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Tips for moving a lathe around on skates

That's a neat set-up!

Gotta disagree with him on the pallet jack taking up a bunch of shop space though. Mine tucks under the end of a bench, and, while the handle still sticks out, it's not really hard to work around, even if I do need to work where it is stored. Maybe half a square foot, more than his rolly cart with all his parts on, does.

Another advantage of a Pallet jack, is that you can plan around having it when you need it. My workbenches, are all set up to be moved by the pallet jack, as are the multi-drawer cabinets that I have. I actually built the benches, from the perspective that I could use them as side loading crates, to pack up and move my stuff, if so needed, and be able to wheel them right up onto a flat deck trailer backed up to the door...
 
I hate using skates on smaller machine, seen both a lathe and mill topple (each in 3 skates). At home I move knee mills and grinders with a pallet jack. Most lathes I like using a pallet jack on one end and a skate on the other. I use pipe if the machine is too heavy for a pallet jack. With a pinch bar, some shims, pipe, and a sledge to turn the pipes, there is little you can’t move.

I think skates VS rollers isn't usually a win for rollers.

skates do fine under lighter machines if you employ them correctly. Rolling on roundbar is fine if you can wind all the jacking screws up. But, by the time you do that I'd already have it on skates and the move would be over. Roundbar doesn't make turns so well either. Not like skates anyway.

I cut up a handful of sticks of 9/16" CRS into 3ft pieces for a rigging job I did years ago. I've used them a few times and machines roll very easily on them. You don't need 1" round or pipe to roll a machine.

I spose it's easy to say you don't like using skates under a littler machine and would prefer something else like bars, but having done many hundreds of moves using every kind of rigging equipment I don't think bars have any advantage over skates.

If you tip a machine on skates you're doing something wrong. Plain and simple. Most people don't do this stuff every day so take your time, think it through and if it doesn't roll easy or a skate is wiggly stop and figure out what's wrong before you wreck stuff.

There's some real easy, dirt simple tricks to setting your skates right under a machine.

On a manual lathe, Jack the headstock end first. Set your jack where it lifts the entire headstock end evenly- The fore-aft center of mass is here. Set two skates under that end. Jack tailstock end. Now set single skate under tailstock end near that fore-aft center of mass position where you balanced the lathe on the jack. If the center of mass was near the extreme front or rear of the lathe, then you need to shift the tailstock skate that direction an appropriate amount so the 3rd skate shares the load. Takes a tiny bit of thought to do this. You can't jack where the skate goes. Do it like this and you can't drop a machine by accident. You'd have to try.
 
I hate using skates on smaller machine, seen both a lathe and mill topple (each in 3 skates). At home I move knee mills and grinders with a pallet jack. Most lathes I like using a pallet jack on one end and a skate on the other. I use pipe if the machine is too heavy for a pallet jack. With a pinch bar, some shims, pipe, and a sledge to turn the pipes, there is little you can’t move.
This. A stout pallet jack and skates are a good combination. Just make sure to load the pallet jack evenly and on center with the forks or you will twist it (ask me how I know). The pallet jack is also useful in other ways. I recently bought a lathe with sheet metal overhanging everywhere so that a toe jack couldn't get in and lift it off the skates and my forklift doesnt fit in the shop. I ended up using the pallet jack and some 4x4's to lift from the center to get the skates out.
 
I use a trolly type car jack for my small 12x36 . The feet never see more than a crack of clearance. 1/2 pipe rollers on mills grinders and big drill presses. Belt roller skates on my 21x120 with a little plywood between, the wood helps make them sticky. On the small lathe you will need to block firmly between bed and pan. For the next time you move it.
 
Yep pipe rollers for some things - carefully.
Pallet jacks - yep handy for some jobs.
I try to place the heaviest stuff closer to the door, so can use the tele without risking bad shit happening with the boom out too much.

Hav hired a conventional fork and tele before. Rates wernt too nasty. But always wise of course having as much as possible pre org in shop, to minimise the hire time. Of course hard to beat the fork for tight spots.

But once u get stuff outside. with the trouble I had in 22 with all the extra rain we had here turning the yard into a bog. Fork just wasnt gunna cut it. Just bit the bullet and damn well bought a tele.
 
Moving a lathe with a HiLow remember the steel on steel is like skates on ice. so with forks horizontal and up brake hard the machine/whatever can go flying off the end.
On a truck lift the opening of the down valve too fast can have a machine fast traveling to crash at the bottom.
 
