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Southbend lathe help, rigging for transport

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trackwelder

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I recently bought this lathe and am looking for any suggestions on the best way to move it. I can not access it with a forklift so my thoughts are to hoist it with my engine crane onto a few moving dollies and roll it into a ryder truck with a power lift gate.


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larry_g

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If you look toward the end of my build thread you will see the drop deck trailer I rented to move my equipment, I highly recommend it over a liftgate. I'm not even sure if a liftgate is rated for that kinda weight. When picking mine I used the web between the front and rear ways. Good looking lathe btw.

lg
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BillK

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Track,
How far do you have to move it ? Might be worth finding someone with a rollback and winching it up onto the truck and miving it that way. That is how we moved all of our equipment when we moved into the building we are in now. Made it real easy.
 
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trackwelder

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A little more info. The building that it is located in only has a loading dock which is about 4 feet from the ground. It is estimated to weigh around 1700 pounds
I was hoping to back up to the dock and roll it onto the lift gate.
 
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John in OH

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Nice looking lathe! Probably a 13 inch swing and about 40" btc? It has some nice features .... collet closer, taper attachment, tail stock chuck, turret tool post (although this isn't much use unless you plan to do a lot of repetitive work). Hopefully, you got a full set of collets and a 3 and/or 4 jaw chuck with it. Is it 3-phase or single?

I'd suggest that you gently lift the lathe and place a pair of 2x6s or 2x8s parallel to the bed running from under the headstock back to beneath the tailstock legs ... one along the front of the lathe and one along the back. Lag screw the lathe to the two 2x6s to form a pair of runners under the lathe. This lathe may be too heavy for typical moving dollies. In lieu of dollies, get about 6, 1-1/2 inch pipes each about 3' long. Lift one end of the lathe and slip a pipe under the runners. Once you get the lathe up on one or more pipes you'll find it surprisingly easy to slide the lathe around with a pinch bar. Once you have the lathe headed in the direction you want to go you'll be easily able to roll the lathe by hand ... of course you must keep leap-frogging the pipes from back to front as you move the lathe along. The runners will make it much easier to move the lathe over irregular surfaces and slide the lathe around without stressing the bed.

CAUTION!! Lathes are very top-heavy and can easily tip and fall forward or backward if you tilt them too much! A lathe laying face down on the concrete floor is a tragic sight. Smashes the **** out of the quick-change gearbox and carriage. Not to mention the significant risk of injury to the riggers.

Post some pics as you make the move.
 
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Outlawmws

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larry_g said:
If you look toward the end of my build thread you will see the drop deck trailer I rented to move my equipment, I highly recommend it over a liftgate. I'm not even sure if a liftgate is rated for that kinda weight. When picking mine I used the web between the front and rear ways. Good looking lathe btw.

lg
no neat sig line
Click to expand...

^^^^^ THIS For sure for "Plan B" - DO NOT USE A LIFT GATE, EVEN IF IT THEORETICALLY WILL LIFT IT


And this VVVV should be listened to, at a minimum for the top heavy part. I keep hearing horror stories on the machine tool groups I'm on about machines dropped or allowed to fall over. That thing weighs far more than you realize, and I seriously doubt your engine hoist's ability to lift it.

bczygan said:
You MUST disassemble it!!!

These are very top heavy.

I have dropped and damaged one while trying to move it.

I have written a guide to disassembling one for moving. It is pretty easy.

PDF of guide is here:

http://bluechipmachineshop.com/bc_blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/How-To-Disassemble-a-South-Bend-Lathe-for-Moving.pdf
Click to expand...
 
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rsanter

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Remove any items you can to reduce weight such as the chuck, tailstock, compound, removable access plates, taper attachment,,,,,etc
Use three floor jacks and four people
One person on each floor jack and one to guide and push
Move to where you want to load or where you can grab with a forklift using the jacks like machine skates

Bob
 
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Andrew S. Quinn

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Do it the way John in Oh. recommends. And if its coming out of a loading dock,get someone with a roll back to haul it for you. MUCH easier than trying to use a lift gate,and much safer. You can move this all in one piece,unless you want to disassemble it. It is very top heavy,so strap it down well when transporting it to your shop.
 
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Camtwo69

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Be carefull as others have posted already . They are very top heavy and get away from you
Very quick. Nice lathe congrats on your new toy !
 
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trackwelder

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I have about a month to move it. I am going to start taking it apart and see how it goes. Thanks to all for the advice..
 
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trackwelder

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Well today I removed everything from the bed. It was actually not to bad.about two hours by myself. All thats left is the bed, motor and lower cabinet. I hope to be able to move that assembled.
 
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ZRX61

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ears

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The pipe roller method will work well. If this is a business with a truck level dock, ask them if they have a dock plate. Honestly a 24 foot truck would have a lift gate that would do the job with no problems. The little box vans maybe not. Do you know how you're getting it off?

If I were moving it I would throw it on a pair of runners and strap it to a 6 wheel dolly or a pair of four wheel dollies. I'd use a walkboard and strap it to the wall on its wheels. Unloading a pair of d rings and rope from either side of the truck to the dolly would let one man hold the weight while another one steers from the front.

The problem is every rental truck place has nothing but junk, their four wheelers wouldn't hold the weight. They don't use e track and the slats they use will pull right off the wall, their little walkboards scare me with 600 pounds.
 
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toms73novass

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I would also be VERY carefull of the legs on the tailstock end. One good shift of weight/bump with the weight of the machine behind it and the cast legs will crack!
 
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A_Pmech

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I would not disassemble the machine. That's a whole lot of work for not a lot of gain. Unless you plan to completely disassemble it, you're still going to have to move a big, top-heavy chunk of iron. Removing 300 lbs of that weight won't make a big difference in handling.

Instead, there are two possibilities I would consider. First, rent a set of safe moving dollies such as these:

http://www.rigging.com/shop/index.php?target=categories&category_id=30

Second, copy this man's dolly:

http://home.roadrunner.com/~rcbattelle/lathe.html

lathe-initially-in-garage-t.jpg
 
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