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unloading workbench from trailer without forklift?

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obaa996

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Jan 22, 2009
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I was looking at a commercial workbench and trying to figure out if there were some way to actually get it home.
The bench is ~10'x 18" and weighs ~900lb. It's packed on some sort of pallet/stand that is fork-liftable, and the company would be able to load it onto a trailer. My dilemma would be how to get the thing off the trailer and into the garage when I get home? I don't have a forklift handy at home, and the weight is beyond the scale of calling a few friends over. I'm not confident enough with reversing a flatbed trailer into my garage to try and slide it off, and the driveway is sloped, so trying to unload onto dollies and roll into garage might be a runaway accident in the making.
I did ask if they could deliver, but it would be a fairly expensive flat rate fee, and they don't offer a liftgate service, which leaves me in the same situation. Curious what ideas you guys might have about this.
 
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rocksnstumps

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Since you already have a trailer might be hard to accept thinking about renting a more suitable trailer but many on here have talked about moving a Bridgeport/clone mill with one of those trailers which lowers the bed down hydraulically to just a few inches off the ground. Using furniture dollies aka Harbor Freight would work just fine in that case.

The other way is to use your trailer with ramps and dollies/whatever but to control movement on a sloped surface with tethering on both ends and loosening and pulling alternatively with a come along or rachet straps whatever you got. Attach one to the front of your trailer and one in your garage. Tedious to go back and forth but workable
 
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carlaisle

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Gantry crane? Back the trailer up under it, rig as needed, lift, and drive away. Use dollies to roll it inside. If no gantry crane is available and you're confident in your skills, a single use one for this purpose could be built pretty easily for a couple hundred or so in materials. If you don't like that idea, you could build a ramp. Make it as long as needed to keep the slope to a comfortable level. The drop deck trailer already mentioned can be rented for a very reasonable sum and is probably the most time and cost effective. You could also rent a forklift, but you would need to pay for pick up and delivery, so that's likely the most expensive option. I would be leery of the rollback - your workbench is tall and narrow.
 
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BillK

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obaa996 said:
I was looking at a commercial workbench and trying to figure out if there were some way to actually get it home.
The bench is ~10'x 18" and weighs ~900lb.
Click to expand...
I am just curious what type of workbench that size would actually weigh 900 lbs ???? I have two 8' x 2' real heavy duty benches at my business and I can pretty much move them around by myself with one helper.
 
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OccupantRJ

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CraigStu

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Granted it was a 5000# skidsteer. But my neighbor had a crew come to do some work at his house w/ driveway that slopes down to the garage. They backed into the driveway, engaged park brake, pulled out ramps and started to run the skidsteer off the trailer. As it got to the rear the weight lifted the front of the trailer which lifted the back of the truck, which lightened the load on the parking brake tires, and the whole mess slid down the drive and through his closed garage door. So keep this in mind w/ your very heavy workbench.
 
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CV428

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Before I had a tractor, lift, and other goodies, I bought a massive SnapOn tool chest from a dude on Craigslist. He used a skid steer with forks to load it on our truck. On the drive home, I was imagining ways to (Safely) get the behemoth off the truck. I had a low-profile heavy duty dolly, put two stacks of pallets on it, and rolled it up against the tailgate until it was pretty much level. I then rolled the tool chest onto the pallets, and put my floor jack in the bed to lift and roll the back end together. Once I had the chest on the dolly, I used the jack on one side to lift slightly, pull out one pallet on each side and "walk" the chest down to ground level. It took a while but was the safest method I could come up with. I used a tow strap to hold the chest on the stack just in case it lost balance, and put wheel chocks behind the casters. The driveway is sloped, but I would NEVER have attempted this if it was steeper.

Since I got the tractor, I just roll whatever onto the bucket, back up, and use the dolly method on the back side. Takes far less time, and I can do it myself without any help.

When we got the lift, I just drank a bunch of coffee, strained, and unloaded the posts by hand. My wife watched and then laughed when I was sore for a week.

Best advice I can give for safety is, NEVER stand where there is a fall or tip hazard. It sounds like a blinding flash of the obvious, but I have seen people get crushed before. Reason and frustration can't coexist, so as soon as things get frustrating, that's where mistakes happen.
 
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txvwnut

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Cherry picker style engine hoist or shop crane will do this easily. Get your trailer as far into the garage as you can then rig up the picker to lift the table enough to either drive out from under it, or if you can only rig up on the end lift and scoot it till you can rig up on the opposite end to lift and pull the trailer out.
 
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NUTTSGT

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rancherbill said:
Put a dolly (wheel set) under one end. Pick the other end with a shop crane or a block and tackle. Slowly drive ahead 9'. Stop, then lower the end on the crane. Reposition the crane and lift the other end of the bench and drive away and then lower it.
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I'd do something like this if I didn't already have pallet forks for my JD. I've stacked lumber, leaned lumber to let stuff slide out of the back of my truck and whatever was necessary to get it in place. Once out, 2-3 HF mover dolleys would really help getting it into place.

