Moving heavy machinery, new workshop

[Escudo]

I am mulling over the position, in the garden, of a new workshop.

I have a plan to head for the top of the garden, 60 metres from the road and up a pretty steep slope with some steps.

Here are some pictures;

View from the road up the path, steps toward the gate and back garden

Through the gate and a view up the back garden access up the grassy slope.

Past the wildlife in these here parts :lol:

A dog left turn at the top of the slope, through some shrubs

To the steps which lead to the potential location, where the existing summer house is found.

Here is a view from the summerhouse over the town and out to sea.

The summer house is going to be moved, the children use this quite a lot and bringing it down to the lower level near the lawn is a good plan.

The area for the workshop will be about 5m2.

I am wondering about moving machinery up to this location, there is no access for lifting gear. What options exist to tackle this issue? Can machines be dismantled and moved in pieces? How big a job is this?

I already have power to this spot and can pump concrete up there for the base.

I need to be sure that I can move machinery to the new workshop, thoughts and comments much appreciated.

Cheers, Tony.

 

[Night Train]

That will be a difficult route to move a lot of equipment. How much and what sort of stuff are you thinking of moving?

I keep a large amount of assorted equipment for moving stuff about and for something similar I would be tempted to board and ramp a route and then winch machines up on large trollies or sleds depending on stability.

For getting heavy machines up short flights of stairs I have used the ages old method of 'jack and pack' to bring it up to the higher level and then winch across on runners.

Another method I've used is to have a ramp to start the process and then raise the low end of the ramp to level once the machine is all the way on it before winching it along.

All this can be dangerous and risky if you don't know what you are doing though.
I always use a number of winches together so I can control the direction of pull, stability of top heavy machines and have a safety winch if the pulling winch fails. I also keep an eye out for where the machine can fall if it is going to and make sure no one stands down slope of it.

My Mum is a pain for thinking she can stand between a heavy moving object and a wall to keep the wall safe. She did that once when I was relocating a skip and it was getting close to my new stone wall. She dived in the gap to 'hold back the skip' nearly giving me a heart attack in the process.

Also you need one person in charge and no one does anything except what they are told to do and every one must have the power to shout 'STOP!' if they feel they need to.

 

[The Shark]

Hi Tony,
I can't help you with your question, but I would like to say what a nice looking garden you have

Malc

 

[head clansman]

Hi

it's not just machinery to consider , all materials to build has to go up there as well as all materials that you will use when it built has to travel up there , as age come on do you really want to hump all that back and forth.hc

 

[wizer]

How much is crane hire for a day?

 

[SVB]

Wizer,

that was what I was thinking but looking at the photos I don't think it is an option as it is too far to reach from the road. (Add to that with modern regs you are not hiring a crane but buying a lift c/w banksman etc so it is v.expensive).

One thought - is there any possibility of coming at it from an adjoining property (from the rear would presumably be down hill!) and removing a section of fence?

Best of luck
Simon

PS - Very nice garden - looks like you put a lot of thought and work into designing and building it.

 

[Boz62]

In the past I've used ply/OSB sheets to temporarily "surface" a lawn then used steel conduit pipes to act as rollers under a heavy item (or ply sheet with item on top), moving pipes back to front as they are uncovered. Think moving Stonehenge stones with logs . For a slope add a winch and wedges behind for security. Bends are OK with a little thought. Steps may be another matter...

Good luck
Boz

 

[OLD]

I think you should consider a winch with adaptations to secure it to fixed objects along the route. I use to use one to pull cars onto trailers they are easy to use . There is also a type of winch called a turfor i think, hire shops have them very strong just pull a handle through 30 degrees works in both directions

 

[matt]

Perhaps you need a Bat Cave instead? Tunnel in from the road and a lift up to the house :lol:

Sorry, not very helpful.

What do you anticipate being the largest/heaviest piece of equipment you're going to need to move?

 

[Chems]

This is what you need:

And this is the link to hire it:

http://www.palamatic.com/materials/tracko-hire.php

£250 a day but can't see any other way your going to do it.

 

[Escudo]

Thanks for the replies fellas,

I knew that this matter, not to mention the job of building the workshop in such a difficult location would be challenging.

Martin, has a point regarding the long term issues of the workshop at the top of a hill, this has been on my mind. Although, the view is great, and I am far enough away not to annoy any neighbours, I also don't really have any other options. I suspect and hope it will be twenty years before the garden, and climb becomes too much to bear.

Regarding machinery three items come to mind, my bandsaw which weighs about 150 kg. This machine is not to bad to move by removing the table and then four fellas can easily carry this.

I have my eye on a bigger P/T (The jet jpt310 or hammmer C3-31 model) these get up to 250kg+ I seem to remember and are not so easy to man handle.

