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Justin’s dad had some large tools, so we decided we would look into having someone move them for us.  No one local to his home would return our calls and none of the larger shipping companies wanted such a small order with such large pieces.

In the end we read, researched, schemed, prayed, and moved it ourselves, with a little help on each end!

We were looking into something reasonable to do the heavy lifting.  Could we rent a fork lift?  How does one get it to the location?  Can we even run a fork lift?

Finally I ran across a pallet truck.  We were sure it cost less than hiring a mover, and can be used to move the tools around in the garage later.

We started the adventure by loading the pallet truck on the UHaul trailer and tying it down.  It took some doing to get it up, since it has tip over bars (thankfully!).  We even bought a boot to keep the trailer from being taken—a lesson learned from the loss of our troop trailer.

The next day we made the drive up, met with his dad’s  housekeeper and her husband, and began the loading process.

We loaded smaller tools and ordered pizza.  Some of our crew placed the trailer by hand due to the tight quarters.  It took some thinking, planning, some pushing with a couple of neighbors who popped out to lend a hand, and a come along to get the lathe loaded.  When the mill didn’t fit through the garage door, we decided to call it a night for the loading, and read up on it.

In the morning, we started fresh, loading the mill and pallet truck.  We met with a person in estate sales.  We got brunch and started the long haul home.

When we arrived around six in the evening, I learned that Justin didn’t feel comfortable dropping the loaded trailer to do the unloading.  As the truck wouldn’t fit all the way in the driveway, we had to complete the unloading before we could stop for the night.  A neighbor stopped by as we took off the mill to help us watch the balancing.  Because our unloading was on a slight incline, I called a friend who sent her husband and son to help with the lathe.  Justin was sure his plan would work (and it did), but I really wanted that extra set of hands if we needed to make an adjustment as we went.

To get it off, we loaded the lathe on the forks.  Justin then drove the trailer out from under the lathe so we would not jostle it by sliding it away from the trailer.  It worked perfectly.

Just don’t ask for anything in the garage right now!

So grateful it is done and all is safe.