Moving Astra milling machine

[Mick BaileyParticipant @mickbailey28509]

I’m interested in an Astra L2/L4 milling machine that’s located 200 miles from my home. I’m wondering if it could be moved on my Skoda Yeti with the back seats removed, if broken down into handleable components. The main weigh would be in the main body of the machine. Is it realistic to lift it over the boot lip, or is everything just too heavy.?

I moved a Raglan variable speed mill in a Peugeot 205 on my own, but if I recall correctly the main casting was alloy on that machine.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

If you are able to break it down to liftable chunks and have some experience of sliding things up scaffold planks with an assistant then probably feasible but you might find the difficult bit is getting it out as lifting over that lip is more awkward when it is inside. I would budget for two trips just to be on the safe side. I have moved a Boxford in an 850cc Perodua Nippa, and a pilar drill (advantage of being able to take the front seat out too) but the worst for the springs was the 24 in garden roller.
However I would check the cost of hiring a transit, still breaking it down a lot as you can’t tie stuff down that easily in a transit.

[Bazyle]

On Bazyle Said:

…some experience of sliding things up scaffold planks

Looking at the pictures of machines online, they seem to be on a decent steel base.

Remove overarm and knee/table from machine. Bring it as close as you can to the car and then span a sheet of plywood between top of steel cabinet and boot. Undo securing bolts and tilt it sideways onto the plywood. Slide into boot.

You may end up actually going downhill that way.

What I am saying is that if the machine is currently higher than or level with your boot, do not go any lower with it as if you do you have to regain that height by grunt power.

You can refine the basic setup: tilt onto a padded surface (old sofa cushion), have another sheet of something on top of the ply to make sliding easier, perhaps tilt forwards with a chock to make up difference between front of base and face of column. If the boot has plenty of headroom, build it up inside the car so there is no significant lip when entering or exiting.

[larry phelan 1Participant @larryphelan1]

Dont know too much about that machine, but I DO know that getting things into a car boot and getting them out again are not quite the same thing !

I t may cost a few quid to hire/beg a van, but will be well worth it. I have moved stuff for my own use and for friends, with my Hi Ace, which would have been “difficult” to move by car, and removing heavy items from car boots is NOT kind to the back !A few good planks to form a ramp, along with a few pinchbars will move most things.  Ask around, someone knows someone who has a van.

[Mick BaileyParticipant @mickbailey28509]

The last heavy piece of machinery shifted was a 240kg shaper that was slid along planks. Just me and my wife loaded it, but the vehicle had no lip. We didn’t dismantle anything other than splitting it from the base. I find the Yeti to be quite awkward, but raising the boot floor to be level is a good suggestion. I have some new OSB sheets and plenty of timber so will take a look at what’s needed. Being a small car limits what planks or sheet I can take. My previous vehicle was a long wheelbase Mitsubishi Pajero and it made transporting most home workshop machines easy.

Perhaps hiring a small van would make the process a lot easier.

 

 

 

 

 

[RainbowsParticipant @rainbows]

Blind leading the blind since I’ve only thought about it myself and never done it, but a small trailer (£100 second hand) might do what you want as far as having a lower loading area. Still costs money but at the end of the day you still have a trailer to use again.

[larry phelan 1]

On larry phelan 1 Said:

…I do know that getting things into a car boot and getting them out again are not quite the same thing!

 

Getting them out is easy. Tie a rope to it and drive off in second gear. Reverse smartly into the driveway with th boot open and hit the brakes hard.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, a trailer would be my preferred way, I fetched my Boxford lathe all the way from Glasgow with my trailer, behind a Cavalier, about 20 years ago with no dismantling needed, was about 360 miles or so away.

Regards Nick.

[Mick BaileyParticipant @mickbailey28509]

I have a fairly strongly built 4 CWT trailer but it’s leaf sprung and has no damping. We fetched a dismantled Moto Guzzi T3 from 120 miles away with my friend driving and I spent most of the journey watching the trailer bouncing around dangerously and wondering if it would make it. It’s good for leisurely local runs, but a 400 mile round trip would be tedious.

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

IF you have a draw bar then the easy way is to borrow, hire or buy a trailer ! It will save the dismantling or damage to the car (or yourself ). A couple of ratchet straps and a few bits of rope and may be a sheet in case it rains. If taking this route bear in mind that MOST machine tools are top heavy, consider this when tieing down ! A local motor factor will make a number plate but remember to take the log book with you – some get funny if you don’t. There may be some one on here who could help ? where are you ? Good luck. Noel.

[Mick BaileyParticipant @mickbailey28509]

I’m in N. Staffordshire.

[noel shelley]

On noel shelley Said:

IF you have a draw bar then the easy way is to borrow, hire or buy a trailer ! It will save the dismantling or damage to the car (or yourself ). A couple of ratchet straps and a few bits of rope and may be a sheet in case it rains. If taking this route bear in mind that MOST machine tools are top heavy, consider this when tieing down ! A local motor factor will make a number plate but remember to take the log book with you – some get funny if you don’t. There may be some one on here who could help ? where are you ? Good luck. Noel.

If you ask for a square number plate, you probably won’t need the V5 and ID.

 

If I had to hire a trailer to move a machine, I’d spend the extra and get a van with a tail lift. Moving heavy, unbalanced machinery is not as simple as it looks.

[Mick BaileyParticipant @mickbailey28509]

Thanks for the offer – that’s very much appreciated. The machine was on the south coast and I just spoke to the seller and it’s been sold. It’s useful to go through the options and advice in readiness for anything else that may come up.

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

It would be useful to know the weight of the machine.

I found a reference that indicated less than 160kg.  That should be a reasonable doddle of a job.  I regularly shifted 3 1/2 cwt Raglan lathes in my Pogo 205 and Citroen Saxo on my tod.

Rear seat squab removed to allow rear seats to lie flat.  A piece of 18mm ply as long as practical. Machine laid on sheet and pivoted/slid into boot.  Reverse on retrieval from boot.n just needed a sack barrow to move the machine outside the car.

The most recent was a dismantled Raglan mill, including base – it all fitted inside my Pogo 106.  I thought I might need to put the base on the roof, but it all squeezed in.

My last heavy item was a 150kg battery, earlier this year.  That was slid into the car on an old shortened fire door from a fork lift and eventually removed with the aid of a tele-handler.

[Mick BaileyParticipant @mickbailey28509]

What I liked about my old 205 is that they were van-derived and had a solid flat loading area. A Raglan vertical mill and base went in easily. Coincidentally I also moved a 5″ Raglan lathe in that car unassisted, but I was 40 years younger. The difficulty I have now is things that I wouldn’t have even given a second thought to require planning as I have decades of psoriatic arthritis which has got to every joint. I now go along the lines of if something is over 20Kg, think of it as double that for handling purposes.

That high lip on the Yeti is a real nuisance and another example of a car that could have been made a lot more practical. It seems that the days of a practical, boxy hatchback or estate have gone. Maybe its time to get a small van.

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