PRT disassembly and transport

[ron_churches]

Hi,
I'm buying a 2005 PRT96 on Thursday and will need to move it 600 miles. Having never seen a shopbot in person before, I'm wondering what tools are needed to remove the gantry to transport the machine safely.I intend to rent a 6x12 u-haul trailer and have 4 guys lined up to help load,any guidance regarding moving one of these things would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Ron

[bill_lumley]

Ron , welcome to the shopbot family . A full set of Allen Keys and open ended wrenches in American sizes should be enough and maybe vice grips and a set of screwdrivers . The current manual is online and they have a set of tools identified there that should not be too far off what you need . It is really not that tricky to take apart . More time should be taken however when assemlbing to be sure it is lined up properly . Never assume the last guy had everything perfect
4 Guys is plenty of help . The gantry will be the heaviest part and no issue for a few guys . Take some scrap wood to be sure the gantry wheels do not touch the ground . Also some wire cutters to remove any tie wraps that hold the wiring harness' together .

Bill

[ed_lysne]

Also... make careful notes of any wiring you disconnect and add tape to the ends of the wires with notes on connection points. Wiring can be a big hassle.

[myxpykalix]

The most important tool is a digitsl camera. Take bunches of pictures from every concievable angle both establishing shot and closeup to show where everything is before disaaaembly so you can have a roadmap on how to get it back.

Not being familiar with your model you should be able to take the carriage offf the rails, turn it sideways and lay it in the bed of the table up on blocks (after router removal) and strap it down.
You can go to BigLots and get a set up those ratchet straps of 6 for like 10 bucks. Get 2 sets.
You can't use too many as far as i'm concerned.
You can loosen the drive motors (mine are tightened with a turnbuckle).

I would leave all my wire connected but i would take plastic bags and tape all of the motors, control box individually along with a double layer of plastic over my entire table.

For the cost of plastic $40.00 (heavy gauge) its worth the protection.
You may want to ask others about whther it would be advisable to detach the control box alltogether and carry inside vehicle for any potential damage from bumps.

[blackhawk]

Ron - I also bought my PRT Alpha used about 250 miles away. I rented a 6X12 Uhaul exactly as you intend. You definitely don't want anything smaller. I left the spoilboard attached to the 5 or 6 angle braces. The braces made good handles to carry it around. We had to angle it quite a bit to fit through the trailer door, but once inside we were able to lay it flat. We then laid everything on top of the spoilboard. The Y carriage will slide right off of the X rails once the X motors are disengaged, but watch out for any prox sensors. I left everything attached on the Y carriage. I tied up the X motors to keep them from swinging around. You also want to lock the Y carriage in place to keep it from sliding back and forth during transit. I used a bunch of super long wire ties to hold everything down. The Y carriage is a beast. I did it with two people, but I wouldn't do that again.

[michael_schwartz]

Make sure to have a good socket set, and a cordless impact driver is nice if you have one. I used both a 1/2" and 3/8" drive socket wrench frequently when setting up my bot. A few extensions are useful as well.

Bring something to clip wire ties.

A set of allen wrenches is also a must have, and a dead-blow mallet and block of wood are useful.

I would also bring something to deal with stripped screw, or rounded bolt heads just incase. Not likely to happen but just in case.

When you rent the truck stop by home depot and grab some 2x4's, some 1x pine, and a few sheets of 5/16" OSB and some drywall screws. Bring a cordless drill, and a skillsaw.

[bcondon]

Grab the instruction manual off the SHopbot web site and READ IT... Then think about the reverse operation.

The manual is a good reference.

if you have a pocket labler, or masking tape and a sharpie to label all those pesky wires!

[porscheman]

I moved a 4x8 PRT machine 300 miles, using many of the suggestions above. As Brad points out, once the X motors are disengaged from the racks, several strong people can lift off the entire gantry. Before lifting it off, slide the Z-axis assembly (carriage??) all the way to one end of the gantry and then cut a piece of plywood that will fit inside the Y-rails (approximately 18" wide and about 3 feet long). This gives you a great platform on which you can coil up and lay all the cables that run from the machine to the control box/PC. You may even be able to lay the box/PC on that platform as well. Take a roll of 6" wide stretch wrap, which is invaluable for strapping down all the loose wires and other components that may want to flop around.

