I have the Grizzley G0454 20″ Planer. It weighs about 900 pounds. I need to get it up a set of steps to a second floor workshop. I was able to separate the top and bottom of the planer in an attempt to lessen the weight and make the machine more manageable. The top still weighs every bit of 600+ pounds. I called Grizzley Tech support and they said that to take the machine apart any further would be difficult to to put back together. Does anyone have any ideas on moving such a heavy object upstairs??? Any suggections would be appreciated. Thank you.
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Replies
Do you have a large enough window on the second floor to put it through? A high-lift forklift would be able to get it up and in the window, as long as you had enough clearance. You'd have to set up some blocks for the lift to set the pieces down on. Once they're in the room, you can use an engine hoist to maneuver the pieces as necessary.
There also exist motorized devices that can take loads up stairways, but they require a pretty straight shot (no landings, and no turns at the top or bottom), and there remains the question of whether or not the stairway itself can withstand the weight.
-Steve
Call in the piano movers! Seriously these guys move that kind of weight all the time. They'll make short work of your problem.
DSmith
Straight run ? how big is the landing at the top? any solid place to hook to? are the stairs open or closed? How finished are the stairs? What is the ceiling like in the stair well?
There are a lot of ways. those are the questions that a simple glance would provide me.. and based on those answers I'm sure a plan could be devised.
Try laying a couple of 2x10's flat on the stairwell then pulling/sliding it up the ramp. Preferably use a come-a-long to minimize the danger.
Do you have a strong enough structure to support 900 pounds on a very small foot print , and on the stairwell?
A large saftey warning!! if it starts sliding down and lands on you or someone else. IT will cause serious injury.
Can you post pictures of your shop?
Maybe a more important question is. Will the second floor support the beast?
Personally, If I had an exploded drawing or shop manual I would not be afraid to take it apart. But that process would be determined by your mechanical abilities.
At least by removing the motor you could save yourself 60-70 lbs.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Thanks for all the suggestions. Here is a picture of my situation.
i would be hesitant to even try it up those stairs, but you might try contacting piano movers . . . . . i have seen them do things like this and make it look easy (at least to me). good luck.
just put it on a couple skate boards and pull/push
Five minutes with a small truck mounted crane. Get everything you need moved on the lower deck, presumably you have other machinery, and do it all in an hour.John W.
I would definately NOT try to move a half a ton up those stairs and onto that cantelevered landing. John White is right on. You need riggers and either extra support under the stairs & landing or a crane. Otherwise, if you're real lucky, you may only need a new set of steps and a new planer.
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
I would try to pull it up a ramp with a come along, maybe adding pipe or rollers underneath. Slow and steady, but it will work. It's the same way I got the cast iron tub out of the second floor bath.
There are companies that specialize in doing this, they are called riggers and they can be found in the yellow pages. They'll send three gorillas and a skinny guy who will do all the lifting but make the job look simple. It will take them ten minutes and won't cost much if they don't have to travel too far to get to your shop.
If riggers aren't available in your area, try calling a few of your local moving companies, moving your planer is a cinch compared to moving a piano up a flight of stairs.
I have seen and heard of numerous disasters from amateur's moving heavy equipment. Things can go wrong in ways that an inexperienced person wouldn't even think of, until it is all over, and it will be over in the blink of an eye. Don't hire two local guys with an old pick up truck that will move anything for beer money. You want pros with insurance and the right equipment.
If you go the do-it-yourself route don't use rollers on the stair, you need the friction to keep things under control. Drag it up well secured planks with a heavy come along in good condition. A common mistake is having the anchor point at the hoist end tear loose or having the stair break or come loose at the top.
The cardinal rule is that no one should ever be below or downhill the machine. If you can't stick to this rule don't even start. The second rule is if you start to lose the machine just let it go, if you grab it you'll just go with it, you can't beat gravity.
