Shop Moving across BC with a lot of equipment

[SimonM]

My lovely lady has accepted a job in Golden, bc and after almost 20 years in Pemberton we will be moving the family.

We got the news 2 weeks ago and our house will be up for sale tomorrow with the goal of moving august 1st.

We might buy a house if we find something suitable, rent until we find the right house or buy land and build. Regardless of what happens we need a large garage for all my machine tools.

Has anybody used a regular moving company to transport machinery over a long distance? The excello mill and 13x40 lathe are my main concerns.
I have access to a 6k telehandler on this end.

 

[DavidR8]

My lovely lady has accepted a job in Golden, bc and after almost 20 years in Pemberton we will be moving the family.

We got the news 2 weeks ago and our house will be up for sale tomorrow with the goal of moving august 1st.

We might buy a house if we find something suitable, rent until we find the right house or buy land and build. Regardless of what happens we need a large garage for all my machine tools.

Has anybody used a regular moving company to transport machinery over a long distance? The excello mill and 13x40 lathe are my main concerns.
I have access to a 6k telehandler on this end.

I'm pretty confident that a regular moving company will not move your machines. When I moved from Edmonton to the Island I had to move my tablesaw as the moving company (Allied) wouldn't touch it.

 

[SimonM]

Another idea I have contemplated is buying a shipping container to transport all of our belongings. Main issue with this plan is the lack of space to load it at our current house. We also could be using it as a shed later.

 

[Dabbler]

A very long time ago I contracted Tippet Richardson to move my 12X37 lathe. This was long before I got into moving things myself. On moving day they called me 1 hour before start time and said they would not be showing up. They did not want any liability, they said. I said I'd sign a document absolving them of all future liability and they said no and hung up.

Luckily I found a machine mover the could send two guys and a truck over right away, and for $$$ my lathe was moved in less than an hour.

The moral of this story is - don't trust standard movers with your machine tools.

This was the impetus for me learning how to move machines by myself. Now I'll only ever move things myself,

 

[Chicken lights]

A very long time ago I contracted Tippet Richardson to move my 12X37 lathe. This was long before I got into moving things myself. On moving day they called me 1 hour before start time and said they would not be showing up. They did not want any liability, they said. I said I'd sign a document absolving them of all future liability and they said no and hung up.

Luckily I found a machine mover the could send two guys and a truck over right away, and for $$$ my lathe was moved in less than an hour.

The moral of this story is - don't trust standard movers with your machine tools.

This was the impetus for me learning how to move machines by myself. Now I'll only ever move things myself,

More and more companies won’t even touch tool boxes. It’s a combination of lack of skilled/trained employees plus the liability on the company to do it damage free

But I’m also seeing a general decline in tow truck/service truck availability too, from this ever growing worker shortage

Being self reliant is unfortunately the way I’m seeing things progressing (minus the support from friends family etc)

 

[phaxtris]

I don't think your going to have much luck finding a regular moving company to move your lathe and mill

I assume you have to drive to golden either way, why not buy or rent a trailer and haul it there yourself? Assuming you have something other than a Honda civic?

 

[SimonM]

I am quite confident about moving machinery, 12 years working on/building drilling rigs taught me lots about lifting heavy and awkward loads.

The problem is transport…I would like to move all of our belongings at once and not have to worry about carrying boxes and furniture. Uhaul has a 26’ truck that might work, only issue might be the strength of tie down points.

@phaxtris No tow vehicle…we have the wife’s Kia hatchback, RV and my daily driver a 1976 Toyota FJ45, none of which are suited for the job.

@Chicken lights Self-reliance is the reason I have machine tools and built my truck with a Cummins that only needs 12 volts to the fuel solenoid to run.

 

[phaxtris]

Haul the trailer behind the u haul, it'll be a gutless pig, but I have seen plenty of guys haul cars on u haul trailers behind those 20+ foot u haul box trucks

I wouldn't even think about trying to get the mill and lathe in the back of the box truck, lack of tie downs and the general nightmare of loading and unloading frlm that height

 

[Chicken lights]

Haul the trailer behind the u haul, it'll be a gutless pig, but I have seen plenty of guys haul cars on u haul trailers behind those 20+ foot u haul box trucks

I wouldn't even think about trying to get the mill and lathe in the back of the box truck, lack of tie downs and the general nightmare of loading and unloading frlm that height

Actually, if the straight truck has “e-tracks” built into the walls, which most do I think, it would be quite easy and safe to move machines with

The other option would be to have a trucking company drop a trailer off, you load it with everything, then once it’s ready to go they come pick it up and drive it to golden. I can almost guarantee any dry van trailer will have e-tracks. I can’t say every company will do that, but I have, moved a whole family up to Hearst ON one fall

If it was me, straight truck or trailer, one machine either side of the box, at the back, flat against the walls. That’s how @trlvn got his mill drill home

 

[historicalarms]

there has to be a "hotshot" business somewhere close to you now or in Golden with a truck with Hiab picker ( doesnt matter weather straight stick boom or knuckle boom) & a flatdeck car hauler. Doesnt mater which end their on, it'll be a two way trip charge anyways...come to your place from Golden empty or leave your place loaded and back empty ....same charge.