Moving a lathe with a HiLow remember the steel on steel is like skates on ice. so with forks horizontal and up brake hard the machine/whatever can go flying off the end.
On a truck lift the opening of the down valve too fast can have a machine fast traveling to crash at the bottom.

It's good practice to put wood between forks and machine.
 
People that have never used a pallet jack can surely tip a lathe over. The only machine I tipped over was a small Clausing lathe. When I went to pick it up it was pushed hard against a wall tucked between two other larger pieces of equipment. I had skates and a pallet jack and floor jack. I managed to get the pallet jack under the head stock but it was all the way against the steering wheel guard. Always have the weight on a pallet jack biased on the trailing wheels because if it is biased on the steering wheel and you pull with the handle at a right angle there is a good chance the lathe will tip enough to spit the jack out.
This doesn't happen when moving pallets(which is what they were designed for).
I knew that but by my self I only needed to get it off the wall and out into open space and the reposition. Which worked being careful until I moved 180 around and bumped it to get over a small floor hump. One of those moments that as I was going through the motions self says DON'T DO THAT! Self was a little slow warning as the jack spit out and tipped the lathe .

I tapped our skate top plates so as to bolt them to machines also a connector bar to hold the trailing skates parallel. Some skates have locks for the swivel plates. Bolted,locked and connected you will not lose a skate.

I have used my old Lincoln long frame 4 ton jack to move and position a few lathes lifting at the balance point as long as you only lift 1/4" or so.

I also have some 4" heavy wall sq tubes 6' long that I bolt cross ways to some machines that I then bolt to my trailer, can't tip. With straps the machine isn't going any where. When off the trailer I use skates on tube ends and pallet jack if necessary to get into position before I remove them.
 
A similar product to what Richard King suggested are called Roll-a-lift. I own three sets of these and have moved dozens of lathes with them. Sun Belt rentals have these in their rental fleet.
If roll-a-lifts we’re not available to me I would move the lathe with pipe rollers. to do this I use two lengths of heavy angle that can span both pedestals one on each side. Use two heavy ratcheting straps to tie the angles to the lathe . You can then use the full length of the lathe for the pipe rollers. although I own several sets of skates I tend to shy away from skates to move lathes because they raise the machine far higher then is needed and as you have discovered the possibility of a skate coming out is high.
 
I have killed a lathe moving it on skates, so this is a particularly personal topic for me. One, if you use skates, or anything similar, I always suggest using some sort of strap to keep it secured to the machine....one pebble you didn't see, in the wrong place when you happen to be pushing hard and it's game over.

When I brought my Clausing 6913 home I went with a combination of an idea I saw on YouTube (think it was OxTool) and my own. I made a saddle out of two decent size wheels, two pieces of angle iron and a length of square tubing. Weld the wheels to the angle iron, weld the tubing to the bottom of the angle iron and set the headstock end on the angle iron pieces. I then used a skate (actually one for snow plows) with a strap from the chip tray under the skate, back to the chip tray on the other side, for the tailstock end of the lathe.

That lathe is still partially disassembled, and I've moved it a number of times....barely takes more than one hand to push and it's rock solid. I forgot to take a picture of the saddle before I set the lathe on it, but I think you'll get the idea:

IMG_0557.jpg
 
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A similar product to what Richard King suggested are called Roll-a-lift. I own three sets of these and have moved dozens of lathes with them. Sun Belt rentals have these in their rental fleet.
If roll-a-lifts we’re not available to me I would move the lathe with pipe rollers. to do this I use two lengths of heavy angle that can span both pedestals one on each side. Use two heavy ratcheting straps to tie the angles to the lathe . You can then use the full length of the lathe for the pipe rollers. although I own several sets of skates I tend to shy away from skates to move lathes because they raise the machine far higher then is needed and as you have discovered the possibility of a skate coming out is high.
Yep, I don’t like moving small centre lathes on skates. The top heaviness is always a problem. Bigger lathes aren’t so much of an issue.

Regards Tyrone
 
My building is tight. Usually have to move a machine 10’ or turn them around a corner before I can grab it with the forklift. I’m always on pipes with a 4’-5’ breaker bar. Goes quick and can turn them on a dime.

I always grab lathes over the top when using a forklift. I have 2”x4”x30” solid bar I use to bolt the forks together. I tapped a couple 1” & 3/4” holes in it for swivel bolts and clevises. I slide it up and down the forks and use it as a poor man’s jib boom.
 








 
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