Looking at a getting a Bridgport mill, '73 vintage with 42" table and
variable speed head. Unit it sitting in a garage with easy access, need
to transport it 20 miles, then get it down 3 steps into the shop. I
presume this thing weighs in at about 2000 pounds with a ugly top heavy
weight distribtion.

Plan is to lower table, tilt head upside down to get some clearance and
to lower the center of gravity. Then jack it up and bolt it to a 4'x6'
skid made of 4x4 posts 6' long and 2x12 cross pieces. With some beveled
ends, I can easily skid it out of the garage and up onto a low trailer.
(9000 pound winch on the Jeep is handy)

To get it into the shop with a 36" wide doorway I need to pull the
table. Unbolt the power feed and cranks, unscrew the lead screw, and
slide it out sideways. (??? Am I missing something here?)

How bad is it to unbolt the head and handle that seperately? I have a
hoist to make it easy to grab and lift it off. Getting it back on would
be a bit more challenging. How much does the head weigh? Does it lower
the top heavy weight enough to make it safer to do the 3 steps down?

I have plenty of ropes, chains, straps, 3 come alongs, timbers, planks,
1-1/2" pipe rollers, 1/2" pipe rollers, etc plus a healty respect for
heavy objects so I'm just looking for comments specific to a Bridgeport.

Cheers.

"RoyJ" wrote in message
link.net...
Looking at a getting a Bridgport mill, '73 vintage with 42" table and
variable speed head. Unit it sitting in a garage with easy access, need to
transport it 20 miles, then get it down 3 steps into the shop. I presume
this thing weighs in at about 2000 pounds with a ugly top heavy weight
distribtion.

Plan is to lower table, tilt head upside down to get some clearance and to
lower the center of gravity. Then jack it up and bolt it to a 4'x6' skid
made of 4x4 posts 6' long and 2x12 cross pieces. With some beveled ends, I
can easily skid it out of the garage and up onto a low trailer. (9000
pound winch on the Jeep is handy)

To get it into the shop with a 36" wide doorway I need to pull the table.
Unbolt the power feed and cranks, unscrew the lead screw, and slide it out
sideways. (??? Am I missing something here?)

How bad is it to unbolt the head and handle that seperately? I have a
hoist to make it easy to grab and lift it off. Getting it back on would be
a bit more challenging. How much does the head weigh? Does it lower the
top heavy weight enough to make it safer to do the 3 steps down?

I have plenty of ropes, chains, straps, 3 come alongs, timbers, planks,
1-1/2" pipe rollers, 1/2" pipe rollers, etc plus a healty respect for
heavy objects so I'm just looking for comments specific to a Bridgeport.

Cheers.

Roy,

I just moved a smaller Bridgeport weighing about 1500# into my garage. I
picked it up in my pick up truck. I transported it by lowering the knee all
the way down and removing the entire ram with the head attached. I used an
engine hoist to reassemble it and it worked well. Once the ram was removed
the mill is no longer top heavy at all and transporting it in my Dodge
Dakota.

Once back on the ground, I moved it around using 3/4" black pipe.

Good Luck.

Joe...

First make sure you have to take the table off. Can you run the table
out to the end of the knee and work it around the corner first and then
go forward with the mill? If not then your table removal scheme sounds
correct. Perhaps add some timber (cribbing) to the floor at the bottom
of the steps so you only go down 1 or 2 (or less?) steps and onto
rollers (wooden rollers are best here) and then down to the floor in
several stages from there, removing cribbing as you go forward. If you
can get a good holdback on it to control the forward movement and one
or two husky helpers you can do it easily without the skid.
I would suggest not bothering to take off the head or overarm unless
you're without help. If you're anywhere in my neck of the woods I'd be
happy to lend a hand (100 mi. N of Sac.)
I hope this helps.
Dennis in nca

I took my J head Bridgeport through a 30" doorway with 4" walls
complete. If the machine is on the level when going through the door
then you should be able to do it as well. I just cranked the table all
the way over to one side, rotated the mill so I could crank the table to
the other extreme through the doorway then pushed the mill through. No
problems. The head was rotated down to clear the top of the door as well.

RoyJ wrote:

Looking at a getting a Bridgport mill, '73 vintage with 42" table and
variable speed head. Unit it sitting in a garage with easy access,
need to transport it 20 miles, then get it down 3 steps into the shop.
I presume this thing weighs in at about 2000 pounds with a ugly top
heavy weight distribtion.

Plan is to lower table, tilt head upside down to get some clearance
and to lower the center of gravity. Then jack it up and bolt it to a
4'x6' skid made of 4x4 posts 6' long and 2x12 cross pieces. With some
beveled ends, I can easily skid it out of the garage and up onto a low
trailer. (9000 pound winch on the Jeep is handy)

To get it into the shop with a 36" wide doorway I need to pull the
table. Unbolt the power feed and cranks, unscrew the lead screw, and
slide it out sideways. (??? Am I missing something here?)

How bad is it to unbolt the head and handle that seperately? I have a
hoist to make it easy to grab and lift it off. Getting it back on
would be a bit more challenging. How much does the head weigh? Does it
lower the top heavy weight enough to make it safer to do the 3 steps
down?