 

[phaxtris]

there has to be a "hotshot" business somewhere close to you now or in Golden with a truck with Hiab picker ( doesnt matter weather straight stick boom or knuckle boom) & a flatdeck car hauler. Doesnt mater which end their on, it'll be a two way trip charge anyways...come to your place from Golden empty or leave your place loaded and back empty ....same charge.

I was going to recommend that as well, but it'll be expensive for sure

@Chicken lights, I know they have e tracks, I'm just not sure I would put much faith in the tin walls of one of those box trucks, they aren't made nearly as sturdy as a semi truck van trailer, and then there is the loading at height that could turn into a real nightmare

 

[Chicken lights]

I was going to recommend that as well, but it'll be expensive for sure

@Chicken lights, I know they have e tracks, I'm just not sure I would put much faith in the tin walls of one of those box trucks, they aren't made nearly as sturdy as a semi truck van trailer, and then there is the loading at height that could turn into a real nightmare

I guess you’d have to know what the deck height is, a lot of Uhaul’s claim low loading height?

I’d think 2-4 load bars from wall to wall, jam the machines tight against them as a bulkhead then 3-4 ratchet straps on each machine you’d be golden

 

[Six O Two]

When I last moved some stuff in a 17' uhaul, it did not have e tracks, just wooden 1x3s around the box like this:

I strapped a 13x24 lathe and rf-30 clone to them and I thought I had them pretty well strapped, but the wood broke in transport and my mill drill tipped onto my lathe, denting the mill's chip tray, electrical box, and pulley cover. Could've been worse, I suppose.

Anyways, next time I moved heavy equipment, I got a trailer with better tie-downs.

 

[Susquatch]

Sounds like you have nice machines. If I were you, I'd rent (or buy) and haul a small flatbed behind any one of the vehicles you named. Just do it yourself and be done with it. By the time you pay a machinery mover, you might almost own the trailer. Nice thing about this approach is that you can load the trailer ahead of time?

But, you could also consider selling your current machines and buying the new mill and new lathe of your dreams when you get moved in.

 

[Six O Two]

But, you could also consider selling your current machines and buying the new mill and new lathe of your dreams when you get moved in.

I wouldn't recommend that. The interior of BC is a desert for good machines. You'd end up having to get them shipped to you anyways. Ask me how I know...

 

[Susquatch]

I wouldn't recommend that. The interior of BC is a desert for good machines. You'd end up having to get them shipped to you anyways. Ask me how I know...

I meant BRAND SPANKING NEW.

 

[Susquatch]

I wouldn't recommend that. The interior of BC is a desert for good machines. You'd end up having to get them shipped to you anyways. Ask me how I know...

And if it is a desert, you would probably get a good dollar for the ones he is selling.

I was thinking new PM's like the mill that @John Conroy got last year.

Given a good excuse to do it, I'd prolly jump at the chance.

Anyway, just throwing out ideas for @SimonM to consider. It's always good to look at full costs of various alternatives before doing expensive things.

 

[trlvn]

then there is the loading at height that could turn into a real nightmare

By luck of the draw, I ended up with a lift gate truck to bring home my RF-30 mill. I was well within the 1,000 pound limit so it made things reallly easy. I believe higher capacity lifts are available.

Craig

 

[phaxtris]

By luck of the draw, I ended up with a lift gate truck to bring home my RF-30 mill. I was well within the 1,000 pound limit so it made things reallly easy. I believe higher capacity lifts are available.

Craig

Oh that is lucky, I didn't even know u haul rented lift gate trucks, that would be the way to do it so long as you could get one with a big enough rating

I have a few small trailers, and access to others, so for me it's always been a flat deck/utility trailer kind of operation for heavier items....with the exception of the time I brought a Lincoln sa200 welder home in the back of an s10...

 

[SimonM]

@Susquatch We will need a large truck to move all of our stuff, it will be somewhat expensive regardless of which way we do it. I will keep the lathe and the mill and lathe, next tool purchase is a CNC mill(most likely a fadal vmc15).

Lifting it on the truck is not an issue as I have access to a decent size telehandler and can probably muster one in Golden.

So far, if moving companies can’t do it, uhaul is the best option. As far as stability of the load, I think that guilting a sturdy pallet out of 6x6 and bolting the machines could work well.