[CROSSHATCH]

Hello everyone!

I may be a new owner of an IH mill in the coming months! It's crazy because I never even bothered to look at the mill, I saw the prices and passed. But, I will be splitting the cost with my older brother so, it's a little easier on my wallet. (We are going to get the Manual and do our own conversion)


I am actually going to pick up the Mill from CT since I'm located in New Jersey.


One thing I do have to be aware about, is that picking it up is not the hard part, it's taking it in the shop!!! I am also going to have to build a bench or something, I need to look into steel and stuff, but don't have an welding equipment. I don't know...



The main point is, would this help get the mill off the truck bed or trailer we will be using. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=46766

Seems like 2 tons should get the job done no problem, I wonder if it will be ok out of a truck bed? Hopefully.


Any thought guys




-Jason

[Santa Fe Al]

Hello everyone!

I may be a new owner of an IH mill in the coming months! It's crazy because I never even bothered to look at the mill, I saw the prices and passed. But, I will be splitting the cost with my older brother so, it's a little easier on my wallet. (We are going to get the Manual and do our own conversion)


I am actually going to pick up the Mill from CT since I'm located in New Jersey.


One thing I do have to be aware about, is that picking it up is not the hard part, it's taking it in the shop!!! I am also going to have to build a bench or something, I need to look into steel and stuff, but don't have an welding equipment. I don't know...



The main point is, would this help get the mill off the truck bed or trailer we will be using. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=46766

Seems like 2 tons should get the job done no problem, I wonder if it will be ok out of a truck bed? Hopefully.


Any thought guys




-Jason

Hi Jason,

If you do use that engine lifter, be careful about front loading it. During my usage, I learned the hard way that the hoist must be on a flat floor, keep the extended arm as short as possible so that most or all of the motor (mill) is NOT jutting out ahead of the from wheels, keeping the moment of balance in a safe area, and lift the motor off the truck and drive the truck out from under it.

If you need to move it anywhere, lower the motor (Mill) close to the floor, then push it where you want to place it. I hope your mill weighs within the limits of the hoist.

Good luck!

Al

[holbieone]

I have used a 2 1/2 ton to get a full sized Bridgeport mill out of the back of my F350

[CROSSHATCH]

The Mill weighs about 1,000 pounds, close to it. If I use the trailer, I only need to lift the mill about 2 feet from the ground most which should be in any of those cranes specs. I actually plan on backing up the trailer inside the garage and lifting it out.


-Jason

[Jim Stabe]

The legs of the hoist are under the load you are lifting so you need to be able to straddle the machine to pick it up off the floor and the legs need to be able to go under the trailer to set it on the bed. I moved a Rong Fu mill drill from the bed of my pickup into the garage and set it on the stand using one of the HF hoists.

Jim

[Alan Wright]

When I got my IH, I got the stand as well (good decision, and after adding a couple of pieces of plywood makes for plenty of handy storage space). When lifting it with the HF 2-ton crane, I found that I could not get the mill onto the stand (legs collide with stand in any arrangement). So I bought an inexpensive gantry crane and hand winch from Northern Tool, which solved the problem nicely. The gantry will straddle a pickup truck, lifts much higher than the crane, and can also roll around to straddle any other bench or stand you may want to drop the mill onto.

Alan

[DavidD]

I used that crane/hoist to get my ENCO RF45 clone out of the back of my pickup. Some things to be aware of:

Fully extending the arm limits the load to about 1000# lift capacity. I can't check what mine says on it because its buried under a bunch of other stuff. You get the 2000# capacity with the boom fully collapsed.

The wheels of the crane MUST extend beyond the lift point of the boom arm. otherwise it WILL TIP. Been there done that.

The crane may not lift it high enough to either get it off the pickup or on to a high stand. You can let the air out of the rear tires on the truck so you don't have to lift as high. That's what I did (I have a high 3/4 ton Chevy)and then drove out from under the crate with the tires flat.

You may be able to rent either that crane or a small gantry crane from a local rental place for under $50

Be careful of where the center of gravity is on the mill. It will want to rotate 90 degrees and hang horizontal (or even flip all the way over based on where you hook the straps).

Its doable. Just don't get squashed in the process (or hurt the mill),

[CROSSHATCH]

Good information guys. I really hope I can put the mill on the trailer. I don't however have a pickup truck. The Nissan Maxima is what we have 06 Model. I would need to put the mill right over the trailer wheel base or just past the point, otherwise if it's between the trailer wheels and the back of the nissan, the whole car will touch the bottom!

It might be just easier to rent a pickup truck and haul back home. But I'll still need the crane, I can hopefully rent everything for under 100.00


Good information guys.


-Jason

[Alan Wright]

Rather than renting a pickup, go to Budget and rent a small liftgate truck. That will make everything incredibly easy. I moved a whole machine shop this way for about 50 bucks.

[CROSSHATCH]

But I would still need to be able to move it around the shop, that being my garage, the back of a truck would never fit.


-Jason

[Santa Fe Al]

But I would still need to be able to move it around the shop, that being my garage, the back of a truck would never fit.


-Jason

Hi Jason,

If you use a trailer, make sure to load the mill so you get between 200 and 300 lbs tongue weight. This will keep the rear of the car from raising or lowering under normal driving, except for big bumps. A good way to figure out if you have enough tongue weight, is to use both hands and lift at the hitch. If it is doable, but not to easy or hard, you are in the ball park.

