How did you unload your milling machine from the truck?

[phantomcow2]

I ordered an X3 a few hours ago, looking forward to its arrival. I have to figure out how to get it off the truck though. I was wondering, how did you get your mill off the truck? I guess machine tool is a better word

[miljnor]

In peices. Bring tools!

backing up really really fast and slamming the brakes on was tempting and would work sort of, but you may need a welder afterwards!

[BeeleJuice]

well i dont have an answer for ya. but i can give you some tips. if your dont have fork lift your kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place.

if your have a lift. DONT pick it up from these places.

the knee
the table/saddle
the top of it where the spindle can rotate. i dont know the name for it. (that big arm that the motor connects to).

if its a bran new machine then they will that bolted it down to a pallet of some sort and you will unload it with a lift from the pallet.

your next question will be, how do i get my machine off the shipping skid. i dont have any experience with it or know anyone how does. but if its a bran new machine it will probably say in the manual how to unload/move/setup your machine. and if your not sure, just dont do anything, the last thing we all want to hear is how you dumped your mill unloading it off the truck, it would make me cry. LOL

dont rush, if its anything like a bridgeport then it will be very tippy. even an experienced fork lift opperator is not exempt from haveing an accident.

having 3 other BIG guys holding the machine while its comeing off the skid wont hurt. make sure its even on the forks and its not leaning to one side. your fork lift forks are not bent so it will lean to one side.

[Geof]

Originally Posted by phantomcow2 ....how did you get your mill off the truck?...

It was a bit bigger than an X3 but one machine I bought was on a flat deck and the machine was too far from the edge for the 10,000lb forklift we had rented. The center of gravity of the machine was too far out on the forks so the forklift tilted.

We unloaded it by putting our 4500lb forklift on the other side of the flat deck, lifted the machine a few inches with the two forklifts and had the trucker pull the flat deck away. Then very carefully lowered the two forklifts evenly until it was on the pavement and the big forklift could get in close enough to pick it up.

[widgitmaster]

Prior to the shipment of my Bridgeport Clone, I drove to the local tool rental and told them I needed a forklift big enough to lift 2500 lbs, that everything would be done on solid concrete! They delivered the forklift on a flatbed trailor 3-hours before the semi showed up with the huge creat containing my machine!
Then I drove the lift under the creat, lifted it out of the truck, lowered it to 6" from ground, and placed it in fron of my garage door!

The trucker left, and I dismanteled all the 2x4's from the creat, unbolted the mill from the skid, lifted it with a chain from the eyebolt on top of the ram, slightly off the skid, then placed in the garage as farr as the forklif would go!
Because the lift would not clear the door jam with the forks up, I used the forks and a block of wood to push the mill to its exact location!

Then I called the Rental place, and they came back with the trailor and took the lift!
I use a 1/4 tank of fuel!

[JPMach]

When I brought my used Lagun Ft2 home in the back of a pickup truck we just hooked a chain in the eybolt on the ram ( made sure the ram was locked in place first) and lifted it out with a large wheel loader. I then moved it into posistion in the shop on some 3/4" pipe and a bar.
My Haas Vf-4 I hired riggers with an 25,000lbs forklift and skates. Had the machine delivered to their shop and then had them come out and place the machine when it was more conveinent. That way they weren't sitting at my shop waiting for the trucker to show up with the machine and be waiting around for a couple hours costing me money all the while.

JP

[BeeleJuice]

after first reading your thread i had 2 beers and thought about it.

unstrap the machine from the skid. the mill has leveling screws.

take those out and get longer ones so you can raise it up with the 4 leveling bolts and slid forks under neith the base.

then tie it down to your forks with metal straps. i would use about 4 of them in all possable directions.

then lower it to the ground you want it and cut the bands. slide out with the fork lift and instal the leveling bolts that came with the machine.

picking a machine up from the base is always the safest bet. because lifting it from any where else could untrue something.

[Genguy]

We racked our brains for awhile trying to figure out how to do it by ourselves, but we don't have any forklifts at our disposal and the concrete in our shop is not very even (for rollers).
We ended up hiring a company that specializes in moving machine tools.
They recieved the machine from the shipper at their shop, then brought it to ours on a flatdeck with a forklift as well.
The machine was in place in about 30 min. with no damage or injuries.
They even hauled away the shipping crate for us.
I don't regret spending the $300 CAD.

[lwill]

I once helped unload a large transformer for a bumper car ride from a semi. Picture a 24"x24" lump of copper with a 24"x48"x8" contactor/control box attatched. About the same size/weight as a small mill (X3). The guy installing it had a good idea. We backed a pick-up up to the semi and made a long, strong wood ramp to slide it into the pick-up and the did the same thing from pick up to ground. No high lifting, just a lot of sliding and only half the distance each time. Good luck.

[rhino]

We got a crane and riggers to get our machine in the workshop, although it was a brand new 8Ton Okuma 4 axis mill

[mcarvey]

Contact the shipping company and have them deliver the mill in a truck that has a lift gate. There is usually an extra fee of around 75 dollars, but they simply lift the pallet with a pallet jack, move it on the lift, lower the lift, and drop it off in your garage. I had 2 ~900 lb machine tools delivered this way. You're on you're own getting it to your basement though...

-Matt

[braidmeister]

When I brought my 3700# BOSS home in my rented Ryder truck...I was in for a big suprise. The gate was only rated for 2000#. After using the lift to bring my engine crane and a myriad of tools, straps and 7 grown men...we got the entire top of the BP off and on to dollies. Then it took us about 3hrs of sweating bullets with the BP BARELY fitting on the lift to get it down. A couple guys were on top, a few on the ground...another working a HD ratchet strap attached to the steel beam in the shop to work it closer to the end of the truck. One guy manned a 4T hydraulic jack with 3" steel pipe under the lift as support as it was lowered to the ground. Once on the ground, a rented pallet jack moved it into position. Getting it off of the jack was a treat...I didn't know cast iron bounced

If I have to move this puppy again...I'm getting a forklift!!!

-Brady