Mark J Posted May 8, 2019 Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 OK, I bought a used SawStop ICS, or at least I've paid for one, I still have to get it out of the seller's basement and into mine. My local tool rental place has a Power Mate stair climbing two wheel hand truck available. https://www.powermate.info/powermate_videos?hsCtaTracking=35548cbb-2040-4f7c-a7fe-d3c2c80b24a1|bb059731-8c33-4d09-a98b-5fe327211c96 Have any of you had any experience with this machine (or a similar device)? Care to share? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted May 8, 2019 Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 I have not but looks like the height of the riser and depth of the tread capabilities might be an important factor to ask about. Congrats and good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted May 8, 2019 Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 Looks like the bee's knees to me. If you do use it, report back please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted May 8, 2019 Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 I still and always will advocate for completely disassembling a table saw to move it. This device seems like it would help a lot after it's disassembled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark J Posted May 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 The plan was to remove the front and back fence rails and the left and right cast iron wings, but I just got off the phone with SawStop, the cabinet, motor and central cast iron table together are 530 pounds. Of this the cast iron top is about 100 pounds, so I'm re-thinking whether or not to remove it. Technically the dolly is rated for 650 pounds, but me, maybe not so much. The Power Mate does seem to be the way to go, though. I checked with Two Men and a Truck, they won't take anything over 500 pounds up or down more than 5 stairs, so that's a no go, which is OK, because for 400 pounds they want $700 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted May 8, 2019 Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 36 minutes ago, Mark J said: The plan was to remove the front and back fence rails and the left and right cast iron wings, but I just got off the phone with SawStop, the cabinet, motor and central cast iron table together are 530 pounds. Of this the cast iron top is about 100 pounds, so I'm re-thinking whether or not to remove it. Technically the dolly is rated for 650 pounds, but me, maybe not so much. The Power Mate does seem to be the way to go, though. I checked with Two Men and a Truck, they won't take anything over 500 pounds up or down more than 5 stairs, so that's a no go, which is OK, because for 400 pounds they want $700 . If you hired you'd want to find a company that moves gun safes but they are probably goign to use the machine you linked. At that weight even the typical stretcher style i use to move table saws would be iffy. I'd do it because 215 lbs a person isn't that terrible when you have good hand holds but I'm young and dumb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Mark J Posted May 8, 2019 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 My lifting 215 lbs days are long behind me. No. I'm lying. There was never a day when I could lift 215 lbs. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted May 8, 2019 Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 There's a company in town here that specializes in moving bank vaults and other heavy industrial equipment. Probably at least 1 in every city. But I think if you take off the top & rails then that super dolly would be just the ticket. If you do take the top off, be sure to keep track of any shims (if any) and which place each of them were located. They need to go back in the same place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark J Posted May 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 I'll check in to safe and vault movers. Does the SawStop have shims? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted May 8, 2019 Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 31 minutes ago, Mark J said: ...Does the SawStop have shims? Yes. Not sure if they were used but they do come with them in case they are needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted May 8, 2019 Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 I remember someone on another forums using one of those powered trucks, but don't remember who it was. I do remember they said it worked like a charm. We'd just use our appliance hand truck, with some rope safeties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark J Posted May 13, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2019 It looks like this Power Mate is the move to make. Which gives me another problem to solve so I'm calling on @Tom King and all my other construction savvy friends. I have a basement (workshop) entrance with just six steps down, but at the top there is also a single step down to the ground. The Power Mate might negotiate this, but I think I need to build a platform or landing. I anticipate the load at 1000 lbs. As a further complication the land slopes gently toward the steps. With the level leveled the distance to the ground is 8" at the concrete and 7 1/4" at the lawn end of the level. Also know that the top of the first step is not flat. It's about 1 15/16" to the concrete and 1 1/16" to the wide steel plate. I am thinking of a top layer of 3/4 plywood which extends over the top step with an appropriate piece of wood supporting the edge of the plywood against the concrete. This plywood top surface would have to extend beyond the brick work onto the lawn to allow room for the dolly and load to be turned around while on the landing. I brought out my plain old hand truck for size and I think that I would need 4 to 5 feet between the concrete step and the lawn side. That's five feet of the six foot level and note also the doors can't be closed once the landing is in place. So here's some questions: Do I need to accommodate the slope of the land or should I ignore it? What should I build do to support the plywood top over the brick and lawn? I could use a layer of "cinder block" laid on its side? It's available in 4, 6 and 8" widths. Lumber on top of that would make up the difference. Alternatively I can build a wood frame out of 2x6 or 2x8? If a wood frame, what 2x? Would two long sections joined by "joists" every 16" be the target? Do you think 4 1/2' wood be a large enough landing? That gives me a total size with the over hang of 5 1/2' and this would store a little more easily than 6 feet. I'm hoping to build this tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Mark J Posted May 14, 2019 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted May 14, 2019 Well this is what I've come up with, pretty low class, but I think it will work. I'll need another dozen cinderblocks, but with some shims the plywood is flexible enough to manage the ground slope. I used the whole 8' sheet so there's plenty of room up there. