[Zeke]

Around here they call them machinery movers and have a category in the yellow pages.

 

[Jzytaruk]

rent a forklift and a flat deck truck.. its pretty easy to do...

 

[nissan_crawler]

Riggers.

How is there any difference if an air compressor is "empty?" And yes, even an 80 gallon two stage Quincy is pushing 600 pounds, two people aren't just going to ****** it up and throw it in a truck.

To the OP, I can provide picture of how I loaded and moved - safely I might add - an 80 gallon Champion using an engine hoist and a utility trailer, if it would be helpful to you.

No, but if they use their head, they'll lean it against the tailgate, then lift the bottom of it and push it in, then stand it back up on end.

People freak out too much about tipping a compressor. Drain the damn oil, and lean the thing over, if you're really paranoid about it, let it sit for a day, then take the belt off, and pull it through a few strokes by hand first to be sure it's not hydrolocked. We never have, and we've never had a problem.

 

[Zrexxer]

No, but if they use their head, they'll lean it against the tailgate, then lift the bottom of it and push it in, then stand it back up on end.

You're assuming it's a vertical compressor, of course. And I've used that method with an 80 gallon IR T30; once it's horizontal getting it stood back up can be interesting.

 

[Gary S]

I moved mine home on the back of a mini-pickup. Then I found a couple of young guys who worked construction and did brick-laying to unload it and put it in my garage.

 

[ZRX61]

No, but if they use their head, they'll lean it against the tailgate, then lift the bottom of it and push it in, then stand it back up on end.

People freak out too much about tipping a compressor. Drain the damn oil, and lean the thing over, if you're really paranoid about it, let it sit for a day, then take the belt off, and pull it through a few strokes by hand first to be sure it's not hydrolocked. We never have, and we've never had a problem.

That's how I moved my Devilbis 60gal vertical home by myself in my dually. Managed to get it unloaded & situated where I wanted it in the garage as well.

Of course I was 14 years younger at the time & that was before I broke my neck so if I did it again I'd probably need a hand these days.

 

[Zrexxer]

At the OP's request, here's the pictorial on how I did mine. I used clickable images here to save space in the narrative, so just click each image to view it larger.

The dealer loaded the compressor on my trailer originally with a forklift. It was on a pallet which provided further stability at the base. The weight was moved up just slightly forward of the axle to keep an appropriate amount of weight on the trailer tongue.


2" web ratcheting tie-downs were used to secure the compressor to all four corners of the trailer. They passed underneath the compressor base plate in a diagonal fashion so red shop rags were used to keep the straps from being cut by the edges.


My compressor fills from the side of the tank, so the following may need to be modified if you have one where the discharge from the compressor pump goes into the top of the tank in the center of the mounting plate. I had a nice blank spot there, so I drilled two holes and mounted a D-ring to grab with the hoist of the engine hook:





I used a come-along to skid the pallet to the back of the trailer where I could reach it, but if it's not on a pallet you can duck-walk it if you have two people available so it doesn't get away from you. Then just grab the ring and lift it up and drive the trailer out from under it. My engine hoist doesn't roll real well so that was easier than backing the whole load up with the compressor suspended that high.



I pulled the pallet off and set 'er on the ground. I've used this technique to move the compressor again since then and it's all the same in reverse.

 

[Timido]

You could call a roll back out also. We have them move big tool boxes and big equiptment all the time.

 

[AlchemyMetalworks]

If this is an industrial Quincy compressor, like is used in factories, it's going to be almost the same size as a pickup...it will require riggers to move and place it in location.

Those big rotary-screw compressors, dual tanks, filtration systems and coolers are MASSIVE. This ain't your average home-shop, pick it up at Sears compressor...these things will supply 150 cfm of air at 150psi to an entire factory and still have power left over.

 

[boozer]

Rigging Service or Cartage Service

 

[ishiboo]

You could call a roll back out also. We have them move big tool boxes and big equiptment all the time.

Agreed. Or just a tow truck and he trailers it. Many tow trucks can use the boom like a crane (since there's a winch on it) and they work great for moving small heavy objects like a compressor.