I do not have a table saw but suspect that one of these will be 200 kg+

I have not ruled out a big felder combination machine but that would be massive and very heavy also very expensive.

I thought the best option would be dismantle and reassemble perhaps with the help of the manufacturer. Whilst there might be a cost here, at least my machines would be perfectly set up after the move.

Access from nearby properties is just as tricky as all my neighbours are in the same boat.

Keep the ideas coming. Thankyou Simon and Malc, the garden is pretty well established now after a lot of hard work by my dear wife over the last ten years.

Regards, Tony.

 

[Escudo]

Good shout chems, Track-o motorised stair mover, description looks to fit the bill. Thanks for the idea.

Tony.

 

[wizer]

I'm not sure if it isn't worth getting together as many bodies as possible on a certain day and just carry it all up there. Yes, I know that's odd coming from me. But if your trying to muck about with pulleys on your own, one slip and there goes either a disc or a lot of money (or both).

 

[promhandicam]

You aren't going to get much machinery into a workshop that is only 5m2 - or do you mean 5m x 5m ie 25m2? Are you going to do the construction yourself or get a firm in? A couple of labourers should be able to move the things you have I'd have thought - most machinery comes apart into fairly manageable pieces - as you have said with the bandsaw.

Steve

 

[Escudo]

Steve, your right 25m2 not 5m2 (silly billy - ).

I am thinking of building the workshop myself with the help of one or two chums, a carpenter and my mates civils firm for the groundworks base.

I also thought that dismantling the machines would be the best idea. The Track-o machine looks very interesting.

Tony.

 

[Chems]

£250 isn't a bad one off price if you could get it all done in a day. It shows on the offical site it can move across snow inclines etc so it should do fine up your garden and those steps. Maybe some ply boards to protect the grass from the tracks?

 

[Night Train]

For anchoring winches I use a tree strop around well placed trees and lengths of 25mm diameter rope to get the anchoring point where I want it.

If there are no suitable trees then a ground anchor is fairly easy to set up. Get some steel spikes, pipe or poles and hammer the first in the ground at an angle away from the pull like a tent peg. The winch will anchor to the base of that spike. Bang in a matching spike behind the first and then tie the top of the first spike to the base of the second spike. Then add another spike and tie as before. This gives you an arrangement of spikes and ties in a saw tooth fashion. Use as many as needed to resist the pull on the winch. For the sort of loads you are looking at then fencing stakes or even conduit or, better, half inch gas pipe should be sufficient, the quantity depends on the condition of the ground.

For winches, the cheap ratchet, 'come along' type rated at 250kg or 500kg SWL for lifting would be more then enough. I have pulled 7.5 tons of AEC Matador timber tractor up a gentle slope with one on a single line pull.

To make a sled you can use a sheet of 18mm ply with battens to hold the foot print of the machine and to allow it to be tied down. A couple of holes in the sheet at the front end, but not too close to the edge, will allow a rope bridle or two winches to be attached for pulling and steering the sled.
If the machine is heavy and has a small footprint then the ply sheet may need some full length battens fixing to it to add rigidity. The sheet can then be bowed a little to make it more sled like at the leading edge.

 

[Ironballs]

I would suggest you get in touch with a local man with van/gang of lads type outfit. 250 kilos is a big weight and will take several people to shift and maintain control/safety. Plus it will then be them poking their hernias back in and not you

 

[Chippyjoe]

Hi Tony,

just to let you know that the Hammer C3-31 weighs about 540 kg's :shock: so you might want to have a think about that one,although if you have one spec built they do make them to come apart for delivery purposes.

The jet P/T you mentioned weighs about 230kg's so not so bad,but as you are probably aware it is an absolute no no to lift these by the tables so that presents a bit of a problem with the situation you have.

I personally wouldn't let any of that put me off,as with views like that it is crying out to be built!!! Build it then worry about getting the machinery in,a team of helpers,barbeque, and a few tinnies and you are away.

Good luck if you do go for it.

Mark.

 

[Mooeee]

You say that the new workshop will be 5m2 which isn't that big if you are thinking of a Felder combination machine, Have you seen one of these machines they take up so much room.

I went to the Felder open day in Milton Keynes a few months ago and was supprised at the footprint of their machines, in fact I can say that you would not get a combination machine into your workshop, well you could get it into your shop but not be able to use it.

If your shop is even 5 metres X 5 metres you will struggle with this machine let alone have other woodworking machinery in there.

Just the bed travel must be over five metres from start to finish as the beds can be over 2 metres long and then you have to put what your cutting on it. If you are cross cutting then the width of these machines must be more than 4 metres wide not including what you are even cutting.

Get Felder to send you their free dvd on the combination machine it's 70 minutes long (A guy is making a desk using one) and you will get a feel of how big this machine really is and it will give you an idea as to how to get it up to your new workshop if you do buy.

That said they are Fantastic bits of kit.