Moving a bridgeport 50m across a paved alley/gravel driveway

[calgaryguy]

My neighbour a couple of houses over has a bridgeport that he purchased a number of years back and has been sitting unused since.

My own shop is pretty full with my woodworking stuff, but I've been toying with the idea of getting into my place, cleaning it up and making a few chips.

Distance is about 50m along teh alley, paved right to his garage door and then about 15m of gravel driveway to get to my door.

Should I just look at hiring someone to do this move? I imagine a minimum callout would be a few hundred bucks... I know I could probably get some pipe and roll it most of the way but the gravel behind my shop is uneven and I know BP's are top heavy as all F. Not alot of space in his shop to disassemble motor/turret either.

Thoughts?

 

[Noltez]

Can you rent or borrow an appropriate forklift? Someone with boom truck that can pick it up? You'll still need to pipe roll it to the door I expect.

Even plywood across the gravel will cost you more than a tow truck.

 

[YYCHM]

Pull the head off to lower the CG and skid it down the alley on a stone-boat?

 

[calgaryguy]

Pull the head off to lower the CG and skid it down the alley on a stone-boat?

Like I said, not much room at all in his shop to take anything apart. Would still need something to push/pull the stone boat and dont really have anything suitable.

 

[YYCHM]

Like I said, not much room at all in his shop to take anything apart. Would still need something to push/pull the stone boat and dont really have anything suitable.

Pull the head etc once it's in the alley. Pull the stone-boat with your truck or car. There is a guy down our street (in the NE) with a skid steer, I could ask him how much it can lift and what he would charge. How much does the mill weight and what part of the city are you in?

 

[Chicken lights]

Honestly, if you’re worried about it, get a quote to rent a forklift or get a quote to have it moved. Usually a tilt n load tow truck would be around $100 an hour I’d think? It’s got a winch to drag it out and a deck to load it on.

If by chance it does fall, you’re paying someone to come pick it up regardless, so the money up front is gonna be cheaper than a recovery. My two cents

 

[Tom Kitta]

On paved stuff unless going uphill its piece of cake - just put on steel pipes - goes nice and smooth.

Gravel is a bit more of an issue. You may need to put some planks to move it.

You can get or borrow a pallet jack. As long as you do not go uphill its easy. You can use my pallet jack if you want.

keyword here - uphill or not uphill.

 

[calgaryguy]

On paved stuff unless going uphill its piece of cake - just put on steel pipes - goes nice and smooth.

Gravel is a bit more of an issue. You may need to put some planks to move it.

You can get or borrow a pallet jack. As long as you do not go uphill its easy. You can use my pallet jack if you want.

keyword here - uphill or not uphill.

The alley is flat, if not sloped to the middle a fair amount. My gravel pad behind the shop is 20-30 feet long and slopes upwards just slightly. Maybe 3-4" over that length.

 

[kevin.decelles]

you should let the machine be posted on kijiji so we can all get a shot at it

 

[kevin.decelles]

how thick is the gravel (loose/packed etc.)

 

[calgaryguy]

Honestly, if you’re worried about it, get a quote to rent a forklift or get a quote to have it moved. Usually a tilt n load tow truck would be around $100 an hour I’d think? It’s got a winch to drag it out and a deck to load it on.

If by chance it does fall, you’re paying someone to come pick it up regardless, so the money up front is gonna be cheaper than a recovery. My two cents

Thats kind of my feeling too. I'm all for 'boots and suspenders' work, but I'm getting too old to right somethung that heavy and awkward when I can just use my 'Visa Wrench' - assuming its not a ridiculous amount of money.

Does anyone know a guy with a picker/wrecker that they'd recommend in YYC?

 

[calgaryguy]

you should let the machine be posted on kijiji so we can all get a shot at it

He doesnt want to sell. We're pretty decent friends and have keys to each others shops so he's more than happy to have me hook it up in my shop and play.

 

[calgaryguy]

how thick is the gravel (loose/packed etc.)

Its fairly dense packed recycled concrete 20mm crush size. When I had the pad excavated and base brought in, I just had teh guy bring me another few yards of recycled conc for the driveway behind the shop. Its been there 12 years and if I do want to dig in it I need to start with a pickaxe. It is uneven however, with ruts where we drive into the garage. I doubt anything would sink into it, but a pallet jack wont roll over it

 

[calgaryguy]

Btw, I'm in SE Calgary, Acadia neighbourhood. Just a few blocks east of Beaverbrook Highschool.

 

[Chicken lights]

Thats kind of my feeling too. I'm all for 'boots and suspenders' work, but I'm getting too old to right somethung that heavy and awkward when I can just use my 'Visa Wrench' - assuming its not a ridiculous amount of money.

Last time I moved shops I had a tilt n load move my compressor (top heavy), toolbox (heavy and on wheels) and shop loader out to the new place. I want to say $150?

Couple years after that I helped a friend move his toolbox. We spent most of the day pulling all the drawers out, loading them in the trailer, unloading those at the new place, another trip back for the actual toolbox upper and lower, unloading those then putting the drawers all back in.

I’d rather spend the money

 

[Dabbler]

@calgaryguy I have all the equipment and can easily help. no problem, It will be easy as pie. PM me and we'll talk by phone.

 

[calgaryguy]

@calgaryguy I have all the equipment and can easily help. no problem, It will be easy as pie. PM me and we'll talk by phone.

Forum for the win!

I'll PM you Dabbler with more details in the next few days. I have some woodshop projects that I need to finish first before embarking on this effort - my lovely wife is super understanding and I want to keep it that way

 

[calgaryguy]

A bit of an update here. The BP was under a tarp in his shop, and I had a chance to pull the tarp off and see exactly what I was dealing with.

Its a bridgeport Series II, 4HP motor 230/460v. Its really tall (8' to top of motor housing) compared to some of the BP's I've seen. X+Y axis are power feeds of some sort but the actual power feed mechanisms are not bolted to the machine - I'll ask the neighbour about the location of them - I imagine they are in a box somewhere.

EDIT: Doing some more reading and it appears this is a Series II with the Boss controller package, which has stepper motors for the X, Y and Z axis. I'm wondering now if this is a poor candidate for a person learning milling - I had assumed this was a completely manual mill sitting under the tarp...

 

[combustable herbage]

That's a bonus in my opinion, you will still have lots to learn.

 

[calgaryguy]

Im going to start a new thread about a suitable VFD for this unit. No sense in looking at a new cnc pc/breakout/drivers/motors if the motor/quill/variable belt drive is hosed.