Proper palletising of a Bridgeport

[fizzy]

I have said it many times in the past but most damage is caused by poor packing.

Here is how I palletised a Bridgeport for a customer. I collected myself. Forklift at collection and at my warehouse. Will travel through our network for delivery as needs a tail lift.

Notice the head upside down. Makes it far more stable.

Hardest part was getting the domed head coach bolts up from under the pallet. Domed head underneath to avoid fouling the forks.

Been trying out an electric pallet truck. Seriously powerful will make drivers jobs a lot easier.

 

[sako243]

I've just flipped the head over on my Bridgeport so I could fit some pallet racking over the top and in prep for moving it from one workshop to another. I was amazed at how small it was compared to the head being the right way up.

 

[fizzy]

I've just flipped the head over on my Bridgeport so I could fit some pallet racking over the top and in prep for moving it from one workshop to another. I was amazed at how small it was compared to the head being the right way up.

So easy to do. When you know how of course!

 

[Screwdriver]

This is how mine turned up...

 

[8ob]

To avoid a bun fight post delivery would it not be better to build a crate around these things? Way too many bits hanging off the side of these pallets for a forktruck driver to avoid.

Bob

 

[fizzy]

Notice on mine the extra sheet of plywood to reinforce the pallet.
There is one problem with electric pallet trucks. You lose all feel. As a result it is hard to tell where the front wheels are so it is easy to rip apart pallets.

 

[fizzy]

To avoid a bun fight post delivery would it not be better to build a crate around these things? Way too many bits hanging off the side of these pallets for a forktruck driver to avoid.

Bob

A crate is better in some ways but expensive to build properly.
Leaving a machine naked means the driver can see where to put his straps.
Obviously sending these through a pallet network always carries some risk but HIAB delivery gets very expensive over a few miles.

 

[fizzy]

Also damage can occur through over tighten of ratchet straps hence bolting it down.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

To avoid a bun fight post delivery would it not be better to build a crate around these things? Way too many bits hanging off the side of these pallets for a forktruck driver to avoid.

Bob

@James1979 I'm assuming it survived the trip over the water safely?

 

[Pete.]

I have said it many times in the past but most damage is caused by poor packing.

Here is how I palletised a Bridgeport for a customer. I collected myself. Forklift at collection and at my warehouse. Will travel through our network for delivery as needs a tail lift.

Notice the head upside down. Makes it far more stable.View attachment 323045View attachment 323046View attachment 323047View attachment 323048

Hardest part was getting the domed head coach bolts up from under the pallet. Domed head underneath to avoid fouling the forks.

Been trying out an electric pallet truck. Seriously powerful will make drivers jobs a lot easier.

We bought an electric pallet truck a couple of years ago similar size to the one in your pic but with a removable li-ion battery and separate charger. Got a second battery with it so one could be on charge.

Great tool we put a lot of miles on it. Wore out 3 drive wheels. One fault with that type is if you hit a step with the ram fully up the sudden stop can bend the ram. Dropping it down a tiny bit from fully up made things a lot better.

 

[Screwdriver]

To avoid a bun fight post delivery would it not be better to build a crate around these things? Way too many bits hanging off the side of these pallets for a forktruck driver to avoid.

Bob

All the sticky-out bits on mine turned up bent or broken. The busted up pallet was just the icing on the cake.

 

[RichardM]

Would that be two pallets worth @fizzy ?

 

[fizzy]

Yes if it has the 48" table.
Always a good idea to remove all handles etc.
If not tie orange rags to sticky out bits.
I use vivid turquoise nitrile gloves

 

[fizzy]

View attachment 323092 View attachment 323093 View attachment 323094 View attachment 323095 View attachment 323096

@James1979 I'm assuming it survived the trip over the water safely?

Lovely job!

 

[Turbo]

The way you have it bolted you are relying on the nails on 2 board holding everything down. I would suggest adding a board underneath the top of the pallet running at 90 deg to the boards, with the bolts passing through that as well, spreading the load across all the boards, not just 2.

 

[bricol]

The way you have it bolted you are relying on the nails on 2 board holding everything down.

Exactly how most failed pallets turn up at our place with damaged gear on, from some very big names in inspection and machinery who you would think would have worked it out by now.

Still doesn't stop an over-excited plant fork life driver ignoring the instructions to first of all wait for the people with the BIG forklift to turn up as bought and paid for, and ignoring the "lift from other side" and dropped the 1/2 million quid machine the customer had paid 30 grand to air-freight out to their plant in the US . . . luckily the shipping crate it was in, absorbed a lot of the impact, and we had it working within a day or two.

 

[James1979]

View attachment 323092 View attachment 323093 View attachment 323094 View attachment 323095 View attachment 323096

@James1979 I'm assuming it survived the trip over the water safely?

It did got a small lin bin of screws out of that lot which I still haven’t used up!

 

[fizzy]

The way you have it bolted you are relying on the nails on 2 board holding everything down. I would suggest adding a board underneath the top of the pallet running at 90 deg to the boards, with the bolts passing through that as well, spreading the load across all the boards, not just 2.

Not at all. The plywood sheet has about 20 short fat screws through it as well.
Fair point though.

 

[fizzy]

Well my efforts worked.
Delivered safely. Customer very happy.
Driver was a star and an electric pallet truck helped a lot.
It isn't just the power but the brakes help as well although they can be prone to wheelspin in the wet - but no more than my forklift is.

 

[Pete.]

Fro the benefit of anyone reading I have found that two sheets of ply screwed together is much more than twice as sturdy than a single sheet. I have demolished a railway bridge using a pair 5 tonne demolition machines sitting on a 6 foot thick layer of polystyrene topped with 2 layers of 18mm ply to protect the track. One sheet of ply it just went straight through but a double-layer held up just fine.