As Jack suggested, I took tons of digital photos before I disassembled the Bot and unhooked any cables. And finally, on my particular PRT machine, I left the two leg assemblies intact. In doing so, the big/heavy pieces were:

2 leg assemblies
2 long/heavy C-channels with X-rails attached
Misc cross braces, which can be left attached to the spoilboard if you're keeping it.
Bot gantry

Though it was a very full load, I got all these items into the back of a full sized pickup truck. If you do leave the X-rails attached to the big C-channels, take extra care not to bang anything into the tops of the X rails - any small dents or divots in the rails will translate into machine cutting inaccuracies (or a lot of hand filing to get rid of them). While I had then had to reassemble and resquare up the machine in my shop, that process was extremely helpful in beginning to familarize myself with all aspects of the machine.

Hope this helps.

John

[rb99]

Does the gantry need to come off?

Could it be blocked and clamped to secure it?

RIB

[jerry_stanek]

It is best to take the gantry off as it bouncing around could damage the rails.

[taskins]

Ron-
You can find a couple of posts where several guys have bolted trailer jacks to each leg and rolled the entire machine onto a trailer. I did it with mine and loaded the bot intact with 2 people and a come along. If you take the X drive motors off 2 people can lift the gantry off and turn it 90 degrees and then strap it to the table. You'll still have to re-square and set up before you can cut but I found it much easier at my place vs. trying to grasp everything at the pickup site. Good luck!

[marc]

All good advice Ron, you should do fine with that information.
I moved mine 5 1/2 hours away from it's previous owner. We secured the gantry to the rails with about a dozen truck straps, and packaging wrap (Saran Wrap style). We also disconnected everything that could be put back together without any splicing. The camera saved my butt more than once. I secured the control box to the wasteboard to prevent any rocking.
Renting a U-haul worked well, but the rental company wants to know that you are towing a car...they even asked for a plate number of the vehicle being towed! The answer was easy, there is no plate, that's why it's being towed.
Like Bill says, spend extra time putting it back together, as you cannot be sure that it was installed properly, or to your needs the first time around. We had to rewire the control box so the router could be switched on/off from the software. Once again, that was my preference over his.
Jerry recommends taking the gantry off. Very wise choice. Mine suffered small indentations on one of the x-rails from bouncing up and down on the highway. Not noticeable when building cabinets, but present when doing carvings.
We also brought a dozen moving blankets and tarps. We had rain that day of course, but it made it home safe.
The overall table was jacked on casters secured to pieces of wood and somewhat rolled onto the bed of the U-haul. There was only 2 of us, and really could've used 2 more.
I was quite anxious to get it working, and I don't regret my choice. Take your time to do it right, and you will avoid many problems which only compound each other.

The support you'll find on this forum is unbelievable, and Shopbot telephone support doesn't seem to care that you have a simple question. They're always there with a correct answer. How often can you ask a question at midnight and have an answer at 7:01 the next morning?

Good luck to you, and welcome.

[curtiss]

You would want the weight centered slightly forward of the center of the trailer, then properly blocked so a sudden stop/ slowdown will not allow anything to slide forward. (per Isiac Newton)

ditto Jack Jarvis packing above...

[jamesgilliam]

Ron, I moved my PRT almost three years ago fairly easily. I used trailer jacks with wheels on all four legs. I moved the Y and Z cars to center, loostend the stepper motors on the Y car so they dropped down, lifted the Y car straight up and blocked it where the rollers would not contact the rails, lowered the Z onto a piece of scrap resting on a foam block. At this point I turned off the control box and disconnected it from the computer. Then I wrapped the control box in plastic and laid it on the table on foam to absorb any bumps. Strapped the Y car, Z car and box to the table so they would not shift. Jacked the machine up, rolled it down the driveway into the street, up onto the trailer and strapped it down for the ride. Funny thing it was easier to get it off the trailer than onto it. Once in place in the new shop I let it down, checked level and square, reconnected the control box to the computer, surfaced the table and went back to work. Only problem I had was with the zero plate and that turned out to be a loose connection. My only helper for the move was my wife.

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[jnbish]

James, Is that a RANGER scroll on your hat?
Jeff Bishop