As for the hoist, approach the trailer from one side or the other. You can even approach the trailer from the rear with a little offset of the hoist to clear the wheels. Moving the hoist with the mill attached can be done carefully. Soon as you clear the wheel(s), drive the trailer out from under. Then lower the mill close to the ground befor moving very far.

If you can, get someone to help you while unloading. An extra pair of eyes, brain and muscle really helps.

Al

[McAhron]

I spent 50 bucks on a local tow company.I had them bring the big truck so they could use the boom to set it on my stand within the garage.Only took about ten min.

[Alan Wright]

Not sure why you would need to get the truck in the garage. The way I did things was to carry the machines in the truck, remove from the truck at garage door via liftgate, move using various means (e.g. moving dolly, pallet jack, or crane) and then lift into place using shop crane or gantry hoist. You can rent a pallet jack for very little that will handle very heavy machines with ease.

[LUCKY13]

Its not as hard as it seems, but you do need to be carefull and have atleast two strong backs. Me and my buddy hauled my RF45 clone in a Mazda pickup (B2000), very small truck. We then backed it up to my building which by chance turned out to be close to the same height as the truck tail gate. Then we just walked the mill across the floor by hand. By walked I mean we tilled the mill one way and then tilled it till it was balancing on one corner. This allowed us to rotate the mill and we could move it the lenth of the mill base one step at a time. Then when we got it where we wanted it and needed to get it on the stand we took 6" cap blocks and tilled the mill to one side, put a cap block under that side, then tilled it over to the other side with the cap block under it, and put another cap under the other side. We did this until we had the mill up high enough to meat the stand and then slide the mill off the stack of blocks onto the stand. Me and my buddy are both dissabled with back problems and we are very limited on what we can do, so if we can pull this off anyone can with a little thought and care. JUst think about what your doing, and what you are going to be doing, so that you are prepared for what can happen. A thruck with a lift gate can make loading and unloading a breeze, unless you are lucky and the truck is the same height as the building this is the point that can be a problem. The engine hoist can get you in and out of the truck, but not on a stand. But the cap block trick can handle that with no problem. The cap block trick can get you in and out of the truck for cheap, it just takes longer.


Jess

[jalessi]

Speed,

I see a few ways to do it and save money too.

If you make or purchase the mill stand and attach wheels to the bottom of the stand the stand will be mobile.

The next step would be a Pickup Truck not a trailer.

The pickup truck tailgate will be within inches of the stand height, just measure it first if you dont believe me.

When the mill arrives home, roll the stand out to the truck with the tailgate down and slide the mill onto your stand.

If there is a difference in height remove air pressure from tires or raise the truck up use the jack that is provided with every vehicle in order to change a flat tire.

Secure the stand to the truck with ratchet straps so the stand will not slide out from under the mill.

The money you save on the lift and all the rental trash will pay for the cost of your mill stand and the mill will also be moveble to clean behind etc...


Jeff....

[tc26]

I use a Harbor Freight lift table to move my mill/drill around.

[jalessi]

TC26,

The lift you have works very well however spending the extra $200.00 or $300.00 that Speed does not have is the issue.

Jeff..

[dgapilot]

Jason,
I used a similar lift for my Shoptask. It worked well except for the problem noted earlier about the legs of the hoist not fitting under the bench. I solved that by setting the bench on pieces of 4X4, thereby lifting the bench about 3 1/2 inches from the floor. That allowed the legs of the lift to go under the bench. After setting the bemill and bench on the 4X4s, I took the lift away and used a floor jack to lift one side, remove the 4X4s, then repeat for the other side. Be carefull not to get it to far off center or it could fall over. If you are going to build you own table/bench, make sure that you lift legs will fit under it and you shouldn't have a problem.

Be carefull of the castors on the lift. I was pushing mine with the mill on it over some ashphalt and one of the castors broke off! Talk about a pain, the mill was outside, the lift was disabled, and no parts readily available. Roll it on smoth floors only!

David

[coolman]

I have a couple of question. When using the engine folding crane (the one where the legs unfold at the front) to lift the IH mill on to a bench, what prevents the crane and mill from rolling out of your garage and onto the driveway? Also, what can I do to prevent this?

Also, I bought a web sling, which are nylon straps, which I had intended to use to lift the mill. But someone says this web sling is not meant for lifting and only used for towing cars. Is this true? Is a chain better for strapping the mill on to the crane and why?

Thanks,

[Jim Stabe]

I have a couple of question. When using the engine folding crane (the one where the legs unfold at the front) to lift the IH mill on to a bench, what prevents the crane and mill from rolling out of your garage and onto the driveway? Also, what can I do to prevent this?

Also, I bought a web sling, which are nylon straps, which I had intended to use to lift the mill. But someone says this web sling is not meant for lifting and only used for towing cars. Is this true? Is a chain better for strapping the mill on to the crane and why?

Thanks,

How steep is your garage floor? Most garages are faiirly level and you will be able to hold a 1,000 lb load on a slight incline easily. I assume you are going to lift it up and have someone drive the truck away. You can have the wheels blocked if you are concerned and then lower the machine down onto a couple 4x4's laid across the legs. The load is now stable and you can roll it around to where you want to place it. Raise it up and put the stand underneath. You might find that the stand won't go far enough in between the legs to be able to set the mill on top. I modified the legs on my hoist by making an angle cut and rewelding the legs to a wider stance. This also allows you to reverse the legs side to side and have a narrower width to fit between the tires of narrow cars (like an MG for instance).

This isn't a big deal, I unloaded a bench mill from my truck and had it on the stand in the garage in about 10 minutes.

Jim