Need suggestions for getting bench mill in pickup bed.

[MeUseDinoBone2Hammer]

I need to move a bench top milling machine about 50 miles. I need to provide a way to haul it out of a garage, lift it into the bed of my pickup, and do the reverse at my place. I don't have an exact weight but I know it's around 350#.

Never had to get something in or out of my truck that couldn't be done by hand. What do I need? Feels like I need something that can place it directly in the bed, not on the tailgate first. Sounds like it would require a very tall hoist (lifting so that the bottom of the machine clears the side rail of my truck. I feel like I'm not thinking of some obvious and simple solution for my problem. I'll need to be able to rent whatever I end up using. I will have a second set of hands on the loading side but not on the unloading side.

 

[Steve in UT]

Buy an engine hoist. they are cheap and very handy to have around.

 

[jar944]

Buy an engine hoist. they are cheap and very handy to have around.

This.

 

[Firebrick43]

Or disassemble. Take the motor off, take the bed off, and the knee off and load them in seperate pieces into the bed. But buy, beg, or barrow a hoist would be the best.

 

[marinusdees]

I need to move a bench top milling machine about 50 miles. I need to provide a way to haul it out of a garage, lift it into the bed of my pickup, and do the reverse at my place. I don't have an exact weight but I know it's around 350#.

Never had to get something in or out of my truck that couldn't be done by hand. What do I need? Feels like I need something that can place it directly in the bed, not on the tailgate first. Sounds like it would require a very tall hoist (lifting so that the bottom of the machine clears the side rail of my truck. I feel like I'm not thinking of some obvious and simple solution for my problem. I'll need to be able to rent whatever I end up using. I will have a second set of hands on the loading side but not on the unloading side.

Tow truck?? Do some shopping. It's been done many times. Easy on, easy off.

 

[quickfarms]

That’s a baby

Do you have to lift it off of the table or is it on a wheeled stand.

I have moved lots of equipment and used forklifts, cranes and sometimes just skates or pipes

I also usually use a tilt bed equipment trailer

 

[35Ford]

Lift table from HF. It will lift to pickup bed height.

 

[mepstein]

I move 450lb Porsche engines all the time. 1k harbor freight lift table does it easily. If I don’t have it available, 4 guys gets it done.

 

[Innovate1]

I loaded a kick press that was about that weight by using two good quality 2 x 10 as ramps and pulling it up with a come along to the tie downs in the front of the bed. Not super fast but quite easy. Put some large blocks under the 2 x 10s near the middle. Unloading just eased it down the same ramps. Had the ramps tied to the truck bumper so they couldn't shift back and fall off. Press what on a wood pallet that made it more stable. If you are putting it on a bench and can get the truck near the bench you could transfer it from the bed directly to the bench - less up and down.

They rent trailers that go down to almost ground level with very shallow angle. Overkill for that size but it would make it easy.

Roll it on some pipe or even light metal conduit as others have said.

I have a Tacoma pickup and I wish the tailgate came off easier. It's bolted on and has wiring to lights. Haven't broken the tailgate yet but that's about the heaviest thing I have moved across it.

 

[matt_i]

I loaded a 4 cylinder 135cid tractor engine once into a pickup truck by building a 1/4 x 1-1/2 flat strap that screwed to the wooden garage door header with a series of #10 torx screws. This was the lift point for a lever chain hoist.

Attach to the load and lift it up 1/2" to make sure there are no issues.

These days I'd use GRK-RSS structural screws.

 

[MushCreek]

+1 on an engine hoist. Very handy to have around. I move 2000 lb.+ Bridgeport mills with mine. You're gonna need it to move the lathe next....

Try to find one that breaks down to a small footprint for when you're storing it.

 

[619DioFan]

I will also recommend an engine hoist. mine has lifted more non - engine items then engines over the years. mine is a two ton folding leg model that takes up very little room in my shop. well worth the investment.

 

[CraigStu]

Another option would be a gantry crane and come along or chain hoist.

1 ton Capacity Telescoping Gantry Crane

Amazing deals on this 1 Ton Gantry Crane at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

I show this just to picture the overall shape. For just 350# I'd make my own from 2x10s. Make it easy to take apart, wide enough so your pickup can back under it, tall enough to get the mill up to bed height. Take it w/ you to the mill and assemble. Mill into truck and take it apart. Go home and reassemble it and remove mill.