 

[reinhardt]

we're all dieing to know what kind of compressor it is you are trying to move.

ben

 

[GunnerJim]

Call you local heavy towing company...

 

[IndyGarage]

I have a big Snap on at home that three of us moved with a furniture dolly. It was on a skid, and we simply tipped it, pushed the dolly under the skid, shifted it around to where it was mostly balanced and rolled it right into position.

The guy who brought it had a Tommy lift on his truck, but I could've gotten it out of a truck with a cherry picker, easy.

A few months ago I bought a Champion exactly like the green one shown in the pictures above for my shop. I was by myself, but had a forklift, so that made quick work of it. It was certainly less work to move it with the lift, but It would have been faster just to have some guys help me do it manually with a dolly.

 

[DonIvey]

we're all dieing to know what kind of compressor it is you are trying to move.

ben

It's just a Quincy QT-5, but it's pretty heavy, and when the fellow delivered it to my garage he noted that he thought he was at the wrong address because these usually don't go to peoples garages, but commercial establishments. It's pretty top-heavy, but still on the pallet it was delivered on.

Don Ivey

 

[yellowdartdave]

What ever you do, don't use these clowns.

 

[evintho]

I moved mine the same way Zrexxer did. Bought my 80 gal I/R at TSC and they loaded it in my pickup bed with a forklift. I tied it down real well with ratchet straps and drove 80 miles home that way. When I got home I used my engine hoist to remove it and set it in the garage.

BTW, I like Zrexxers idea for the D-ring!

 

[bookman51]

I looked and the shipping weight for a Quincy QT-5 is 660 pounds. With care, that is pretty manageable for back of a half ton pickup or a decent two wheel trailer behind a half ton pickup. Make sure the load is balance right. Could be loaded (and unloaded) with a forklift or tractor with loader. Just needs to be strapped down well. A cherry picker has the weight capacity, but once your start extending the arm out to raise it high enough to put in a pickup, need to make sure things are balanced so you do not tip the cherry picker over. If it were me, I would use my loader tractor to put it on my two-wheel trailer and then strap it down about twice good as it probably needs to be. Always good to have some extra help, if for nothing else, an set of eyes or two to watch to make sure things are picked up and sit down right. I would think most cranes would be overkill, but if you have a buddy who has one, sure why not.

Good luck and be careful

Bookman

 

[OccupantRJ]

I took my vertical apart to move it, but it was going to end up inside of a semi trailer during the move. The way I got it originally was after a factory shut down, they were trying to move it, and it fell over and broke the crankshaft off even with the case. I bought it for $75 and put another compressor unit on it for $250. I moved my horizontal by putting 2 wood skids under it, with the ends chamfered underneath, loading it with a forklift, then doing the Egyptian roll off of the trailer, through my shop, and into the compressor room. I just left it on the skids. Now I have to assemble the vertical unit when I have a chance.

 

[tcianci]

QUote:
People freak out too much about tipping a compressor. Drain the damn oil, and lean the thing over, if you're really paranoid about it, let it sit for a day, then take the belt off, and pull it through a few strokes by hand first to be sure it's not hydrolocked. We never have, and we've never had a problem.

Think about how a compressor works... It's not a 4 stroke car engine, It uses reed valves, you cant "hydro lock " it. The piston goes up, whatever's in the cylinder, air, oil or moose snot...it all gets pushed out to the reciever.

I loaded, delivered, unloaded and moved my 80 gallon 2 stage 35 feet into place by myself with no equipment at all. All you need to do is just learn how to lift, where to lift and how to let gravity work for you when moving stuff.
__________________

 

[reinhardt]

i say a couple guys and an engine hoist. you have to know someone with a hoist. worst case scenario, pull the pump and motor off the top to make it 3 'bite size' pieces. rather than pay someone to move it, you can use that money to do maintenance on your disassembled compressor. or even buy a video game or a couple gallons of milk, whatever fancies you. long story short, a little time and effort you can move that thing.

ben

 

[Motown 454]

I just moved a 7.5 hp 80 gal IR up right compressor with a hand truck and a rented U Haul 5x8 trailer with a ramp on it. when we got to my garage we walked it down the ramp no problem. It is very top heavy but doable.