Exhausting day moving a lathe - never again!

[fizzy]

OMG what a day from hell we had yesterday.
4 hr drive to Camberley to pick up my "small" lathe.
Got there at 2pm - left at 10.30pm and home at 4am
I had no idea it would take so long or be so physically tiring. Access there was really tight so had to lift out by hand the engine crane. 6x 40kg Euro pallets. 4x 40kg oak blocks to raise the engine crane - various very heavy jacks etc etc. Then when we finally finished hand ball it all back in again.

My God that lathe is heavy - and very awkward to lift. Lovely condition and we got home safe and sound. As I have a steep gravel drive at home I popped into my warehouse around 2am to drop it off first. It took 30 mins to unload - so easy with a forklift .

My baby Tirfor winch was a godsend - so easy to control winching into the van.

 

[fizzy]

 

[fizzy]

Finally in. Just look at the size of it in the van. And thats a high roof Sprinter!
How can a small lathe be so huge?

 

[fizzy]

Collected from a great little CNC outfit. Bloke was lovely. I kept apologising for keeping him there so late but he didnt mind too much as they have a big order from the NHS for covid testing kit parts.
See plenty of little places still manufacturing in the UK!
I wish I had time to have a nose. He had 5 HASS machining centres worth £230,000 each and 2 Matsuras at £335,000 each

A lot of what he machines is plastic. Delrin and Nylon - cheaper to machine small batches than make moulds.

 

[Barking Mat]

It's bigger than it looks, if that makes sense? Neh, it doesn't.

All fun, well done, I've got my Cazeneuve LO to move over the Christmas holidays.

Luckily less than 20 miles away.

I'm going to hire a trailer. Like last time. My trailers won't take 1.5 ton.

 

[fizzy]

If I had known it was going to be such a nightmare I would have just made the custom pallet. Shipped it through our network to Camberley. Then got someone local wirh a HIAB to lift it onto the pallet and ship back to me through the network.
I estimate around £400 for that.
But at least we didn't fail to collect even if it took 8 hrs!. He sold an identical Hardinge last year that 3 people failed to get onto trailers.
He had a Jones and Shipman 540 there that 2 people failed to lift.
No room to swing a cat was the biggest problem.

 

[fizzy]

If only the Sprinter had proper hard points I could have just used my 3.5 ton Tirfor and dragged anything up a ramp.
Not buying any more until my proper trailer is finished!

 

[tom2207]

Home safe , nothing broken and no one hurt ,,,, great result , well done.

 

[Pete.]

That Feeler does look to be in rather good condition. Worth the effort IMO.

 

[galooph]

What's the baby Tirfor rated at? Looks very handy!

 

[fizzy]

What's the baby Tirfor rated at? Looks very handy!

500kg vertical lifting. Will pull a lot more. Fits in an aluminium brief case. I don't know why 007 never had one. The baby one pulled a stretched Yank limo up a very steep drive. We used an old Nissan Bluebird as an anchor. Even with 4 bricks under the wheels the Tirfor was pulling it up over them
I am a huge fan of Tirfors. I have 5. The biggest will lift 3500kg. I once pulled a mates 20ft shipping container workshop up his steep garden and it was full of all his stuff!
They are very slow but so controllable.
Most fire engines carry one for lifting cars off people etc.

 

[fizzy]

That Feeler does look to be in rather good condition. Worth the effort IMO.

Thanks Pete! Yes not had much use as they have gone all CNC.

 

[fizzy]

Home safe , nothing broken and no one hurt ,,,, great result , well done.

Yes thats the main thing!

 

[roofman]

The toys come to those who don't mind a good drive and a bit of graft..Well done mate