 

[D45]

Flat bed tow truck

Call around for prices

 

[dcg9381]

Easiest way is to rent a flat-bed trailer with a ramp...

 

[nadogail]

The purchase of an engine hoist would seem to be the Garage Journal default recommendation.
Forklifts have been used to put things into pickups as long as both of them have been around.
A chain hoist fastened to the building overhead has moved a lot of stuff.
A Gantry Crane building project should warm the heart of any GJ member.

Any way that works and ensures nothing gets hurt will be just fine.

 

[dougf]

I do stuff like this all the time. I either disassemble, or use an engine hoist to get it in and out. I sometimes combine the engine hoist with backing up to a ditch or a small slope that allows me to not have to lift the object so high.

 

[rayra]

Low trailer with a ramp is only $30/day. Helluva lot easier to managed than bed height in a pickup. Lot easier for one man to wrassle it onto a trailer, too.

 

[RoninB4]

Another option would be a gantry crane and come along or chain hoist.

1 ton Capacity Telescoping Gantry Crane

Amazing deals on this 1 Ton Gantry Crane at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

I show this just to picture the overall shape. For just 350# I'd make my own from 2x10s. Make it easy to take apart, wide enough so your pickup can back under it, tall enough to get the mill up to bed height. Take it w/ you to the mill and assemble. Mill into truck and take it apart. Go home and reassemble it and remove mill.

That's what I did to move the Bridgeport, lathe, surface grinder, 800 lb. granite surface plate, and the 450 lb. workbench.

 

[WisJim]

I used an engine hoist to move mine when I got it. Now that I need to move it again I need to borrow a hoist again. When I moved a 300+# wind generator, I made a tripod of 3 good 12' 2x6s bolted together at the top, lifted it with a comealong hooked to the top bolts, and backed the truck underneath..

 

[zkdiesel]

You guys without cranes, skidsteers and forklifts are pretty creative
I don’t have time for that bs!

 

[RivennHewn]

Here’s my answer.

 

[dougf]

Are you in Missouri? If so and are close to Waynesville, I have a low 16' trailer that you can use to move your stuff.

 

[tool_scrounge]

Hoyer patient lift. Usually has 400-450 lb capacity. Kind of like a small lightweight engine hoist. Way more manuverable than an engine hoist and can be broken down into two pieces for easy transport. Much easier to put into the back of your pickup when buying machinery in its weight class. Available on the used market often for not a lot of money. The leg spacing is lever adjustable which is nice for tight spaces.

 

[mikedodge]

Only 350lbs? Get a couple helpers and load it in. No reason to avoid the tailgate unless its rusted or damaged.

 

[firebirdparts]

I'm skeptical that an engine hoist would necessarily go high enough to get a mill into a truck. It might, but I would question that.

 

[rpcraft]

I have a harbor freight 1 ton engine hoist that I removed the terrible hard casters on and replaced with some casters that are nearly as horrible but have pneumatic tires. It was able to lift my rf30 mill, so it will definitely handle a 350 pound bench mill. I refer to it as my offroad engine lift. AT some point I'll replace it with better swiveling casters but for now it does OK. It's no worse than the original wheels and at least can traverse grass and dirt with ease. I highly recomend this for the added height (about 6 to 8 inches, but I think if I were getting it on a bench it would still lift high enough. Just go buy the hoist, chain and winch section in HF while you are there getting the engine hoist and pick up a couple of their lifting slings (they are pinkish) and some clevice shackles so you can wrap them around the mill and get the up close to the boom. That should help with the height issues.

 

[MongoTA]

I have an electric winch. I hook that to a hand truck/dolly. I strap the tool to the hand truck and while I steady the hand truck on the wheels, the winch pulls it up the inclined ramp. The winch does the work, I simply steady it. If I was doing a steeper ramp or a sketchier load I'd lay the truck down flat and have the winch simply slide it up the ramp while I guide it.
My 'shop' is in my basement. When I get home I lay a couple boards on my Bilco stairs that go into the basement and cover the boards with scrap ply to create a ramp. I lay the hand truck down horizontal and use the winch to lower/slide the hand truck down the ramp.
Heaviest thing I've moved was about 600#, lightest around 280#.
Very easy, very controllable.
This bandsaw weighed maybe 400lbs? Forget exactly. Jet 18"metal-wood saw. I took the table off prior to transport. While I loaded this by myself, I had my wife come out and run the winch while I guided the truck and saw down the ramp.
There's a way if there's a will. Good luck!

