Moving my press

I have a Chandler and Price New Style 10x15 Press in the garage and I plan on moving it into the house through a narrow doorway. I have removed the main driveshaft, flywheel, pulleys from the right side, foot treadle and throw off assembly. Does anyone have any suggestions for lifting the press onto dollies and what type of dollies to use?

Log in to reply   6 replies so far

Pallet jack, after you put two skids under the feet of the press. Attach them to the press with lag bolts through the holes in the feet. 2x4s will work but 4x4s are better. Then pry one end of the press up high enough to slide a 4x4 under that end. Repeat with the other end and you should have enough room for the pallet jack to go under the press. A floor jack will do a nice job of raising up one end at a time.

As I recall the press is a bit narrower from the side than from the front or back when the press is closed.

To get some more maneuvering room take the feed tables off the brackets. This gives you the space between the brackets to work with. Might be just enough. Remember that you don’t have to approach the doorway straight on from either side or front/back. Tucking one corner in and then pivoting the press around a bit can help. If all else fails take the door (actually do that anyway to prevent damage to the door) and door-frame off. If you do it carefully they’ll go back in place without anyone noticing.

If you end up taking the press further apart by removing ink table and bed, then you might be able to use refrigerator dolly (they have straps to go around whatever you’re moving) to haul the pieces around. But you want somebody strong running the refrigerator dolly to control the balance.

You don’t say what kind of terrian you have between the garage and house. Do you have steps, rocks, perhaps a moat? It could be as simple as attaching 2” x 6” (2”x 4”s are a little flimsy and a 4” x 4” will put it up too high) boards under the legs and rolling it on lengths of unthreaded gas pipe. The one tool you will need is a Johnson bar and a short block of 4” x 4” wood (hardwood is nice) for levering the press and/or propelling it forward and in different directions. The bigger a bar that you can find the better. I have one that I bought at a farm auction that weighs about 60 lbs, is about 5 feet long and has an ‘S’ curve at the working end. It was used to move railroad ties. I also have 2 smaller ones that will fit in the back of the car if necessary. I also keep a car towing sling and a block and tackle (make sure you have a rating for any tool that exceeds your needs) and two lengths of heavy chain, one around 5’ and one closer to 8’. The thing to remember is that C&Ps are top heavy and you don’t want to get them too far up in the air without the proper support. You also don’t want to tip them any direction more than an inch or two at a time. I think someone posted photos not too long ago of an unrestrained press that fell off a truck. It is not hard, it just takes a lot of common sense.

Thank you very much—your comments have been quite helpful.

The terrain is up one low threshold, and down another with limestone in between. We don’t have a great distance to take it, however it does need to go through 2-doorways. One will be cleared by taking the door off—the other will have to have the door and frame removed. We’re putting down large sheets of MDF board on the limestone and building ramps to go up the threshold.

I’ve heard horror stories about the top heaviness, so will be extra careful when it’s in motion.

Thanks again for all your help.

I am actually in a similar boat but I will need to transport a C&P Old Style 10x15 from one residence to another. Currently it is in a garage but will need to be moved to a basement. The path from the driveway to the basement is down a bit of a slope on grass. Any recommendations on first how to transport and then how to get it into the basement? Thank you!

Sarah
Tell where you are and you may find an old printer and press mover who will help you. Preferably one who moves presses by the Egyptian method. With rollers.
Three strong guys who have moved heavy things and each of whom thinks he knows best how to do it is the RONG crew to have.
Contact me by private email if you wish and we can discuss the move at length.
A job well planned is half done. Well planned and then slow and sure is what you want.
inky

My shop is in my basement, so I have taken everything down there over the years. Everything had to be transported down stairs. I live in a large old farmhouse that actually has two sets of stairs going to the basement, both with outside access. Unfortunately the wider of the stairs has a jog to contend with. The narrower of the stairs offers a “straight shot” to the basement, so this is the one used for heavy objects such as presses.

I have always cleared everything out of the way at the bottom and used a ramp system to lower heavy things into the basement. I place two long 2”x12” planks over the stairs (You might also need to shore-up the stairs depending on their construction and the amount of weight you are going to ask them to bear). The DANGER in doing this is the potential for the object being taken down breaking loose and doing some serious or fatal damage! Being on a farm, I also have access to a tractor and log chains, and the object is secured that way and SLOWLY eased down the rampway to the bottom. It is then a matter of using pipes to roll the object to its final destination.

In lieu of a tractor, a “come-a-long” cable system or a winch could probably also be used with chains etc. There simply is no good way to try to take the beasts down the stairs. Do some advanced planning and always err on the side of extreme caution.

One last note, measure EVERYTHING first and make sure you have good clearance all along the route. Its not good at all to discover you have encountered a snag halfway down the ramp on in the door jamb!!!!! Also note the top-heavyness of the object being lowered. This can create problems because you will be assuming an extreme angle as this slides down the ramps.

Rick