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How should I tie down a jointer for transport in my trailer?

5K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  rwe2156 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I recently bought a used 8" jointer and will haul it in my 4'x8' utility trailer. What is the best way to secure it? I assume it's not a good idea to crank down the tie-down straps across the infeed and outfeed tables, and there don't seem to be any convenient gaps that I can slip a tie-down strap through. It also won't lie down flat on its back or front.

It seems like it might be best to try to haul it upright but maybe I'm missing something. If I need to remove the tables first I suppose I can do that, though I'd prefer not to. I was thinking about fastening some cross beams from one side of the trailer to the other (it has removable wood sides), or perhaps making a sort of crate that wraps around the base to help keep it from tipping. How does everyone else move long bed, small-base jointers? What's the best way to secure it?
 
#2 ·
Haul it upright, loop the tie down strap around the infeed/outfeed once and secure it too the floor. Don't cinch it down crazy tight.
With the jointer in the center of the trailer, imagine the straps angled 45 degrees from the jointer to the trailer floor.
Don't make the strap angle any tighter than that.

If you can't secure it to the floor, then the sidewalls should be okay, it will secure it from side to side motion, but won't do much good vertically. that's why a 45 degree angle is best.
If the angle is steeper than 45 degrees, then you will get good vertical security, but practically no side motion security.
 
#3 · (Edited by Moderator)
Thanks for the tip; the 45-degree angle in tying it down to the floor makes sense. What I was worried about was that I might damage the castings by tying it down by the tables. Is it better to tie down closer to center, for example, above the ends of the base, instead of putting the straps out at the ends of the tables?
 
#4 ·
What has always happened to me is that the tool shifts on the floor of the trailer slightly, which in turn loosens one of the straps. If your trailer has a wooden floor, I would screw blocking directly to the floor at the base to prevent shifting. The for strapping, you could loop on from the front and one from the rear and overlap them in right over the cutterhead area in a way that they are pulling on each other. I just hauled a bandsaw 200 miles laying on it's spine, and the blocking really helped.
 
#5 ·
As it turned out, there was a gentleman there who was very experienced with moving machinery and farm equipment, and he helped me tie it down. He even offered to load it with the forklift but we got it loaded pretty easily. We just removed the sides, threw one strap over each table, locked the wheels on the mobile base, and tightened down a ratchet strap the way nkawtg mentioned, at a roughly 45-degree angle.

Fred, thanks for the extra tip regarding the blocking; I know that would have been handy a couple times in the past. I did take along some pieces of 2×6 to screw down to the floor for blocking but the guy who helped me tie it down said the jointer would stay put. He seemed like he really knew his stuff so I trusted him and the jointer didn't budge over its 40-mile trip.

Just in case anyone else ever has to haul a jointer cross-country, the guy said if we were hauling it a lot further, he'd suggest putting rubber between the table and the tie-down strap because otherwise the strap would rub and wear grooves into the table around the corners.
 
#7 ·
My experience hauling heavy equipment is use the blocking on the floor to prevent sliding then tie downs opposing each other opposite sides.

Heavy machinery is not going to move much unless its tall like a bandsaw.
 
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