 

[jar944]

That’s a baby

I'm wondering if that 350 is correct? Is it a mini mill? I know the bench top mill drills are 600 or so.

I'm skeptical that an engine hoist would necessarily go high enough to get a mill into a truck. It might, but I would question that.

Cough.. not a mill but
and the op's is a benchtop

 

[dzahm]

If you have any gyms in the area- usually some of the big guys are hire-able for just this sort of thing- I never knew that until one day i heard a couple talking about making money doing that sort of thing (I guess they figure they are getting paid to lift weights so YMMV but could be a possibility. If not I second the engine hoist- I have also had situations where I didn't have the height- so I let the air out of the tires in the rear- removed heavy object - reinflated tires-
any farmer type people in the area with a tractor with loader? I have found most of them to be willing to help you (of course you may be asked to make something someday in exchange as farmers tend to break or wear out things-so maybe a mutual working arrangment)

 

[Firebrick43]

I'm skeptical that an engine hoist would necessarily go high enough to get a mill into a truck. It might, but I would question that.

Maybe if your truck is on 44 super swampers! My engine hoist can put the top of something over 8' in the air that weights 350 lbs. Maybe 7.5' if collapsed all the way.

If it can get an engine over the radiator of the truck when pulling it, it surely can get a bench mill in the back.

 

[walta]

After having a truck with a lift gate any truck without one seems almost useless.


Walta

 

[slowtwitch73]

350 lbs total? Just take it apart, can prob load by yourself... maybe one other guy.

 

[Innovate1]

Hoyer patient lift. Usually has 400-450 lb capacity. Kind of like a small lightweight engine hoist. Way more manuverable than an engine hoist and can be broken down into two pieces for easy transport. Much easier to put into the back of your pickup when buying machinery in its weight class. Available on the used market often for not a lot of money. The leg spacing is lever adjustable which is nice for tight spaces.

That's interesting and would handle most things for me. But where would a person look for such things used? Or is it one of those things you just have to be in the right place at the right time?

 

[turbodave]

I'm frequently loading heavy stuff into a pickup by myself. Usually engines (About 400lbs), transmissions, generators etc..

I have tools I primarily use:

2 ton engine hoist - Popular, lots of extra capacity, folds for storage and I am still able to muscle it into the bed of the truck by myself if I need to use it away from home. I added a caster on the back upright part of mine to make it roll easier into a pickup bed when folded, prior to that it wanted to dig into the bedliner or scratch the paint of the truck bed. For infrequent use a chunk of carpet or carboard would probably be enough to make it slide easier.

1000 lb lift table/cart - I have the Harbor freight one. At full height it is just level with the tailgate on my Ram 2500 4x4 (stock). It's useful around home, but is awkward to transport. I wouldn't want it as the tool I bring with to go pick something up.

500lb Genie Stacker/Lift. I got a deal on one of these at an auction and it is handy. The legs and forks come off quickly and most of it is aluminum so it's easy to get into the truck bed. Takes up less space than the engine hoist if that is a concern. The downside is they can't handle as much weight and aren't as available as the other two items. Good deals are harder to come by. https://www.grainger.com/product/4Y...-dkH5WBV5NkB_rIcOx8aAkmZEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[tool_scrounge]

That's interesting and would handle most things for me. But where would a person look for such things used? Or is it one of those things you just have to be in the right place at the right time?

Craigslist, Facebook marketplace, etc. ...
The get used for invalids. When they pass on the family usually gets rid of them.
They are available as manual and motorized. I prefer the manual ones as they are lighter and take up a little less footprint. Usually manual ones are cheaper too. Search for patient lift and hoyer lift. Hoyer was the original designer of them.

 

[jmarkwolf]

Bolt it to a skid and drag it up a ramp with a come-a-long. 350lbs is nearly nothing as far as mills go.

 

[Worsedog]

I'm skeptical that an engine hoist would necessarily go high enough to get a mill into a truck. It might, but I would question that.

All depends on the lift. Mine is just a generic, although better built than the HF ones, and we lifted the windshields and door glass into place on a Caiman MRAP.

And his is a bench mill, so not like trying to get a knee mill into the truck.

 

[My Old Tools]

Overhead hoist on a trolley....very handy

 

[csp]

If you're worried about the tailgate, take it off.