Have heard good things about Landylift (a chap called Steve Cox), but no personal experience of them. Maybe worth a call?

Rob

Its not outrageously difficult to break a Bridgeport down into lumps that can be handled by an engine crane and dropped into a decently heavy duty trailer.

Preferable option is some form of gantry hoist. Lift off the ram, head and turret in one lump, slide off the table, lift the column, knee and Y slide into the trailer as one unit. Thats more or less how I did mine but I left the table on. Which had advantages and disadvantages. Advantage was that I could fix timber H sections under the table to stop the machine rocking. Disadvantage was that the the table got in the way going round the turns from front of house to backyard shop.

If engine hoisting pull the head, ram and turret separately.

If you have to roll it any distance making a super duty 4 castor dolly beats the heck out of skates or rollers. Much more controllable. Mine has 3" diameter by 3" wide castor wheels.

That said calling in the professionals makes life easy. I imagine Anyvan quoted you for half a days work by a professional outfit. Fort that I'd expect it taken right into its new home. I've been very satisfied when using Anyvan but I think a Bridgeport is a bit outside their usual range.

Clive

I can vouch for Steve, his limit is 1000 kg and he knows what he is doing too. Good man.

Brian

I have moved mine twice using a pallet, a pallet jack and a ramp trailer with a winch. It wasn't easy or fun but it got the job done.

The late JS of this parish used to move Bridgeports not infrequently.

An engine crane, a good enough capacity van are required, along with some spanner’s.

I suspect a search here or on the Uk rec models engineering list (googlewill search it ok) will find the details, but iirc it’s off with the ram, off with the table remove knee if required and then sling the bits into the van. Reassembly is the traditional Haynes reverse of taking apart…

Dave

Hi , it's a good milling machine, well worth getting! Say compared to a smaller mill, like tom senior which is always smaller and a challenge to do each job.I shifted a similar size mill, used a 3.5 t rated lorry and tail lift. First I took off the head with a engine type hoist which I hired.,and used the mills bed to help lower the head down as was out the hoists range at the top… And anything else,like vice ect. I used the two in tandem ie tailift and hoist, but you get to the point where it's solely on the tail lift… Then it's a worry. But then use the hoist to help lift the tailift! luckily the mill had a big cutout a the front for a big 5 foot lever to creep it in.Usually it's using 3 bars as rollers. It's a minimum of two people. A few months ago I bought a centec it was £300 quid in transport… Wilts to London…. they struggled a bit! I have tried landy lift twice but he never replied to any messages.A pallet truck is better than rollers but the mill need securing to it or it bolted to a pallet then lifting with the pallet truck. As they slide! You also need a good tool kit , rope to secure it all, old packing / cushions ect or there is a tendency to move in the wagon! Err the handwheel stem pushed through the ( rental) van side…

Well worth the stress …

Vic

Photographic follow-up.

Engine Crane:

The trick there was getting a low enough attachment point to avoid hitting the van roof in a very small van, wouldn't have been an issue with a high top.

Conversely with a Bridgeport the trick is to get a crane which has enough remaining lift height in the 1 tonne position to get it to clear the van floor, when you're hoisting from the lifting eye on the ram.

Gantry Hoist:

All together a bit more time and effort to set up, but much more secure lifting even at substantial height.

Would recommend having two people just for the gantry setup if nothing else.

And finally winching:

All very fast and smooth.

Far less effort than previous moves with cranes, despite being the tallest and heaviest of the three (for reference the FNK25 is more than twice the weight of a Bridgeport and about a foot taller).

I don't doubt Steve from Landylift will do a fine job, and if you're not familiar with lifting and rigging it's quite possibly the most sensible option, but it's very do-able as a DIY activity.

I would take full advantage of the opportunity to observe how he does all the other bits that aren't operating the Hiab, because it's all that setup which is where the skill (and danger) is.

Edit: Also, if you can pick them up cheap, machine skates and a toe jack are both godsends to have around if you own heavy machinery.

Second Edit: I would categorically not use a hired 3.5T Luton Van as they lack the correct lashing points and have tail lifts which are wholly inadequate for the weight (although will probably lift it, just bend/droop with it) and are narrow with no toe-boards (essential to stop a pallet truck rolling off the back when the lift inevitably droops under the load).

A dropside with tail-lift is more suitable from a load securing point of view and usually come with larger steel tail-lifts suitable for the load and pallet truck operations, but are much scarcer in the short term rental market.

Third Edit: 5T and 7T Iveco Luton's or Panel vans or a traditional Cabover 7.5T Luton would be an option for someone with a pre '97 licence, because you can normally request one with a 1000kg tail lift without much trouble, but that avenue of pleasure is not open to me without taking my HGV licence.

Edited By Jelly on 12/05/2023 21:31:24

True enough, I feel like it's important to spread the word that it's not actually that difficult if you're well prepared though, even if it does result in more competition for bigger machines in the future.

Also, perhaps a controversial opinion, but rigging work is great fun, and an excellent mechanical problem solving challenge.

Hello Rooossone

I've just installed a Chester 626 with the help of a friend and a 2MT rated engine crane. Total weight 320 kg; stand about 50 kg; net lift 280 kg. It terrified me, but once I'd started, there was no choice but to continue. I've worked on engineering construction sites, but in a clerical capacity, so I've seen several lifts that made mine look like a joke, and thought I knew what I was doing, and to a certain extent that was true. Hands on, it was very different. All went well, despite one near miss, but I'm never doing it again. Unless you know someone with experience who can help (I mean take charge) seriously consider professionals. You will probably save quite a bit in underwear alone.

Russell

A Bridgeport is primarily tippy from side to side. If supporting from beneath using rollers, rails or castors unless the surface you are moving over is in very good condition and decently flat it's well worth fabricating some timber supports to strap under the ends of the table. Set them so they skim the ground by an inch or less.

If it does try to tip the support will hit the ground before its gone far enough to worry or generate significant forces on the table and gibs.

It will then sit there nice and stable whilst you figure out what to do next.

I was very glad that I did that when moving mine in.

The path round the right back corner of my house has an off camber twist so trouble was expected and advance preparations seemed wise. To no great surprise it tilted gracefully part way round the corner and settled nice and stable on the downside support at a barely visible angle. After a tea'n think break we laid some extra plywood sheets on the grass alongside the path where the supports would skim and continued the move leaning on the upside of the table to keep the downside support clear of the plywood sheets. Adjusting the knee height as needed to keep the gap central. It took surprisingly little effort to keep it level. Turned out the rest of the path was by no means as level side to side as it looked so most of the remaining distance was covered in the same way.

These days I reckon sliding a machine along steel parts laid rail fashion along the direction of travel is generally a better way of going about things than improvised rollers or castors. Especially with a come-along as advised by Jelly. Not used the idea outside, and probably never will as my big machine moving days are over, but it works very well in the workshop.

Clive