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wrote:

I will be moving a Wells Index model 847 mill (vertical, Bridgeport
type knee mill) in the next several days. The move is pretty straight
forward. Basically it will consist of pulling it out of one garage,
lifting onto trailer, offloading from trailer and pushing it
approximately 10 ft into a garage. I have decided that the only easy /
safe way of doing this is with a forklift. Can anyone out there provide
some hints or advice to make this a safe easy move?

I've done this with small-diameter iron pipe and a lift-gate truck. You
can slide it
on 3/4" plywood, too, to get from the truck to the garage, if needed.
If the
garage floor is smooth, you can slide it on that, too! If not, you
lever it up with
a crowbar just enough to get the 1/2" iron pipe under the base. You can
lift it up
onto 1x1 lumber first, slide the pipe under, and then remove the lumber
to free
it to roll. 3 or 4 lengths of the iron pipe can be fed under the base
as you roll it slowly.

The M head is pretty light, so one person can easily take it down in pieces.
The motor comes off real easily, then the belt housing, then the main
head casting.
Then, you can remove the round ram to lower the center of gravity even more.
Don't be too surprised if the round ram is rusted in place, though.
Mine was.
Daily doses of penetrating oil usually frees it up in a couple of days.

But, if you have a fork lift that is beefy enough to safely lift the whole
machine onto the trailer, then that may be the best way. If the trailer
is small,
removing the head and ram to lower the C.G. may be a good move. Definitely
tie it down SECURELY, idiot drivers are everywhere. I had a woman make
a left turn RIGHT in FRONT of a 20' rental truck with my Bridgeport in it.
I was looking right into her face as I used the minimum brakes possible
so as to
just BARELY miss ramming her broadside while travelling about 40 MPH.
Her eyes were as big as alarm clocks! Still, the Bridgeport made a good
mess of my
washer and dryer. They were repairable by using a sledge hammer to
pound the
cabinets back into shape.

Jon