General Pearl #11 Questions

These are probably easy questions but I havn’t quite found the answers I’m looking for.

1. Does anyone know the approximate weight of a Pearl Improved #11? I was ballparking it by what I know at around 500 pounds.

2. On a scale of 1-10 how difficult is it to remove the top portion from the stand if its necessary to move it in peices? I’ve looked around and found some descriptions but no pictures that really show me how its attached. I have seen a lot of pictures with it taken appart so it can’t be that bad.

I’m trying to decide it I want to rent a trailer to move one or if I want to break it down and move it in my pickup. I’m not sure there will be enough manpower to deadlift it into the bed of the truck in one peice. Its a long drive and I’m trying to be the good boy scout and be well prepared :)

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I think a completely assembled #11 weighs more like 700lbs. It is pretty easy to take the top section off the base if you have a way to lift it, but most of the weight is in the top section. I use a hydraulic shop floor crane to do that sort of thing and it makes it much easier. I moved mine (2 of them at once) in a Mazda pickup. The crane can set the top right in the truck and take it out again if you have a reasonably level and smooth paved surface to work on. Because the press is so top-heavy I strongly recommend taking the top off the base. But I did move one press from the studio to the street in one piece using a pneumatic-tired hand truck, though it was a struggle at the limits of the hand truck’s capacity. If I’d had a bigger truck with a lift gate I could have loaded the press in one piece.

Bob

i have golding pearl improved. no. 13, i think. it weighs about 700 pound assembled. take off the fly wheel, and lift the press off the base and it’s manageable. we’ve moved it ourselves (3 of us) and we’ve also had movers strap it to a heavy-duty dolly and move it that way, too.

Thats the way I’m leaning. Its hard for me to judge the weight because there is an episode of American Pickers where they buy a similar Pearl in a basement and the two guys and an old lady carry it out fully assembled. And like you both said there is a lot of weight that can come off it.

How is it attached? Are there bolts that come up through the bottom or are they accessable from the top?

Sorry, I blanked on that question the first round. The bolts go down from inside the upper section. But I can’t remember if there were threads in the base or nuts on the bolts. When I put my Frankenpress together, I used the base off one press and the top section off the other and all the bolt holes didn’t line up. I think there are six bolts all together, at least 4 in the corners. It wasn’t very hard to get the sections apart or to bolt them back together.

Bob

Ahhh, my favorite topic and I’m asleep at the switch! Already answered quite well, but, I’ll just add that it is difficult to get an exact weight from the internet or even literature. All that’s ever listed is the boxed weight. That is 730 lbs for the No. 11 and 570 lbs for the Old Style No. 3 like they showed on American Pickers. I would think that the shipping boxes used were substantial. Certainly weighing at least 50 lbs., probably more. Bob is also correct on the number of bolts (6). They usually go down and are threaded into the bottom casting. Four in the front, and two in the back. If it were me, I would take it apart and use the truck. My new secret weapon for moving presses and press parts is a patient lift. They are like the engine hoist, but, limited to about 500 lbs which makes them perfect for this kind of thing. They are light weight chrome tubing weighing about 60lbs on casters and can be purchased used for very little. They can easily lift the top on and off and move big tabletops. They can even place it in the backseat of a car or in the hatch of an SUV without any fuss as their support legs just go under the vehicle as you roll it up to load.

JF

The move is on for sat morning. I have a couple guys lined up to go with me plus my wife and my fingers are crossed that I can take enough weight off the top portion that the three of us can lift it up in the bed of my truck.

My father in law has ramps he used in his truck (same as mine) for a riding lawnmower, they might make the trip too with the thought that once the top is down and weight is a problem we’ll wheel it straight up the ramps and just leave it strapped to it.

The gentleman that is selling it to us isn’t keen on it being taken apart but I promised to send him a picture of it put back together on this side :)

Move went off without a hitch on the 5th! Press is still in pieces waiting to be cleaned up a bit then moved to the studio. I have to buy pizza and beer for a couple friends one more time to get the dolly with the top half the press down a flight of stairs and reset on the base. I’ll put some pictures up once I find my camera.

Time for pictures! The Pearl has been setup in the studio for a few months now. If anyone has a brake assembly or an ink fountain for a Pearl Improved #11 drop me a line. Over all it is in amazing shape! The gentleman that set me up with it really hooked me up. My pickup was almost too small by the time the press and all the gear that came with it was loaded.

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fab, happy printing, also to Mac for his recent discovery and restoration too