Good luck, John White
DSmith84,
I saw this post this morning and was going to suggest a solution but in the middle of typing I thought better of it. I as well as many others here would hate like heck to suggest something and then read about how someone got hurt or worse performing this operation.
I would do this operation myself but certainly do not feel qualified or comfortable telling you how to do it.
Seek professional help. Look in the phone book under Riggers or Moving/Movers. What they will charge you will be small price to pay in return for their expertise, license, bond and insurance.
Best of luck with it; be safe!!
Mack
"WISH IN ONE HAND, S--T IN THE OTHER AND SEE WHICH FILLS UP FIRST"
I have a friend who does trucking for small loggers and has a crane mounted on the truck; 10 wheeler straight job. Just the ticket for ya, as JohnWW says. Do you happen to know one?
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
I don't know anyone with any kind of crane or "cherry-picker"...that was my first thought also. At this point I beginging to accept that the cheapest way to get this done without turning the machine into a pile of nuts and bolts will be to get some gorilla friends over and muscle it up there. I like the idea of using some kind of ramps, like maybe 2, 2X6 planks and slidding it. We thought of loading it on a dolly and pulling/pushing it up, but when your the guy standing under the 600+ pounds, I'm sure it will not seem like the best idea! Thanks for all your ideas everyone!!
DSmith
there are companies called taxi cranes who for a modest price will pick that unit up and deposit it on the second floor deck.. looks to be a 15 minute task once railing is temp removed..
Look in yellow pages under crane service. have them do it on a return trip, be far less expensive..
Or find someone with a front end loader, roll it out the door into the scoop raise it up and roll it onto second floor.
want more details?
Don't try to slide as you suggest.. 2x6's that long will snap like twigs..
I just moved a Grizzly 20" with an extra moter up a ramp.
I used a ropes, pulleys, and 2 pry bars. No rollers or pipes till it was on level ground.
Looking at your picture, I'm not sure you have the turning room to ramp it up. Or even the strength on the steps to carry it with a few strong guys.
Best bet is a lift for your situation.
Jeff
Sardog feel's my pain! Did you remove the top section of the machine from the mobile base and motor? I did and I swear it only made a slight difference. I'm actually wondering now if (as mentioned above) the steps will handle this much weight. Just my luck. I can finally get some decent tools and they are to darn heavy to get into my shop. :)
I kept the entire unit together.
I try not to disassemble a machine unless it's a necessity.
My Grizzly came with 2 motors and a Byrd Shilex head. The weight was closer to 1000 lbs.
It took 3 of us to push it up a ramp into a pick-up truck. But a dead weight lift is a whole different story.
I also had to move a 2000 lb jointer and we did it with just the 2 of us. The grizzly planer was moved out of the truck and into the shop with the 2 of us again.
It's all about leverage, wheels (or pipe as wheels), rope and pulleys, etc.
I could move it up your steps, even at the 45 angle, but I know what I'm doing (I have had to move people in emergencies for the past 30 years, but have had alot of training.) (PS: I also run Search Dogs, hence the name.)
You need to measure your door, as you'll need at least a 32" opening to get the Grizzly thru sideways.
I'm a bit leary (sp?) about the stairs and anchor points for ropes (come-a-long, etc.)
I had to do a dead weight lift by rope and pulley attached to a ceiling. We ended up bracing the ceiling joists as the attachment point. It was more work bracing then the actual lift.
You would need to lay plywood on the stairs (screwed down to prevent movement), I'd use 2 layers of 3/4" plywood. Then add at least 1 mid span support, better off with 2 each at 1/3 rd the way up. Brace up the landing also.
Cut a plywood template of the overall size of the jointer and see if it will turn into the shop and get past the rails and such.
No rollers on the jointer as you will need friction to stop it from sliding back.
Then a proper rope system to pull it up. Most come-a-longs don't have a long cable for this job.
