Re: Advice on lifting heavy milling gear at home
Originally Posted by
Goemon
That sounds like a good bit of luck. Nobody has ever left any heavy duty machinery on my doorstep.... not even at Christmas....
Cost aside, the main issue for me is space. As a practical matter, large equipment like that is too much trouble if you don't have a regular use for them. My needs are for a one time job or very occasional use.
Renting large lifting equipment like forklift trucks is only an option if you already have a license. I understand that a fork lift is the ideal tool for the job though. It's the first thing I looked into.
I did look into renting other types of (smaller) lifting equipment near where I live but the price was not too different to buying something.
I like that the crane folds away so it can be stored out of the way when not in use. The electric hoist is small enough to go in a closet and the gantry will be disassembled when the job is done.
I guess this is the downside to working with carbon fiber - you have no excuse to buy cool toys like that excavator as everything is light weight. I think that most of us would be facing divorce if we tried to park a large orange excavator in the driveway.
I do tend to run across deals. Over the years I have managed to equip my shop for a lot less cost than most. I do buy and sell equipment and do some horse trading, so always on the lookout for the right deal, anything from hand tools to heavy equipment. I won't buy worn out junk equipment, but if it has minor problems I can fix it. I especially like brain dead CNC equipment. Normally can pick those up for scrap price or less and they're easy to fix.
This is not the place for a complete list, but one example is my 10x54 CNC mill. Mechanically almost like new, with a failing controller. Paid $1000 for it, but after selling my BP clone and tooling up the new mill I actually had $0 out of pocket. The controller repairs cost me nothing but a little time and a $30 power supply. I even bought my property for $100K under market.
The deals are out there if you want to go after them and are willing to put in a little work on them. And I'm retired so it gives me something to do in my spare time.
Jim Dawson
Sandy, Oregon, USA