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Mark J Posted May 17, 2019 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted May 17, 2019 My nephew and I went to the sellers today, disconected the power and took everything off the saw but the center cast iron top. Tomorrow is moving day and we'll probably take the center off then. On the way home we stopped to rent the Power Mate. We wanted an opportunity to try it out and I had an old drill press I wanted out of the basement to facilitate selling. The aluminum model Power Mate with 650 lbs capacity is itself a hefty machine. You can pick it up, but you're not going to want to. We loaded it into the primadona pickup by having it climb in as in the videos. I'm sorry I don't have any photos of the stair climb--we were a little busy. The drill press was an old Craftsman bench model on a wood pedestal and mobile base. We moved the whole thing, including the mobile base as one. I brought the tongue under the base at the motor end and strapped the drill to the dolly. It was quite unwieldy. Not as heavy as the saw, but the center of gravity was very far forward. Negotiating the 6 stairs to my cinder block landing was a bit of a challenge. In part that was my inexperience with the machine, but it takes a lot of effort and attention to keep the load balanced. You have to keep ahead of the load. But it worked and we got the drill to the garage (wanna buy it?). Tomorrow we're planning to tackle the saw. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark J Posted May 18, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2019 Today was a long day. We got everything moved from the seller's basement to my workshop. All except one piece. We tried everything we could think of, but could not get the saw cabinet up the stairs. The stair climber works pretty well, for example we used it to easily move the cast iron top. But when it came to the saw it seems the center of gravity was too far forward. It's necessary to tip the dolly handles down to balance the load on the wheels. With the saw that requires a lot of tipping--the handles will make a fairly acute angle with the floor. The seller's stairs on the other hand are steeper than usual making a much less acute angle with the floor. The only way to balance the load would have been if the dolly handles could have protruded through the stairs. We were also limited by the narrow doorway at the top of the stairs. This required that tongue be placed on the fron or back of the saw. The center of gravity issue might have been solved if we could have come at the saw from the motor side. So the stair climbing dolly works, but it is limited by the center of gravity and steepness of the stairs. What's next? I'm too beat to think about it tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick S Posted May 18, 2019 Report Share Posted May 18, 2019 Just keep telling yourself that it will be worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted May 18, 2019 Report Share Posted May 18, 2019 Can you remove the motor? Seems that would reduce the weight significantly, and shift the center of gravity, as well. Does the seller have any hints about how it went DOWN the stairs in the first place? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted May 18, 2019 Report Share Posted May 18, 2019 2 hours ago, Mick S said: Just keep telling yourself that it will be worth it. Because it will be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted May 18, 2019 Report Share Posted May 18, 2019 Before joining this forum, I always thought of a cellar as a place to store jellies and jams as we just don’t have them down here and I’ve been jealous of those that have them. Good luck Mark, hope it works out for ya! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark J Posted May 18, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2019 Basements, benefit or bane? I used to think of them as a required feature. They are bonus spaces, rough and ready, but inaccessible. If you don't have them you won't find yourself trying to get anything in or out of one. At least at my end I have a direct entrance. I haven't given up, and I still think this was a good deal. It got into the basement and it certainly has to come out. I have a turning class today. Tomorrow I'll put some calls out to moving companies. Taking the motor off is possible, in theory, but looking inside the cabinet I think it would be monumentally difficult and 3 times harder to get it back on. It occured to me last night in bed that the motor is low in the cabinet, so upside down the center of gravity would be higher. No idea how to just casually flip it over or whether anything inside would be harmed. I need to turn some wood today. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jfitz Posted May 18, 2019 Report Share Posted May 18, 2019 1 hour ago, Mark J said: Basements, benefit or bane? I think benefit - and any inaccessibility is just an implementation issue.....the typical basement exterior access (around here anyways) is the basic bulkhead door and stairs that are rarely user friendly. Some houses have walk-out basements, but obviously you need to have the right piece of land for it. When we renovated I had them replace the "typical" entrance with a doghouse entrance with a nicer set of stairs. I highly recommend it. Back to the original topic ... 9 hours ago, wtnhighlander said: Does the seller have any hints about how it went DOWN the stairs in the first place I'd like to know this as well. I'm with Chestnut on this one - with his 'disassembly' philosophy. I moved my PCS down similar stairs with the help of a friend without disassembly - but it is significantly less weight than an ICS. If I was in your situation, I'd build a cradle around the saw - think of it as a sturdy shipping crate; secure several 2x6's (or some other size) on the stairs running up and down as 'runners', then tip the crate over onto the runners and then use a come-along or winch or something to pull the whole thing up the runners. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted May 18, 2019 Report Share Posted May 18, 2019 Wish i was closer i'd come and help. I hate hearing that the stair climber thing didn't work. I was hoping it'd be better because some day in the future i plan to but a new planer and would love to get it in my shop easily with out hurting any one. That device seemed like the ticket. I think @jfitz has an excellent idea with runners and a come along. Just don't overbuild what ever you are going to build around it. 2z4s are a lot stronger than people give them credit for. Any extra weight you build around the saw is more weight that you have to move. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark J Posted May 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2019 Thanks for that thought. Don't give up on the stair climber entirely. It did move the drill press and the cast iron top after all. But it turns out that besides weight, the center of gravity of the load and slope of the stairs are factors. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legenddc Posted May 20, 2019 Report Share Posted May 20, 2019 Unless you can get a bunch of guys and there's room up the steps I think the crate/runners is the best option. Depending on how you need to get it out you could try a little electric winch to pull it up to make things a bit easier. Had to do that to get a fishtank stand out of my buddies house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Mark J Posted May 20, 2019 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted May 20, 2019 I hired a moving company today. I found a local outfit much cheaper than 2 Men and a Truck. I should have it out this Friday. As an added benefit I think they will set the thing down in the mobile base at my shop so I won't have to figure out how to lift it in. Don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with the suggestions, but there's a difference to what I will do in my house or a buddies house and what I can do at a stranger's house. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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