How to Move a Bridgeport Milling Machine
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- Today I'm moving my Bridgeport vertical milling machine out of my shop in Syracuse, NY, and I'm taking it all the way to New York City. Follow along as I show the process I use for moving heavy machine tools like mills and lathes.
First, I lift up the mill to build a pallet underneath it. Then, I slide a pallet jack under the mill, and I pull it onto a trailer. I like the drop-deck trailer I show in the video. Then I also use a come-along tool to pull the Bridgeport onto the trailer. Then I just strap it down with ratchet straps.
Warning: Moving a milling machine on your own is dangerous, serious work. In this video, I show my process for doing it. But I make no claim that it's safe to do this yourself.
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My father used to have a home machine business on the side. I grew up standing in front of the mill and lathe. Mostly the mill. Learned alot and it was a great childhood. Moved away, he got sick-nowhere to store everything and the end was near. A guy I work with-his father...(125 miles away) from dad bought the machines. He is older now and is moving to Florida. I am buying back the old machinery. Crazy story. I have nothing to move it with and have been racking my brain. This video has helped. Much appreciated.
My dad also had a machine shop, half a dozen bridgeports etc etc.. I've been moving these things I was 7 or 8 years old, we would roll them on pipes cuz we didn't have a pallet jack, no big deal
Thank you very much sir, I successfully moved my new Bridgeport Mill, (new to me, 70's model) I followed your advice rented the same trailer from Sun Belt rentals. Got her home safe, thank you for the video... It really helped!!!
Old vid, but might help someone who comes across this. You can make it a whole lot safer by rotating the head 180*. Helps immensely with the center of gravity. No need to remove motor.
Tilting the head sideways lowers the center of mass a lot and make it more stable during the drive.
Moving the head (with motor) through 180 Deg is best
Easy. you just need a great big hydraulic trailer XD
Thanks for the great info! Bought and moved my first mill today using your tips and it worked awesome!
This is exactly how I moved mine. Pallet jack and same trailer. Worked like a charm!!!
Worst way to move a milling machine you need to put the head upside down lock the table with a pic of wood between the spindle and the table never ever bend downd infort of the machine it can come down right on you allways use an electric winch
Great video, I just scored a Bridgeport from my work and I was wondering how to move it. This info was perfect !! It should make the job much easier.
That's the wrong way to hook up a comealong ,never put that hook over the cable
Use another chain to go around that big thick casting
If you use steel angle, beam or box tubing instead of wood for the two base pieces you can make two lengths of channel/box/pipe with a vertical tube on each end to take scaffolding casters or weld plates with holes to bolt (don't weld them) on plate mount caster. These "outriggers" should be about the track width of a common car or pickup. How you bolt the outriggers to your base is up to you but I ran mine a few inches high so tightening the nuts on the industrial allthread I used raises the machine base off the floor until the base and ouriggers bottom out. No forklift needed, dead stable and easy to winch anywhere you care to go. Place sections of old mobile home frame etc and it will even roll across dirt.
I watched this video before I moved my new used BP mill on March 15, 2020, I used the very same trailer it may have the very same one from Sunbelt Rentals, to make a long story short, one of the front wheel bearings locked up and the wheel stops turning, smoking the tire completely off the rim, and attracting the Ohio State Police. The officer suggested I get a wrecker to lift the mill off the trailer so I could remove what was left of the rim and put the spare tire on. The Wrecker arrived, the attendant said he's has had this same situation many times in the past, and he has an easy fix for it if I agree. He remarked; I don't know why you guys don't just call us first and save yourself all of this trouble, he said I'll deliver the mill to my shop for additional $100 bucks still 75 miles away, I agreed. He turned the ram to 90 degrees on the BP mill, picked the mill off the trailer with his boom, set the mill base on a short platform that sticks out of the back of his rig, secured it down, and away he went. The Bridgeport hanging on the hook. I took the trailer back to Sunbelt Rental, they refunded all of my money around $200 for 2 days since I figured I would be hard-pressed to do the turnaround in 1 day. I suggest he's was right just call a wrecker in the first place. When the move was complete I came out $20 bucks a head having spent $185 and Sunbelt refunding $205., to move my mill 110 miles! Oh, one other thing with the attendant I failed to mention I had to agree to give a good price on any parts he may need to have machined on that mill. All-in-all it was quite an experience!
Could you provide the dimensions of your pallet please, widths heights how far apart are the square tubes? How long are the 4x4s? Need the dimensions desperately to build your pallet have only a couple days to get several mills moved
Ok. Sure. Machine skates are preferred to a pallet jack because of stability. And they’re cheap. The correct way to move these beauties is hoisting them by a strap on each side of the ram.
get a pair of axle straps, you'll damage the come along cable where you choke it
used this technique twice! rented same exact serial number trailer from Sunbelt in Syracuse :)
Fantastic "how to move a mill" video. I moved my Bridgeport and other shop equipment with similar techniques. Thank you for the pointers! I saved a bunch of money moving my own equipment.
