Moving press out of shopfront
I have found a decent 10x15 Heidelberg available for sale, however when the guy selling it enquired to an engineering company about moving it, they quoted him about £2000 to move it out of the shop he has. He’s agreed in principle to sell it to me at a very good price, providing I sort out the logistics of getting it out myself.
Any words of experience on this would be invaluable, as he seems to have a single doorway to the shop. The press has been there for over 20 years, he said he thinks they must have taken the window out to get it in in the first place.
My biggest problems are that I’m on a very tight budget (just graduated, currently working part time in a bar) and that it is a city centre location, right on a roadside.
I have no idea how much something like this could cost me, so any money saving tips earn you bonus points!
thanks
p.s. i think the press is behind the larger (lower down) window
shopfront.jpg
You may be able to get a tow truck driver to assist you, but that won’t be of much use unless you can get the press outside of the shop and onto the street. If it is a clear shot from press to door to street, you may be able to use a winch to pull the press out. But first, you should raise the press up and try to place it on a platform or wooden runners.
Not sure what the prices are like where you are, but you should expect to pay around $300 minimum to get a press moved. Check the forums here for more tips on moving windmills specifically. Sometimes there isn’t an easy way to do this without taking out some of the obstructions. If you can obtain more pictures on the press’s location relative to the exit, maybe someone could give a better idea of what’s involved.
If the owner is willing, contact a glass company to remove the window then take the press out that way. Be sure to protect the frome of the window so the glass goes back in easy.
If you have friends who are a carpenter or glazier it looks like you could pop out what looks like the left hand window and snatch the Windill with a forklift with extensions (no less than a 4000 kg rated machine). You can get the press onto the pallet with rods and a common car jack (see lowering a Heidelberg thread).
Alternately, and possibly a little more dodgy, is to get the press on skids running side to side (for stability). Raise the press high enough (lots of cribbing) so that the skid can be moved out the window on a runway (make sure the runway is LEVEL, then have a boom truck (HIAB or whatall), lift the press directly off the runway. Dismantle cribbing and reassemble the building. This is if the cost of the forklift is a deal breaker (may well be).
I have no idea how things like that are done in the UK, but you’ll have to pay something for the forklift rent, possibly need a building permit (ask the owner what he thinks) and something to reward your friends for their assistance. 2000 pounds Sterling (roughly $3000 US) seems a LOT. In any instance it’ll take some money.
Other folks in the UK have experiences they can share with press moving.
Hey,
I have seen your post. Whereabouts are you. I know a mover (rigger) here in the UK that will do that for much less. We moved 3 heidelbergs out of a similar situation in South Manchester last year. Contact me and I can pass on his details, he knows Heidelbergs and how to strip them. We move hand presses etc but use this guy for anything heavier than our vehicles can cope with.
Jeremy.