I'd guess you have a single wide O/H door and a larger trailer like a 14-16 footer and not something like a 5x10 ?
 
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ATC

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txvwnut said:
Cherry picker style engine hoist or shop crane will do this easily. Get your trailer as far into the garage as you can then rig up the picker to lift the table enough to either drive out from under it, or if you can only rig up on the end lift and scoot it till you can rig up on the opposite end to lift and pull the trailer out.
Click to expand...

This.


Although, having a skid steer is a game changer!

My 1600# workbench was off the trailer and in place in 2 minutes:



IMG_2699.JPG
 
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Rst277

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Either you back the trailer into the garage or get someone that knows how to do it. Use some pipe under the skid to roll it down a ramp to the floor. Use a come-a-long to pull and or control the descent on the ramp depending on the angle.
 
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tojen1981

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Aug 7, 2013
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20ft log chain looped on each end of the table. Grab the chain with a cherry picker in the middle, lift it up, move the trailer, set the bench back down where you need it.
 
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strength_and_power

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obaa996 said:
I was looking at a commercial workbench and trying to figure out if there were some way to actually get it home.
The bench is ~10'x 18" and weighs ~900lb. It's packed on some sort of pallet/stand that is fork-liftable, and the company would be able to load it onto a trailer. My dilemma would be how to get the thing off the trailer and into the garage when I get home? I don't have a forklift handy at home, and the weight is beyond the scale of calling a few friends over. I'm not confident enough with reversing a flatbed trailer into my garage to try and slide it off, and the driveway is sloped, so trying to unload onto dollies and roll into garage might be a runaway accident in the making.
I did ask if they could deliver, but it would be a fairly expensive flat rate fee, and they don't offer a liftgate service, which leaves me in the same situation. Curious what ideas you guys might have about this.
Click to expand...
Can you use the slope to your advantage? If you can make a slack enough ramp, the load won’t be that hard to control. Support the tail of the trailer so it can’t dip down when the weight moves. Build a ramp with some 2x 12s( use the aluminum ramp ends designed for this). Support under the ramp having some of the skid drag can also be helpful.
What moving equipment do you have available? Will a standard 27 x 48” pallet jack fit under it? Not knowing your driveway or layout makes it tough. If your street has a curb and sidewalk, you can minimize the vertical by leaving the trailer on the street( low end) and having your ramp terminate on the sidewalk ( high end).
 
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metalmagpie

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Do you own a flatbed trailer but not know how to back it up? (Seems unlikely.) Makes me think you are renting a flatbed trailer for the move. Well, rent one that tilts back and has a hand crank winch on the front. Put your workbench on the flatbed on wheels before you strap it down and drive it home. At home, hook the winch up and tilt the trailer back. Now just slowly undo the winch as the workbench rolls down the tilted bed. Keep on rolling it right into your shop. When you get it close, lift it with a floor jack and 2x4 one leg at a time to get the wheels out. Put it down and skid it into its final position.

That's one way. There are *many*. It sounds like you may not have that much experience moving heavy things. In that case, you need a buddy who knows what's what.

Finally, I'm a little surprised you'd buy something large and heavy without having a pretty good idea of how to move it home and into your shop.

metalmagpie
 
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nadogail

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Blocks of ice may be primitive, but many times melting ice has been used to lower heavy equipment ( like printing presses) into foundation pits.
 
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johnnn

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May 22, 2017
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I've seen flat bed tow trucks and dump trailers haul some odd loads. They make unloading very quick. 10' wide would be a little sketchy on most liftgates. Depending on how ridgid the pallet is, you may need 2 pallet jacks to move it.
 
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Firebrick43

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West central Indiana
BillK said:
612 I am just curious what type of workbench that size would actually weigh 900 lbs ???? I have two 8' x 2' real heavy duty benches at my business and I can pretty much move them around by myself with one helper.
Click to expand...
A one inch thick top that is 10' x 18" would be 612 lbs and another 300 lbs for the legs and stretchers wouldn't be out of line.

I have seen some tables that have 1" tops but they are usually much wider than 18"
 
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nadogail

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logical said:
How exactly does he get it from the trailer to the ice blocks and how did he get the ice blocks there?
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you pick up the bench, or other heavy objects and set lengths of pipe under it and roll it out onto the ice blocks that have been delivered by the Ice Plant.
Levers and pry bars are your friends.
 
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mepstein

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I've done it a couple times. Back up the trailer, set up the ramps and push with a couple people. Ive done 500lb engines by myself but a heavier item needed help from a neighbor. The really heavy one I bought some really cheap ugly counter top laminate from a big box store and set two strips under the wood pallet. It made things pretty easy.
 
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