Can anyone share some ideas on loading 1/4” sheets on the table without a forklift? Setting up my new table soon and just trying to get some ideas. Thanks in advance!
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I have a 3x2 rolling cart that we put the sheet dead center on top of. The cart is just slightly higher than the table. Get a guy on either end and slowly work it over to the table. I also need a better way of doing this. But I have moved a lot of sheets of quarter inch plate from the main bench where we offload it to the XR.
I wish the xr’s y rails were a little bit longer so you can move the gantry a little bit more out of the way. We are extremely careful not to be rough with the gantry while we’re loading sheets.
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I bought one of those lift carts. Depending on the height you need. They are either around 200 for 34 inches or 500 for a 54 inch one. Husky makes one or Harbor Freight or strongway.
Also if you have the room an a frame or gantry crane.
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How do you unload them when you get them? I would do it the same way.
Tip it on to the leading edges of the plate on the slats and then skid it on at a slight angle, then drop it down.
Appreciate the lift cart idea. I’ll try and build a crane eventually. We use a forklift to unload them from the truck but driving a forklift through a smaller shop can be difficult. We currently cut the 1/4 down for our pro table. Just trying to figure it out before set up the XR. We use alot of 1/4” and got to come up with something and to save metal cutting a full sheet would be one of the reasons I purchased the XR.
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I have a Cheap HoboFart Engine host. I have welded a large (3/4 -1”) nut to the plate and picked it up and swung it onto my Crossfire pro. since then I picked up a switchable magnet for loading plates. But the nut worked for 1/4 and 3/8” plate in the past.
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Gantry crane works best for me with 4 way chain, walk it right over table and drop in place.