Another thought to ponder. If this is above a garage (and you know your floor will be strong enough to hold the planer), how about building a trap door in the floor/ceiling and use a straight lift. You could brace a pipe to the roof rafters, and add a small Warn winch (like the type on a truck).
I've seen photos of a fellow who gets his tools, materials, and projects in and out of his 2nd floor shop using this technique. I use this technique to lift heavy stuff out of the pick-up truck all the time.
Finally, I know how you feel. My shop is way to small for all the heavy tools I have in it. I'm at the breaking point, so no more large tools for me (yeah, right!)
Feel free to ask more questions.
Jeff
Here's where I'm at with the disassembly process. It doesn't look like much, but the top part alone is at least 600 lbs.
Getting it upstairs can be done. But that doesn't really matter if it falls through the floor :( I know it's nice having 20" capacity in a planer. Could you live with a smaller one? If you decide to go for it, get some pros.
Paul
I hate to give up this planer just because I cant get it up there. There is a double plated, 2x6 support wall on the first floor that runs down the middle of the floor perpendicular to the floor joists. I will be positioning the planer over it, so I anticipate the floor being able to handle the weight.
Look you are down to maybe 600 lbs. for the heavy part (likely you are a bit over on this estimate anyway). When I used to work in a scrapyard I figured that I could handle iron up to 300 lbs. by hand heavier stuff I needed machinery for and, because I had scales and weighed items constantly, my weight estimates were VERY accurate. I was no piano mover then! Two of those guys will carry it right in and hardly break a sweat! The stair will handle it and so will the landing. Are you thinking that five people standing on that landing would bring it down? I rather doubt it! I move 1,500 pound animals all the time in my horse trailer with 2x8 floor planks. They are oak but they span 40" and I'll load two 1,500 pound critters in there and never break a sweat about them falling through. Here in Jefferson county MO we have guys who could tuck it under an arm and trundle up there while you were still gasping about it. I'm not one of them but I have seen them... I swear to you Bluto lives and he's bigger than they show him in the movies!
Except for the forearms and the spinach allergy I am built more like Popeye, myself.
Big Foot
I know what you mean about strength.
When I went to collage (1970) I had just spent 4 years on a swimming team and was solid muscle.
Yet when I was moving a loaded trunk up the stairs, I was literally dragging it.
A guy came along and asked if I needed some help, I said yes.
He then proceeded to pick up the trunk, throw it on his shoulder and walked up the stairs himself like it was nothing (he was no bigger then me.)
I asked him how and he said he was a stevadore on the docks during the summer, and moved huge pieces himself. He said the trunk was easy!!
Needless to say, I learned a few lessons on strenth that day.
That said, I still don't trust those steps.
Jeff
Perhaps I'm just the wrong guy for the job but I would much rather try to find a safe and sensible way to move this thing than find out in the middle of the move that either my moving buddies or the steps weren't strong enough.
That being said, I thank all of you for your ideas and opinions. I will post an update after our attempt this weekend. WISH US LUCK! Thanks again.
Take that railing off.
Call your local lumber yard and see how much
they are going to charge to drive their boom truck over and
pick the darn thing up and ( this is the important part)
place it inside that door. Do not try and carry that saw up those stairs.
Some suggested earlier to put an access inside and bring the machine up through the floor.
If you are going to plane big wood, you are going to need safe effective approach to getting your raw material into the shop later on.
Everything you want to bring in to the shop has to be carried up those stairs and swung around to make the 90 at the top. Don
Don, I agree this is the best idea for the long run, but i'm just getting in now and I hate to rip apart the floor and start that project if I can avoid it. Believe it or not, we have actually been able to load all of my lumber stock in the shop already (8 foot being the longest). They just hang out over the railing when making the swing.
I saw a video, I think it was on Fine Woodworking, where a gentlemen had a trap door and a motorized winch to help with lifting. That would ultimately me the best way for me to get things done, not just now, but for whatever needs to come or go in the future.
