Ok, so I promised my readers (and myself) that I’d document every bit of restoring this beast. Well, I thought I’d start by blogging about how we moved the press from point A to B. Just to put it in perspective for you, this machine is not small or easy to move.  According to Excelsior Press, this thing weighs about 1800 lbs. And look at the shape of that thing – it ain’t no square! It’s an awkward piece of machinery that opens and closes with the turn of the flywheel, so we really had to strategize the best way to move it.  A friend of our moved his press (which was an 8×12) using his truck and a U-haul trailer, some 2×4′s, some wood sheets, a carjack, and a pallet jack…  and that is exactly what we did.

First, we positioned the wood near the press so that when the carjack lifted it up, we’d be ready to slip the wood underneath the slats. We first use a regular carjack much like this one, but we couldn’t get it to work because of the weird angles that were necessary to crank it. Luckily, our friend’s truck came with a jack (pictured below), which did the trick.

We lifted the back of the press first, just enough to slip the 2×4′s underneath the slats. This was probably the most nerve-wracking part, because we were scared of tipping the press over. Our main concern was safety, so we had to remind ourselves that if we noticed the press tipping beyond control, we’d have absolutely no leverage to save it, and that we’d have no choice but to let it go. Luckily, this didn’t happen to us, but it’s scary to think about. Four guys is still no match for this 1800 lb monster.

Once we had the back of the press lifted, we set up the carjack to lift up the front of the press.

Same procedure here…

Here’s a photo of our press lifted! Phew!

Now all we had to do was slip the pallet jack underneath and crank it up to lift the press off the 2×4′s.

Then, we were able to slide the 2×4′s out of the way and move the press via the pallet jack. Much easier on wheels, I tell ya! ..not that I did much lifting/moving personally.. hehe. ;)

Here’s a shot of the U-haul utility trailer (5×7 with ramp). We put some wooden sheets down to ease the transition from the asphalt to the ramp.

And there are the boys pushing with all their might! This was probably the second scariest moment of all – I was so worried that the press would roll down or slide off the pallet jack. I’d recommend tying it down to the pallet jack tight before pushing. And make sure that it’s also in its closed position so that it doesn’t move.

Now we just had to tie it down to the trailer and drive to our destination!

Here they are unloading the press. Same procedure as before – just rolling it down the ramp carefully.

And voila! There she is, sitting pretty in her new home. :)

Disclaimer: This is just a way for me to document how I moved my press. I am in no way suggesting that this is safe for everyone.  I was lucky enough to have a friend who had the expertise to guide and direct us since he’d moved a press before. I would not recommend moving a press like this with no experience.