Re: Moving and Restoring a Unisaw by myself

[jaywood1207]

Based on what you have available I would use the trailer with ramps. Strap the saw to a cart and wheel it up the ramps into the trailer then strap it to the trailer. No disassembly of anything. I've moved all of my equipment including cabinet saw and 15" planer by myself a couple times and my shop is in the basement. I use a 2 wheeled cart but have one with good air filled wheels and not hard rubber wheels. You could easily roll it up the ramp.

[cstephens2]

if your trailer deck isnt very high, you could also use cribbing made from 2x4's or 2x6's built up in a log cabin fashion. lifting one side at a time of the saw slightly and slip a piece of cribbing under it will slowly raise the saw. I recently did this with 4x4's to raise a 650# General double drum sander high enough to slide onto a trailer deck about 16-20" above my garage floor.

[Egon]

if your trailer deck isnt very high, you could also use cribbing made from 2x4's or 2x6's built up in a log cabin fashion. lifting one side at a time of the saw slightly and slip a piece of cribbing under it will slowly raise the saw. I recently did this with 4x4's to raise a 650# General double drum sander high enough to slide onto a trailer deck about 16-20" above my garage floor.

A lot easier than Brute Force!

[streetcore [OP]]

A mid 70's unisaw with a stamped steel base cant be 450#, can it? 250-300 tops I'd say. I've manhandled a few unisaws and general 350's of this era and while I'm a fairly strong guy I'm no CFL linebacker,

It's hard to find any accurate specs for weight and dimensions on these saws. I searched the various forums and most people seemed to suggest they are around 450. I don't know if it would have changed much over the years.

There are some great suggestions here. I'm still not sure the trailer provides much advantage. It would be nice to roll it straight up the ramps with a cart, but I'm worried it might be too heavy. Also not sure I'd want to transport it upright anyway. Might be too top heavy for a long distance road trip. So then I'd be laying it down or tipping it over anyway.

I guess the trailer is probably the safer route and certainly gives me more options for loading.

[cstephens2]

A lot easier than Brute Force!

Its how we did things before powered lifts!

[streetcore [OP]]

Found this video with some good tips on moving machinery much heavier than a unisaw.

[Bryan @ Woodstock]

I always flipped the Unisaw onto its top into the bed of the pickup or trailer. Get saw close to trailer or pickup, Carefully tip saw and lay one wing onto the ground, and then flip the top onto the floor of truck or trailer. Easy to slide in.

[jay]

I have never had trougle moving my General 350 singlehanded even stairs by doing as you suggest remove table ,eextension tables and motor . also protect the switch as they are expensive

[streetcore [OP]]

I just found this post on lumberjocks that listed the following details regarding Unisaw weight. I'm glad I found that. It definitely seems manageable with the van.

https://www.lumberjocks.com/Rapola/blog/85474

Wanted to give a detailed breakdown of the weight of a 1960’s era Delta Unisaw

Total weight ~320 pounds (145kg)

• Top – 60 lbs (27kg)
• Extension Wings 2 @ 22lbs ea = 44 lbs (20kg)
• Cabinet with basic components (motor mount, etc) 120 pounds (54kg)
• Motor 60 pounds (27kg)
• Cast Iron Base 30 lbs (14kg)

These will easily fit in the back of a small suv. 4 bolts should allow you to remove the top with the extension wings; saving ~100 lbs (45kg); optional if you want to remove the motor.


Not sure what the plan is at the moment; The saw came with the normal cast iron top and what looks like a top from their shaper; I figure at $0.33 per pound and a bench vice to sweeten the deal it was worth getting.

[streetcore [OP]]

Picked up the saw today and it was no problem whatsoever. Actually much easier than I expected. Took me 20 minutes, and half that time was probably spent unloading and re-loading all the carts, dollies, wood blocks, cardboard, plywood, pipes, and tools I brought with me "just in case". All I really needed was two pieces of plywood, a pipe roller, a 5/8" wrench to remove the side tables, and a couple blocks to support the motor so it didn't bounce around. The seller had moved it out of the garage, so I just tipped it onto a piece of plywood leaning against the bumper, then picked up the bottom and pushed it in. The pipe roller on top of the other piece of plywood made it even easier.

I had read some comments on other forums where people recommended renting u-haul trucks with hydraulic lift gates, or engine hoists to lift the saw onto a trailer. So I was expecting something much worse. Now that I've done it I don't know what all the fuss was about.

Anyway I'm happy to have it home. Here's a few pics.

P_20201025_093700.jpg

[streetcore [OP]]

Interesting... I just discovered this saw has two model numbers and two serial numbers. There's an American tag on the back and a Canadian tag on the front.

[Egon]

Good show.

[WCraig]

That's quite the motor starter hanging on the front. Not factory! Is it magnetic or manual? Is your saw wired for 110 or 220? Amp ratings?

Craig

[streetcore [OP]]

That's quite the motor starter hanging on the front. Not factory! Is it magnetic or manual? Is your saw wired for 110 or 220? Amp ratings?

Craig

I don't know enough about these things to say what it is, but something's not right about it. The internal components are not connected to anything, just on-off switch.

[WCraig]

I don't know enough about these things to say what it is, but something's not right about it. The internal components are not connected to anything, just on-off switch.

The "internal components" are a magnetic contactor or at least it appears to be most of the parts of such. Some "enterprising" former owner appears to have mounted a manual starter to the door of the enclosure. Can you get more detailed pictures of that?

I like a mag starter because if the power blinks when the saw is running, it shuts down and doesn't jump back to life when power is restored. I don't think that has every actually happened to me in practise but I like the insurance.

There is nothing wrong with a manual motor starter as long as it is sized correctly for the motor. There is a heavy inrush of current when a motor starts and the contacts could melt or burn off if they are too small. That's why a light switch is a bad idea for controlling a motor. In the same way, the contactor in a mag starter also needs to be rated for at least the size of motor it is controlling.

What size is your motor? Voltage?

Craig