Great info tilting head great insight one last thing I probably would of put come-along to pallet jack instead of on mill
I love you for making this video
Your license plate is in the video. You should blur that
Why? I see so many people blur out license plate in photos and videos, yet you can literally go anywhere and read a license plate off of a car/truck.
@@neilhoffman6764 people can run plates to help pin point a location
In UK each line of thread in the strap = 1 tonne. There fore the first strap you have would be a 2 tonne strap in the UK. I would assume it would be similar where you live. Just looking in to buying a similar Bridgeport at the moment. Motor on top and DRO to worry about. Deciding factor will be the transport cost. Good vid M 😀
Great way to pick it up.and easily move it. What size steel tubing did you use? I need to build one.
same boat. I've seen folks sell jigs that comprise of 1" x 2.5" solid steel. I'm also curious to know what size rectangle tubing was used.
Why wouldn't you tilt the head to horizontal? Lower center of gravity, less height
Not a bad way to go, but I didn’t feel it was necessary. The base I have really makes it a lot more stable and tipping the head means re-tramming it again later.
You also risk stripping the worm gear by rotating the head...
The rental of a forklift or skid-steer (with lift ratings for the equipment) makes this SO MUCH EASIER. I've done this with pallet jacks, and I've done this with forklifts...go with the forklift every time. Generally speaking, be aware of your CG when towing. If you can rotate the head down and lock it in place to lower the CG of the load, do it. I saw a Bridgeport teetering on a trailer once because they didn't lower the CG, and they had 3 straps on the thing. Straps also come loose unfortunately..which is why every trucker I know straps a load and then pulls over after a while and re-ratchets the load.
What was the sizes of the steel square tube you used? How is it attached to the base of the Mill? Did you make the feet levelers or buy them? Thanks
In my case I used 2x4" steel square tube. 1/4" wall I think. They're way overkill but it's what was handy. I bought the leveling feet from MSC Direct and turned some parts on my lathe to go with them. There are 1000 ways to do it, you just have to use common sense and what you have to work with.
@@cobraframebuilding Is the tubing attached to the mill or is it just sitting on it? Thanks
I bought a Taiwanese knockoff of one of those in Auckland, NZ, only had my one ton van to move it about 250 km to where I live. The auction staff sat around watching me dismantle the thing, and load it into the van. On mine, the rectangular base and vertical column are actually 2 castings bolted together, with a lot of filler covering the join to give the impression of one big casting. I anticipated having to make 2 trips, but moved it in one. Very simple move.
I have my heavy machines permanently mounted onto custom made pallets made out of railroad sleepers so when I want to move them I just pick them up with my pallet jack. So safe and easy I can move them out on my own for cleaning and maintenance and as they only have to clear the floor by a couple of millimeters there’s no chance they can tip over. Cheers Stuart 🇦🇺
Thanks for the video. I just bought a new house with a huge pole barn and room for all the tools I could want. 30 minutes away in Euclid Ohio there’s a big used machinery marketplace and I’ve been looking for ways to safely move some of it on my own.
Milling things has a long time-lapse of use in my opinion. When the need comes up and you don't have it is when you just sit down with your coffee and head down.
Damn I really wanna see the prequel, where you got it from the floor to the standoff boards.
My dad had a machine shop, started it in the basement of his home.. I've been moving these things since I was 7 or 8 years old, we would just roll them on pipes as we didn't have a pallet jack, no big deal..
Well done on the 2 timber outrigger,moved lots of them,not easy,so I can see that you are using a safe approach,sometimes we have to work with what's available nice and easy is the best approach to this task and one person in charge.well done.
I made this base for my new enco. Most of the time was spent hand drilling the holes in the 1 inch steel.
Actually moving it into the scissor trailer took all of 5 minutes.
This pallet idea is genius.
Nice job... I had my BP delivered on a curtain sided lorry with a tail lift. quite scary as it was about 5' off the ground and the whole thing wobbled as he lowered the hydrualics
Thanks for making this video. When you got the mill onto the trailer, did you lower the pallet jack down? It looks like you left it raised which would greatly reduce the friction between the mill base and the trailer - meaning that your straps have to do all the work of keeping it in place. I think it would be much better to lower it so that the pallet makes full contact with the trailer bed.
great tip for moving been my biggest drawback to buying a Bridgeport
I've moved a lot of machinery and I always tie it down in a way so it can't tip. Either by wrapping the strap around a few times or by using two straps connecting to one point on top. I also wrap them with stretchy plastic. Best of luck!
Can you post plans for your pallet?
How did you drill the holes in the rectangle tube to mount the mill?
What I would give for one of these awesome old machines. Not too many here in Australia.
next time, daisy-chain the excess strap (a series of slipknots)
The truck is a manual too. That is sweet!
This is the way of the Jedi...
I believe in Boshield T9 also.
Thanks for sharing.
Why did you sell you bp?
You are a life saver sir!
Excellent!
Nice one!
Good stuff. I moved my Bridgeport and my K&T and put them both on rail road ties by myself following similar methodology. You do need be careful (good disclaimer) as these things are so heavy that they are unforgiving. Thanks for sharing this.