I have plenty of ropes, chains, straps, 3 come alongs, timbers,
planks, 1-1/2" pipe rollers, 1/2" pipe rollers, etc plus a healty
respect for heavy objects so I'm just looking for comments specific to
a Bridgeport.

Cheers.

No such luck, doorway is at the top of the 3 steps. It has to go through
and down in one motion. I'd plan to timber and plank the steps to make a
solid ramp. I have help but they are not savy about levers and weight.
I'd like to set it up so it could be done alone, then ask for some
assistance for the expected. I'll leave it on a skid.

Why wooden rollers rather than pipe? I do have a dozen or so birch
rolling pin blanks, they would roll as easy as could be, jsut would get
chewed up on the concrete.

Thanks for the offer to help but I doubt if you want to drive 1500 miles.

rigger wrote:
First make sure you have to take the table off. Can you run the table
out to the end of the knee and work it around the corner first and then
go forward with the mill? If not then your table removal scheme sounds
correct. Perhaps add some timber (cribbing) to the floor at the bottom
of the steps so you only go down 1 or 2 (or less?) steps and onto
rollers (wooden rollers are best here) and then down to the floor in
several stages from there, removing cribbing as you go forward. If you
can get a good holdback on it to control the forward movement and one
or two husky helpers you can do it easily without the skid.
I would suggest not bothering to take off the head or overarm unless
you're without help. If you're anywhere in my neck of the woods I'd be
happy to lend a hand (100 mi. N of Sac.)
I hope this helps.
Dennis in nca

Have a tow truck company come over and lift it on whatever. Then unload
it the same way. Or if you have a low trailer than unload it with skids
and pipes/roller etc.
Bob AZ

I've moved a Bridgeport and a ~1 ton lathe down a flight of steps into
my basement,

http://www.toad.net/~menkejg/

I used a forklift for the Bridgeport and by hand with levers and
chainhoists for the ATW lathe. Much, much easier with the forklift.

The forklift rental cost me about $350, the rental place delivered it
and picked it up. If you run into a situation like I did where you
discover the turret has to come off, then the forklift will make all the
difference in the world. Its nice to not spend the money on an
equipment rental, but doing so will save you a lot of time and wear and
tear on yourself.

The 1 HP J head weighs something close to 150 lbs, so its not hard to
handle it with one of those "2 ton" shop cranes. Also, watch out for
the weight of the table, its unexpectedly heavy. I used the trashcan
method- have a sturdy trashcan upside down with some plywood on the top
beside the table with the knee adjusted so the trash can takes the
weight of the table as it slides off the knee. Remove the gib strip
first, much easier to move the table with it out.

If you want to use the 2 ton shop crane to actually lift & move the
Bridgeport, you should first upgrade the hook and chain to something
lift-rated- mcmaster carr is your friend. DO NOT use a regular eyebolt
in the threaded hole on the top of the ram, spend the money on a lift
rated, swiveling hoisting ring.

Avoid use of pressure treated lumber for anything which needs to slide
or have stuff slid on it- PT lumber presents a lot of friction even if
you lube the surface. I imagine you could slather enough grease to make
things slide, but all that grease will also end up on you & the floor,
etc...

Don't bother with the wood rollers, get some lengths of iron pipe from
Home Despot/BLowes- get at least 5 or 6, 3/4" is OK- at least 32" long,
nothing wrong with longer except they get a little clumsy, might be a
good idea to get some 2' ones for when the long ones won't fit. As you
haul the machine around the pipes will often try to group, move around,
skew their way out the side, etc.. its helpful to have enough that you
can keep feeding in fresh ones without having to pry them out past the
back edge.

There is nothing like messing about with this kind of stuff as therapy
for being in the office all day!

Gregm



RoyJ writes:

No such luck, doorway is at the top of the 3 steps. It has to go through
and down in one motion. I'd plan to timber and plank the steps to make a
solid ramp. I have help but they are not savy about levers and
weight. I'd like to set it up so it could be done alone, then ask for
some assistance for the expected. I'll leave it on a skid.

Why wooden rollers rather than pipe? I do have a dozen or so birch
rolling pin blanks, they would roll as easy as could be, jsut would get
chewed up on the concrete.

Thanks for the offer to help but I doubt if you want to drive 1500 miles.

rigger wrote:
First make sure you have to take the table off. Can you run the table
out to the end of the knee and work it around the corner first and then
go forward with the mill? If not then your table removal scheme sounds
correct. Perhaps add some timber (cribbing) to the floor at the bottom
of the steps so you only go down 1 or 2 (or less?) steps and onto
rollers (wooden rollers are best here) and then down to the floor in
several stages from there, removing cribbing as you go forward. If you
can get a good holdback on it to control the forward movement and one
or two husky helpers you can do it easily without the skid.
I would suggest not bothering to take off the head or overarm unless
you're without help. If you're anywhere in my neck of the woods I'd be
happy to lend a hand (100 mi. N of Sac.)
I hope this helps.
Dennis in nca

