Moving a 10 x 15 Chandler and Price New Style

Make sure the lift gate is rated for at least 2000lbs, and use a trucker’s tie-down strap to hold the press stationary on the lift gate, to be safe. At least one 10x15 C&P got dumped on its head off a lift gate that sagged under load. It was a sad thing.

Bob

Where are you located?

Liftgates make me nervous. Almost any liftgate will have a slight to moderate angle during the lift—making for a very tense situation. Further than that… most liftgates are a little too shallow for a 10x15 on a suitable pallet. All that being said, it can be done… just take your time, be smart, and strap the press accordingly with properly rated straps.

I recently moved a 10x15 New Series using a 5x9 ramp trailer from U-Haul a come-along, and some 3,333 lb working load straps. Once I had the press on the pallet jack I just used the come-along to pull the press (not the jack) onto the ramp. The ramp on the 5x9 is long and it was an easy load. Unloading was done in reverse—using the come-along to allow the press off the ramp slowly.

Hope this helps,
Brad.

I would follow the advice of Brad and Bob.

I just moved a 10 x 15 Kluge with a U-Haul 5x9 trailer and a “come along” as well. Worked really well and I didn’t have any problems. Extremely cost effective too!

Good Luck,
Jared

No trouble moving an assembled 10x15 as long as you don’t have any tight doorways, etc to go through. It’s actually preferred to move it that way. I wouldn’t use any ropes though. Chains, cable come-alongs and heavy rated tie down straps are much better.

I prefer low trailers to trucks for moving presses…it’s easier to load/unload and there are way more tie-down points to make sure the press doesn’t shift during transport. You do not want almost a ton of cast iron moving toward the cab of a truck in a hard stop.

Another way to get the press onto a truck or trailer is to hire a tilt bed tow truck. These make it really easy.

Make sure that your lift will take the weight. the kid that bought my 10 x 15 last fall had a truck that couldn’t take the weight and we had to pull it apart and load it in pieces. I always used a low trailer and a come along and pulled them right up. Oh and 4 x 4’s work better than pallets. See the pics.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/its_fancy_letterpress_studio/4198473400/

Thanks for all the advice! The truck I was going to rent has a liftgate rated for 2000 pounds, but like Brad mentioned, it doesn’t look particularly wide. I was concerned about that, and also about trusting a lift not to fail as it’s reaching the bed of the truck…

A 5 x 9 sounds like a much better idea; since they’re lower I don’t have to worry as much about a steep incline. I was only worried that the ramps couldn’t take the weight of the press.

Now, off to Sears to buy some ratchet straps…and a come-along…

@Brad, I am (hopefully) picking up the press in Poulsbo, Washington. You say you pulled the palleted press up the ramp - did you have pipes or anything to go under the pallet to help you slide it?

Its Fancy - I will have to consider the 4X4 and pipe method, thanks.

Since you’re going to be renting, see if you can find a small hydraulic drop trailer. If you can find one about the size of the 5x9 U-Haul trailer, get it, even though it will cost a bit more than a regular trailer. These trailers drop until the trailer bed is on the ground at the loading end and only a few inches off the ground at the other end, making a fairly gentle slope to roll the press up (whether the press is on a pallet jack or on pipe rollers). Once loaded, the trailer hydraulically lifts up higher, and level, for on the road.

Although I’d always used pipe rollers under the press skids before, a few months ago we moved a 10X15 NS C&P that was already on a pallet. Putting the pallet jack under the press and pushing it into my drop trailer took far less time than the tying it down did; very quick and easy. At the destination we rolled it gently out of the trailer into the garage, as smooth and quick a move as I’ve ever done.

I have loaded my 10x15 and my 8 x 10 by myself twice without incident or the feeling like it was going to tip over. I have a double axel trailer.

One thing I do to make loading easier is to back up on car ramps. It raises the back of the truck up which lowers the back of the trailer. Less of an incline to deal with. Once you get the 4x4s onto the ramps( I have braced 2x8s to hold the weight) you can crank it up onto the trailer with minimal effort from a come-a-long.

I also always have a large pry bar handy incase the press needs to be nudged a bit. If you have never moved one before make sure you have people to help you! The 8ft long 4x4s gave me a ton more stability with the press rocking forward or backward while loading and unloading. It also made it easier to center the press on the trailer because the 4x4s would slide a bit with the pry bar instead of digging into the wood of the trailer bed.

Hello there

My husband and my father-in-law recently moved my CP 10x15 OS letterpress for me. They both have a tonne of experience recovering 4x4 off-road vehicles and so had a good idea of the necessary physics of it all…

Tools we used:
Large crowbar
Drill, wood screws and some 2x4s
Come-along device
Highlift jack and tow straps
Tilting trailer rated up to 2000lbs
a selection of 10 tonne tow straps
Tie downs
Tarp (to protect the press from the deluging rain that fell the entire time we were working to move the press)
Couple of lengths of black iron pipe
Patience and time

We removed all the bits that we could pull off the press, such as platen backer, feeder table, motor etc. We then secured the fly wheel and other moving parts with a configuration of heavy duty zip-straps.

It took us the best part of two hours to inch the press up onto the trailer.

I have posted some photos of the whole saga here for you to check out…
http://joannajohnstone.com/galleries/movingaletterpress/

Good luck and contact me if you have any questions…

Joanna

Moving a Chandler Price 10x15 OS Letterpress

We also had to take into account the centre of mass of the press, as it had to be positioned directly above the axles once in its final resting position for the journey.

C&P-MovingDay-7121-small.jpg

I believe Dave is talking about something along the lines of a Bil-Jax ET4000 drop deck trailer. For any local moves (I’ve moved three times in a year while building out my garage) this is what I use. It makes life much easier when loading and unloading. Capacity on the ET4000 is, no surprise, 4000 lbs.—more than enough to accommodate a 10x15.

Brad.

Yes, something like the Bil-Jax. What I actually have is, I guess, a 50-year-old version of the current 5,000-lb. GVWR Selma H-683 hydraulic drop trailer made by Jacobsen, and despite its age it’s worked just fine for at least two dozen press moves (mostly for friends). Interestingly, their company history says “This trailer is used for low angle of loading equipment such as … printing presses.”

That last press move, the 10x15 C&P using a pallet jack, I think loading the press took maybe 5 minutes. Like Brad said, it really makes it easy to move stuff when you don’t have to get it up onto a trailer or truck.

Dave

Wow. I guess I’m a bit late to this party. Everyone’s advice seems to echo my own. - Particularly the warning about using a lift-gate truck.

In fact, I received a phone call from a client earlier this evening suggesting that I jump in with my two cents. But it’s clearly apparent that it wasn’t needed.

Nonetheless, his call - and the photo he sent me of me loading his press on the 5x8 trailer - prompted me to compose and post a new page on my web site that may be helpful to someone else in the future.

http://excelsiorpress.org/reference_html/movingapresssafely.html

- Alan

Alan: Great new post on your website! Thanks for taking the time to put it all together and sharing your knowledge. I know that it will be a highly valuable resource for many people to come.
- Joanna

Thanks everyone for your detailed instructions! I followed your instructions loading the press onto the 5x9 trailer. It was tricky getting the pallet jack + press combo up onto the ramp (and off), but it all worked out in the end.

Now for a new pallet…

Thank you Alan for the post. I am moving my press home this month and using your instruction!