Tyler, prepare yourself

For a bombardment of questions.
Somewhere up in Ohio is an Index milling machine Rolling down the hiway in a freight truck headed for Arkansas.
First order of business will be figuring out the 3 phase electric. A friend of a friend has a ?VFD? For sale.
Then I have to see who can get all that hooked up.
My brother is an electrician but I don’t know what he knows about this kind of deal?
Then I’ll start hunting tooling.
I have to pick it up at a freight dock in Fayetteville. I wanted to ship it to the local lumber yard but it was $150 more for freight.
Hoping I can unload it with my old backhoe/loader.
Once I get it in the shop I’ll figure out how to get it where I want it.
The boss has a big skid steer with forks. I may pay them to unload it?

Unloaded and reloaded mine with the 180, NO Turns made just lift then drag out trailer and run straight ahead with the bugger on forks, some scary moments.

DaveKamp wrote: by 'ways', they're referring to the sliding ram of a Bridgeport-type knee mill head. The Index 55 This is what the mill looks like from the side-  it doesn't have a sliding ram... but the center of gravity and lifting point geometry is basically the same as a Bridgeport. Use a stout sling with padding under the 'neck' of the head.  In this photo, there's a securing strap that's been looped over the top of the column, around, under the neck, back over top of column.  You'll place the sling in the same spot as the loop under the neck.  It would be wise to bring a short piece of rope through the sling at the bottom, and tie it tight around the back of the column, so the sling cannot migrate towards the spindle.  protect the sling from the positioning shaft protruding from the side, and any other sharp points.  hook the sling above the top of the drive in 'basket' (not 'choke') orientation. Lower the knee, and center the table right to left.  Run the table fully back against the column.  As you lift, once you've recieved all the weight on the hoist, the machine should hang neutral and vertical.  If it leans to one side, lower it to the ground, crank the table towards the HIGH side (either left to right) and if it's leaning back, crank the table forward, and lift again. Now, if the guys loading it originally did it properly, it will already be neutralized for lifting. I would NOT unload it from a high semi trailer with a skid-steer and forks... either a forklift, or a small truck-crane.  If you have a low utility trailer capable of the machine's weight, you could set it in that, but block the base, and strap the top tight in every direction, and drive SLOW, as the machine's high center of gravity will cause the trailer to roll and yaw. You can unload it into your shop with a 2-ton chain fall and some stout overhead structure... a couple 4x4 posts with header block across the top, some lumber encasing the sides to keep it together, and using a building's rafters with some ancillary bracing to keep the arrangement upright, just lift it far enough to take weight off the trailer, and scoot the trailer out, then lower it onto the floor.  IF you have a pallet jack, you could fab a metal riser pallet to put under the machine (bolt it on!), then slip the jack under, lift JUST ENOUGH to shuffle it into place. VFD will work well on a vertical mill.  I THINK the table drive system is independantly powered from the spindle, but I could very well be wrong... regardless, the VFD gives you infinite control of spindle speed and direction on-the-fly.

Dave it goes to a freight dock or n Arkansas. I have to go get it there. It will be strapped to a pallet.
I have a 16’ trailer to go fetch it.
I have an old gantry frame I built a long time ago. It’s not very wide. Just wider than a pickup truck. I built it to pull a motor when I was in highschool.
I’m thinking of redoing it and adding heavy castors.
If it’s not big enough I’ll have to figure something out.


Edited by Thad in AR. - 28 Jan 2023 at 4:24am