So I bought a (for me) large machine that’s roughly 64x64x80 and about 3700 lbs and need to get it off a flatbed and into my house. Anyone have any services they’d recommend to do that?
I’ve looked into renting a forklift and handling it myself, but with the cost of the forklift rental and the delivery to my house (looking like $800 or so), I was wondering if there might be someone I could pay to handle it.
Is it coming on the back of a trailer or a wrecker?
It should be coming on a flat bed
I’ve got quotes for transporting it here but haven’t setup anything yet also
You can get a traditional tow truck to unload it. I haven’t done it this way myself.
Renting a gantry would probably cost as much than renting the forklift. Last time I rented a gantry, it was 800$ just for the gantry at Lifting Gear Hire. That didn’t take into account trolleys, chain falls or straps. Looks like Sunbelt might be a little cheaper if you go by the day for rental.
What I would recommend if you dont want to do the tow truck is have it delivered to a terminal. Then rent a drop deck trailer & pallet jack, pick the machine up from the terminal in the trailer. They will likely load it onto your drop deck trailer for nothing. You can then take the trailer to your house & unload it with the pallet jack of the drop deck trailer pretty easily.
Another option is if you have a friend with a heavy capacity skid steer/tractor. I unloaded a couple of mine that way. Kubota SVL75 was the skid steer size we used with forks on it.
More than one way to skin a cat as they would say.
I should’ve specified, it’s going in the garage with a 82” opening and shipping height for the machine (it’s a mini mill) is roughly 78”. I don’t think a gantry crane would work with the clearance I’ve got.
I would need to rent a truck, but drop deck trailer and pallet jack is probably my favorite diy solution. My only worry is my driveway has an incline close to or greater than the loading docks in the back of the space, so I’m worried about getting up the incline with that load and also high-centering whatever is moving the mill. Would a decent pallet jack be capable?
Dropping it at a terminal would be even better if they’re open on weekends.
I’ll look into skid steers, I hadn’t thought to check them out.
I will lend you my machine skates to skate into the garage. If you are worried about the incline, you could set an anchor in the concrete using an eye bolt & come-along.
Pallet jacks are in a few different ratings, 4K or even 5500
Safe movers and dealers have pallet jacks and drop deck trailers. They might do it as well if you’re looking to hire someone.
It’s a mini mill - care to share what you are getting?
A 2000 Haas Mini Mill, hopefully some time next week or the week after
Just to give everyone an update, I ended up going with a rigger that the Haas outlet recommended. They came up similar in price to others I had called. I really wanted to just do it myself, but in the end I decided to go with a rigger as I’d only be saving $300-500 in the end. I was also able to have the trucker drop it off at the rigger, saving me from needing to coordinate and figure out getting it off the truck. Thanks for the help everyone!
Oh wow. How exciting for you!!
I think we’re going to party at your garage from now on!
Sounds great, come on over!
We’ll just need to take turns in the garage, there won’t be much space 