On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:54:53 -0400, Bill Schwab
wrote:

Hello all,

Is is just me, or does the metalworking industry seem deaf to hobbyists
and other home-shop customers? Put another way, what is the correct
approach to getting a machine off a truck in one piece. I am by no
means fixed on the Enco lathe, but I asked them about shipping, and have
gotten mixed signals about a lift gate. I can understand "it's too
heavy for that" but it seems strange to me that companies that sell
heavy items do such a poor job of giving consistent answers to customers.

Not at all- it's just that you're probably not wanting hobbyist
machines, and I can understand that. There are plenty of tools geared
towards home users that are pretty easy to move around.

I have an engine hoist and an F-150 that would be able to cope with
safely getting a 1000 lb lathe down my sloping driveway, but going from
flat bed to the ground is another story. Control over shipping was a
big factor in choosing Rutland for my mill-drill, though I will admit
the process was not free of surprises. It worked out well, but proved I
was right to have respect for the weight of what was arriving.

How do YOU handle a ton or so slathered on cosmoline sitting on a truck
outside your home? Do I need to buy a fork lift to be one of the guys?
There are manual stackers that have suitable capacity, but they
appear to be a lot more expensive than the 500-700 lb variety I have
been considering for general use.

I just moved a 3000# or so turret lathe into my basement- and I don't
even have a pickup, much less any specialized rigging equipment.

If you ask, I am certain they will deliver the machine to a
distribution center where you can pick it up, and if you can get that
far, you're in business. The way I handled the monster lathe, with
some assistance from the guy I bought it from and another one I work
with, was to held up there a couple of days in advance and load the
machine onto a flatbed trailer- not a flatbed truck, just a regular
pull-behind with stiff enough springs to hold the thing up. We jacked
up the tongue, and pulled it onto the trailer with a manual comealong
attached to the machine and the tongue of the trailer. (At this
point, it should be noted that the machine was already on a wooden
sub-base with casters to help move it, but rollers would work as
well.) After it was secured and strapped down, we towed it the 70
miles or so to my place a few days later, and hooked the comealong to
a tree to pull it off. We just used scrap material to make a
temporary ramp and it came off with a little effort and a lot of care.

My basement is at street level, so after that, it was just a matter of
pushing it into place.

If it was on a semi, there would have been no way in hell to do it-
but with the flatbed trailer, it's not that hard of a job, and you
don't even need a pallet jack, much less a forklift.