It's very likely you can find a local equipment operator who has a SkyTrak forklift. We have one here in a town of just over 2,000 people. I had my local guy reach in a pick up a milling machine loaded in the front of a tractor trailer and then set it quite a distance inside a garage door. It might cost $50 but just replacing those stairs after a collapse will cost more even if no one gets hurt.
lwilliams
Skytrack is far from the most common name for a telehandler (the actual correct name) Lull is the most common name Gradeall next and Ingersol Rand, Cat,Pettibone, Gehl, are other relatively common names.. Now days many brands are either made by or owned by JLG.
Here is something to think about. I have a two storied shop myself but I installed a 3 1/2' X 4' trap door to the upstairs for future "elevator" but for now it makes it easy to shove lumber up there for storage. It wouldn't be too difficult to crib your way up with the weights you have now. And you would enjoy the trap door.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Edited 4/4/2008 7:57 pm ET by BruceS
Again I question the stair stringers, you essentially have 2- 2x6 strength wise. Also is the upper deck attached with a ledger or are those joists cantilevered? Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Those had better be cantilevered joists--there's no outboard support at all.
I think the upper landing is strong enough. The stairs I have no confidence in.
-Steve
I saw that too, scary eh. I would use a crane or make it pieces parts. My budget would say pieces parts.Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
From what I can tell, the top landing of the staircase is supported by extensions of the actual floor joists. I anticipate that they will hold. The steps, on the otherhand, are whats giving me some worry. As you can see, the mid support (4x4) on the stringer is attached to the steps with fasteners (likely deck screws) and not dadoed or structurally joined to the stringer in any way. Therefore, when I reach mid point on the steps, the entire weight will be onwhatever fasteners are used to secure the 4x4 to the stringer. Even if there is a slight amount of flex in the stringers, the fasteners will likely break leaving the stringers to support the whole load. If it was just the 600 pounds of the planer I might get away with it, but if I have four large men on the steps with it, I think it will fail.
I saw one of these electronic hand trucks at my local plumbing supply store. They get used a lot to move furnaces. Check out the video in the attached link.
http://www.powermate.info/handtruck.htm
Perhaps you can find a place to rent one.
Just a thought. Good luck.
Boy that would be a great product to have around! Thanks for the link. I think that would do the trick. I will be on the phone with local rental shops to see if anyone has one of these yet. They must be fairly new so keep your fingers crossed. Thanks again.
I love how they use Starwars music lol
There's enough youth in this world, how 'bout a fountain of SMART??!!
Wow, I was telling hubby-the-engineer about this, he was intrigued. First question, and I think others have asked it, is "will the second floor hold that kind of concentrated weight? The we saw the picture of the stairs and landing. Will that hold the weight plus a couple/three guys standing nearby????
Here's how NOT to do it.
Works for me as long as both lifts are within their capacities. The guys standing on the load aren't being smart, but that would be true in any lift.John W.
Edited 4/4/2008 4:02 pm ET by JohnWW
Last week, I saw some guys in Guatemala doing something analogous with a ladder. They were working on a billboard. They had apparently used an extension ladder to get up to the bottom level of the billboard, then attached some ropes to the ladder and hoisted it up to the top of the billboard. When we drove by, a guy was standing on the top step, with the bottom of the ladder several feet off the ground. Talk about lifting yourself up by your own bootstraps....
-Steve
You might want to call a safe company. I had one move a safe upstairs. One guy and a motorized hand truck. The guy stood up hill and used a remote to walk it up the stairs.
Len
I think I would use a sled and a winch.
Hey everyone! Good News! It's IN......and nobody got hurt and nothing broke. I'm not sure if anyone really cares, but since this was my first post, I thought that tell you that it we got it up there by hiring three large men (not professional movers) and putting it on a dolly. It went up slowly and I held my breath a few times but aside from being heavy (even for them) it went in one step at a time.
Thanks again for all your suggestions.....I really appreciated the response.
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