Horizontal mill made it home finally:))
Spent the last weekend at work between actually working :p , Loading the mill onto the trailer to take home.
Got it home safely, and without it tipping over! This thing must still weigh in at over 5k#.
This is with everything possible pulled off of it too. The table is about 1k#. took off that, all the screws I could get out, the cast covers, power drive gearbox, and handles. I tried to take off the knee, but the screw was rusted in place, and I couldnt raise it to get at the bolts. Putting it on the trailer at work had the 4k# rated forklift doing a 2 tire balancing act as I tried to get it centered on the trailer with the mill hanging off the ends of the forks. I ended up sliding it to the center by ramming the base with the forks and sliding it over on the ties I had set it on. I chained the top to the trailer frame, and tiedowns, but the thing is rather topheavy, so it was creap around nearly every corner.
To help balance the load out, I put the table on the bed of the truck as a balast for braking.
Today with coltys help, we managed to get it off too!
That was sorta of an ordeal as anything here goes. (Actually went rather easy)After getting the trailer where I figured the best spot to put it was, I undid the chains, and got the tractor set up to lift it off. My first fears were confermed. It wouldnt budge it. So I tried chaining it from the front and the back of the bucket, to shift the leverage point closer to the tractor. It then lifted 1 corner. Next deal was to find out where the pressure regulator screw was and adjust that. (I had set it to not stall the engine at idle when lifting, for trying to lift at high engine speed while in gear makes the thing sketchy.) I almost bottomed it out, and it still didnt tip the tractor while it lifted it ! :)) One issue tho, is it wouldnt keep it up for long. Unless it was full throttle, and Lifting with the valve, it wouldnt keep it up. So colty ran the tractor, while I got the truck in 4 low and sped away while he was lifting it up. Worked great :)
That done, I decided while there, to also raise it back up and put the ties back under it, to keep it out of the inevitable mud that is on its way. I got lucky in that when I was putting the second tie under, the ground was soft from grading it before I started this whole thing today. I was turning the tie to lay on the long side to match the other, when I guess colty hit the pedal sideways and the tire pushed the tie over my hand, then he dropped the load :p.. Luckilly he got it back up fast enough, and no pain or swelling. ( Was about 1/4 of the pain of a horse stepping on the hand :p) this makes me realise to put it in neutral next time :p
After all that, we were both starving, so we headed off to a burger, and to pay the car bill thats due before the mail will get it there.
The coltymobile still has the cooling issues with it. tho taking it easy, or driving it hard seemed to make no difference in the amount of lost coolant. (It is pushing out the coolant from the exhaust {somewhere})
Getting back home I decided that putting the mill back together after levelling it somewhat was in order, as I was too spent to do the dump run we had planned. (They're closed tomorrow)
Its going together surprisingly easy. Even with cleaning, adjusting, and oiling. Knee works again, rather easilly too. I cut new oil channels in the table dovetail with the angle grinder, as the old ones were gone from use :p the coolant pump has been healed, and all the ways sanded smoothe to remove 30 years of rust(Cleaned up easilly with 80grit). Next is to flip the table over, and clean up the ways on the table, and then mount that again. This should be interesting as it has to slide 90* to the tractors lifting axis :p. then re hang the gearbox, and motor mount. (Thisa has a 20 hp motor on it, but being its 440 or 277 only, Im going to pull it and put on a 10 horse 220 3ph that I have. I shouldnt need to make 1/4" cuts in one pass with this the way it was made. so 10 should be fine. ANd my phase converter will run it too :p
One day when Im old and all grey, Ill have a shop around this, and 3 phase running right too the shop. Ahh the dreams :p