Transporting a large CNC

[gavztheouch]

I am looking at purchasing a large thermwood router (See Pic)


I guess this machine must weigh around 6 ton. What would be the correct way to load it onto a lorry?

Thanks
Gav

[martin54]

Anything that's rated to lift that weight, overhead crane, hiab, forklift. Depends on what you have available at BOTH ends & also access available at both ends. If your buying this from a Company they may also want a method statement/risk assesment for their H&S officer.

[GEOFFREY]

Better yet get them to load it. The unloading is more likely to be the problem, but I guess you will end up using a hiab. G.

[John S]

If you have to ask this question I query whether you are the right person to be doing this move ?

Sorry if this sounds a bit harsh but 6 people don't throw one of these on their shoulders, there is a lot to take into account as regards how it's lifted to prevent distortion etc.

[D-man]

Where is that from? Looks like some sort of repo warehouse. Did they have any more?

[birchy]

What would be the correct way to load it onto a lorry?

It's a big lump and best left to the professionals rather than trying to do it yourself. Find a local company who can supply a Hiab and driver(s).

[gavztheouch]

Where is that from? Looks like some sort of repo warehouse. Did they have any more?

The machine in the pic is from a rep site in america not the exact machine I bought.

If you have to ask this question I query whether you are the right person to be doing this move ?

Sorry if this sounds a bit harsh but 6 people don't throw one of these on their shoulders, there is a lot to take into account as regards how it's lifted to prevent distortion etc.

I don't indend on doing the move myself just making sure it gets done right, or as close to right as possible the machine is being sold as scrap so its a bit of a salvage job. I have a few options the best of which would be a hiab capable of lifting this, as most are rated at below 3. The other option is a flatbed trailer loaded with a forklift, the tines would need to be long enough to get the full way under the machine. If I use a forklift, I could lift it all the way outside of the building and onto the lorry in one go, otherwise I would need for toe jacks and machine skates or the forklift again to take it outside to the hiab.

The problem is my end as I only have two telehandlers rated at 3ton each. So I might need use both, one each side of the lorry,lift the machine and then move the lorry forward and lower the router. Cover the machine with a hap for the meantime and then rent a bigger forlift to lift into place.

For the lift I plan to centralise the weight as best as possible, lock all axis in place, spread the forklift tines as wide as possible and cross my fingers.

[John S]

Have a ring round machinery movers. many have fork trucks made for doing this, they are very big on capacity but can only lift 3 or 4 feet so they only need low masts to get into low buildings.

When i bought my big CNC from an auction I used the company who were already there doing work to save money.
they had one of these trucks and because my machine was blocked in by a 15 ton boring machine whey just drove in, picked the borer up, moved it to one side, then went back and picked my 3 tonne mill up and moved it outside.
took all of 15 minutes to do all this.

[gavztheouch]

When i bought my big CNC from an auction I used the company who were already there doing work to save money.

Im hoping this is how it will work out in the end, I also bought it from a large auction and there is kit bigger than mine there, the chap who orginized the sale is looking around for me to see if anyone can do the whole job of moving the machine for me.

[gavztheouch]

Hi all,

In the end it was a simple case of using a forklift ethier end to load. Turns out the machine was closer to 3ton so our forklift just managed to lift it off the lorry and into place.

It took me about two days or so to get the router up and running and I am very impressed with the thermwood build, its no nonsence simple stuff, just heavy duty and well made. It uses 3.5" floppy disks for data transfer so im limited to 1.5mb per file, which for 2d profilling should be ok.

If I have a breakdown im thinking about converting it to mach 3, so I can fix it myself and not have to rely on expensive thermwood parts and service.