First thing is holding the mill back, either with a come-along or
winch. You mentioned you have this type of equipment so the trick is
figuring out how to get it in place and lined-up with the stairs; if
you do this you can do it all yourself (I like to have my wife spot the
rollers for me when I do this). I'd put 1xs on the floor leading to
the stairs and have 1" or so steel rollers under the machine. If I was
going to leave the table on I'd have the rollers under it at an angle
so as I rolled forward the machine would be at the angle which would
allow the leading end of the table to enter the doorway first, go
forward a little, then straighten the machine to match the rollers.
You can jockey the machine around a little by running the table one way
or another. If there isn't enough room on the other side of the
doorway to straighten the mill out I'd suggest taking the table off as
you should have done this type of move before before you attempt to
keep the machine at an angle as you go down the stairs/ramp by
yourself. Sometimes you can get away with just removing the handles or
the lead screw as an alternate to taking off the entire table.

The reason for wood is twofold: First it won't tear up your floor so
you don't need anything underneath such as 1xs (hard floor that is).
Second, and most important, is when your coming down on an angle the
tendency of the roller you place, on the front of the machine or skid,
is to try to scoot back under the machine; wood rollers grip better.
We would sometimes consider them expendable.
Wish I had $1 for each time I took a Bridgeport up or down stairs; I
think I could buy us BOTH lunch (at least at McDonald's.) Sometimes
we'd get lucky and could run the wagon planks from the truck right up
to the edge of the stairs.

Dennis in nca
p.s. You're right about the 1500 mile drive but send me an airline
ticket and we can talk.

RoyJ writes:

To get it into the shop with a 36" wide doorway I need to pull the
table. Unbolt the power feed and cranks, unscrew the lead screw, and
slide it out sideways. (??? Am I missing something here?)

That's how it's done. You can levitate it with your shop crane, sling, and
two eyebolts into T-nuts from your clamping kit.

I would judge the riskiest part of your plan to be the jacking onto a skid.
A single slip or error tips the whole works over.

My experience:

http://www.truetex.com/movebpt.htm

I would judge the riskiest part of your plan to be the jacking onto a skid.
A single slip or error tips the whole works over.

The current owner said he would get it up in the air, I'd just bolt the
skid together underneath it. Current location is in a low headroom tuck
under garage. I doubt that a shop hoist will work very well. Ditto on
the recieving end so it really nixes using a hoist.




My experience:

http://www.truetex.com/movebpt.htm

RoyJ wrote:
Looking at a getting a Bridgport mill, '73 vintage with 42" table and
variable speed head. Unit it sitting in a garage with easy access, need
to transport it 20 miles, then get it down 3 steps into the shop. I
presume this thing weighs in at about 2000 pounds with a ugly top heavy
weight distribtion.

Plan is to lower table, tilt head upside down to get some clearance and
to lower the center of gravity. Then jack it up and bolt it to a 4'x6'
skid made of 4x4 posts 6' long and 2x12 cross pieces. With some beveled
ends, I can easily skid it out of the garage and up onto a low trailer.
(9000 pound winch on the Jeep is handy)

To get it into the shop with a 36" wide doorway I need to pull the
table. Unbolt the power feed and cranks, unscrew the lead screw, and
slide it out sideways. (??? Am I missing something here?)

You shouldn't need to do this. I have moved a Bridgeport through
several different standard doors without much trouble. I generally
DID need to remove the handle on one end of the table. What I did
was crank the table all the way to one end, work it into the doorway
at an angle, until the short end of the table was aimed into the
side of the doorway you are moving into. Then, you can crank the
table to the other end, now the table is inside. Then, you can continue
the move.
How bad is it to unbolt the head and handle that seperately?
Not a big deal. The 1J (step pulley) comes apart very easily. The 2J
(varispeed) is just a little more complicated. With a shop crane,
engine hoist, etc. you might just remove it in one piece. Otherwise, it
has to be broken down at least into the belt hosuing & motor, and the
main casting section. And, it will still be pretty heavy.
I have a
hoist to make it easy to grab and lift it off. Getting it back on would
be a bit more challenging. How much does the head weigh? Does it lower
the top heavy weight enough to make it safer to do the 3 steps down?

Putting the head back on is not a big deal, as long as you have
something to suspend it with. The 4 bolts will tend to drop down in the
round T-slot, but you just get the head close and wiggle the bolts into
the holes in the main head casting. Yes, removing the head
substantially lowers the center of gravity. If any tilting is needed,
you REALLY want to get the head, and maybe the ram and turret, off the
machine. The Varispeed 2J head probably weighs 200 Lbs.

Oh, yeah, lower the KNEE, too! That weighs even more than the head, ram
and turret.

Jon

Very nice and careful work. However one thing I'd like to point out is
Bridgeport (unless they've changed their machines and policy) says NOT
to use the threaded hole in the top of the ram to move the machine. We
were told this is only used to lift the ram. Instead use a strap under
the ram (they used to balance perfectly at that point) on the side
nearest the table and your forks over head. Heck, if you've got a nice
fork lift like that, why not flaunt it.

Dennis in nca