Thread: Moving a lathe from Sydney to Ballarat

G’day

I usually hang out at the woodwork forums when I do online things but I’ve been a bit quiet recently.

I have been hunting for the right type of vintage lathe for turning steel for a few years and one has been recommended to me. The lathe is in Sydney and I am in Ballarat and it weighs in at around 2500kg. This knocks on the head my usual approach of loading things onto the tandem trailer and towing them home.

I am wondering if anyone could recommend a careful and sympathetic person who may be able to assist?

thanks for the advise.

horaldic

I wonder if its a big, green DSG? Is there a forklift to load or unload at either end? That tends to really help reduce costs as cranes get expensive.

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Unfortunately DSG lathes are very difficult to lift from underneath and are designed for lifting from above. Best lifted with a crane or high lift forklift ( but that gets dangerous real quick. Also hard to position on the truck with a forklift lifting from above.
Best to get a crane truck to be safe

Thanks folks, I have access to a crane truck but it’s not rated for this mass. Hence I am looking at other options.

I did very nearly buy a DSG a few years ago but it was simply too large for my space. The closest I have come was with a Feeler 618, it was superbly accurate and absolutely stunning with lots of tooling including almost a full set of collets, the arrangement just didn’t pan out. I have been put onto the machine I am currently considering by a friend who understands my needs (I have an injury which can create a few challenges) so I won’t identify it as I feel that wouldn’t be respectful.

I am very wary of engaging someone to assist with moving precision equipment who has limited understanding of the task and of the value it might have to me. A used lathe might not be much to some but it would be extremely precious to me.

I employed removalists to move some of my tools three years ago and they dropped a drill press off the truck when loading it. It took a very long time to replace it as the machine I had was carefully selected and then extensively reworked with accuracy and repeatability in mind. Sure, I had it insured but that doesn’t take into account things being no longer available nor my time invested. The tooling and work holding I had all required extensive modification and replacement.

I am really just trying to determine if this might be a go for me as Sydney is a long way and there are significant complications.

During the height of coronavirus I moved a lathe from Sydney to Melbourne. I didn't want it handled in depots and broken so I just got a hiab to do the whole shebang so it got handled the minimum. It was not cheap even with other machines on board reducing the cost. About $2.5k all up.

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One of the specialist machinery moving companies is Webster, they used to (and may still do) a lot of deliveries for H&F up and down the east coast.

https://www.websterstransport.com.au/about-us/services/

hi

if we look at the cost options.
I have a vehicle and a Box trailer that is 4 metres long and about 2 metres wide and registered to be 3.5 Tonnes GVM it has electric brakes etc
This vehicle on Monday and Tuesday this week did a trip to Albury from Sydney return. It traveled approx 1360 KM and used $250 worth of fuel and two days of driving. plus accommodation and food for two days.

Ballarat is approx 1000 Km from Sydney so a 2000 Km round trip so would be about $380 worth of fuel and best part of 3 days driving. 2 nights accommodation and food for 3 days. Wear and tear on vehicle and trailer as well. I had one blowout on the trip south cost me $140. And the cost of the driver should also be taken into account.

Then you need to load and unload at each end and packaging to secure and protect it on the trip. This all costs and adds up. I moved house 8.5 years ago only 7 Km. I had to rent the garage from the buyer for 3 months after the sale and then spent every weekend moving the contents with the trailer including a 1.6 tonne mill and a 600 Kg lathe. and tractors and numerous other heavy items. I even bought a forklift at receiving end to help the process.

I collect tractors and some times it significantly increases the cost of the tractor when you factor all these things in to the overall cost.

So I would offer to help as I am unemployed at the moment but you have to acknowledge that there are significant costs to such an exercise. Also insurance would need to be organised as I could not possibly cover that cost.

So some times things just don't work out. I am currently looking at a trip next week to Adelaide and customer is quibbling about the price?

Food for thought

Zwitter
James

I considered doing the driving myself as I have all the required licensing. However, it’s been a while since I spent the day driving a truck and I’m pretty sure reacquainting myself while negotiating traffic in Sydney wouldn’t be a great idea.

Websters is a mob I’ve heard of, thank you, it was somewhere back there in my memory, probably buried under other stuff!

I have thought about the various costs, and though, of course, cost is a very important consideration, I am equally concerned with ensuring that the machine doesn’t suffer any detrimental outcomes as a consequence of the move.

I am thinking that I may be able to remove certain more delicate parts and have the machine loaded while I am there and then have an experienced person assist me at this end with the unload.

It’s a long way and there’s not really an easy way to do it with something this large, heavy and delicate. I could work with any two of those characteristics with transshipment via Melbourne or me picking it up myself (with a friend) but this scenario requires more planning.

I think doing it yourself or at being on site to supervise the hired help is the best way if you are at all concerned about the machines welfare. Good help is hard to find, and even harder if you have to try to find it over the phone/ internet. Its just such a gamble that it will be fine when it arrives, especially when you are talking about lifting and lashing a machine that has no obvious (to the inexperienced) lifting or lashing points.

When its your machine you spend time thinking about the best way to get the job done, as you are now. you mentally think through all the problems you are likely to experience and work out a plan that brings all the pieces of the puzzle together. Frequently you have to pay for a few more pieces to get the puzzle done. But when you hire old mate the mover, he just wants to show up and drag it onto his flatbed with a chain, strap it down via the handwheels or a chain over the bed and get going.

and bonus, doing it yourself is generally cheaper.

I moved a large lathe (3m over all) a few years ago back to my place via a car trailer. I was fortunate that the seller was able to lift the machine with a large loader after I rigged it, and to get it off the trailer and into the shed I purpose built a large mobile gantry. I dont know how I ever moved anything without it.

Im in Bannockburn so sing out if you need a hand unloading it, anyway.

Cheers, Rowdy

Thanks Rowdy, I’m going to go and look at the machine in person before committing. I just have to get my pre-winter jobs finished first.

Photos and videos are all very well and good but nothing beats putting your hands on a machine. I’ll take a selection of gauges with me.

Weird thing though: ever since caskwarrior mentioned a DSG I’ve had the the feel of an immaculate late 60’s model that was at the Uni where I worked in the 90’s running through my hands and it’s sounds in my head. It was part of a joint facility with the CSIRO and I would make high pressure gas tight stainless and nimonic fittings with it. An amazing machine, it was fiercely protected by the supervisor. Probably long gone.

Looks like this idea isn’t going to fly.

The lathe is in the right sort of condition size and configuration but the guy selling it wasn’t quite right about the model and, consequently, there is an issue with the speed available. It really isn’t suitable to use with carbide cutters, so back to the drawing board.

How not suitable? Can it do 1000rpm? Id say that's a fine top speed if the lathe is on the larger side

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Originally Posted by caskwarrior

How not suitable? Can it do 1000rpm? Id say that's a fine top speed if the lathe is on the larger side

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no, I would have been happy with 1000rpm, although I was shooting for 1200 and the model we thought it was had a top speed of 1200. This one is 600rpm max.

Originally Posted by Horaldic

no, I would have been happy with 1000rpm, although I was shooting for 1200 and the model we thought it was had a top speed of 1200. This one is 600rpm max.

I mostly use carbide and rarely run my lathe over 600rpm, no need for higher rpm's as i am not on a clock and i get good results.
What is the lathe you are looking at?

Originally Posted by shedhappens

I mostly use carbide and rarely run my lathe over 600rpm, no need for higher rpm's as i am not on a clock and i get good results.
What is the lathe you are looking at?

The lathe is an older Colchester and it’s with a friend of a friend. He bought it from his former employer when they “upgraded” and has been sitting for some time as he has two other lathes. This machine isn’t in danger and I know it will find another good home. In order for me to justify moving it 1000km with all the inherent problems (time, stress, cost) it really needed to meet all my requirements.

I have a soft spot for older gear from an era when we actually operated with machines rather than merely directed them to do things. A good friend of my father’s who was formerly a machinist/mechanic in the fleet air arm had a Smart and Brown lathe as the centrepiece of the small but immaculate machine shop on his farm. I admired it from a very young age and would sneak in there just to lift the cover and put my hands on the controls.

The earlier comment from caskwarrior about a DSG has really got me thinking. As I said I really liked the one I spent time with. I’m now wondering what the chances are of finding one in good nick, probably like hen’s teeth!