So I’ve been trying to contact various sources regarding many aspects of getting the machine here and operational. I found a super for spools but noticed that the hole for them is smaller than the spindles on the machine. Turns out that the factory made my machine assuming I would use cardboard spools. Ummm, why not use spindles that can handle cardboard or nylon spools? I can get spinthat will fit for $200 plus shipping. Okay, so it’ll be cheaper to have them made locally because the shipping will be expensive. Then the spool maker didn’t want to talk then said they weren’t sure how much shipping would be. A hundred spools would cost $500 and the shipping would be at least $500. So I’m back to just making my own spools…
I sent an email to the freight forwarder asking what the address was for the rail yard the machine was going to and they said they would update my contact inland send me an A/N (arrival notice) when available. So not at all helpful.
At some point I saw the zip code for the rail yard which is the yard in Avon. Actually, the zip code is for Clermont but the rail yard is has the same zip but is surrounded by the Avon zip. Anyhow I sent an email to to the CSX Intermodal Office in Avon to ask about pick up procedures. They responded and clearly answered most of my questions and told me how to proceed! OMG,THANK YOU! So I had hoped that I could maybe hire a flatbed tow truck or a hauler with a piggyback forklift to simply meet me at the yard and pull the machine out and load it on their truck then take it to the workshop and set it on the ground for me but I was told the container had to be taken off site to be unloaded. I also considered renting a flatbed truck and having the container loaded on it and then use the lift gate and a forklift to get it on the ground but a flatbed truck is $240 per day and $0.38 per mile and the yard willcharfe a $50 lift fee to put the container on the truck. The container will already be on a chassis (container trailer) and a semi tractor is $150 per day plus $0.49 per mile and no lift fee. So having the use of the lift gate will cost $140 more plus the cost to rent or buy straps. So I think I’ll just rent a tractor and save a little money and time but unloading the machine will be more of a challenge without a lift gate.
If I pull the machine most of the way out of the container and set the end that’s pulled out on stands then I can reposition the forklift so I could under the center of the machine and get it out of the container and on the ground. So I looked to see in I could rent trailer stands because they are trailer height and designed to keep heavy trailers from tipping forward with the weight of the forklift inside but I can’t find anywhere to rent them so I think I’ll have to make stands for this procedure. They just have to take the vertical force of half the machine’s weight. So I can build them out of wood as long as they have a wide enough bases to be stable. Like 4 – 2×3 corners a foot apart with 2×3s tying them together and a 2×12 cap. I can tie the two stands together with a few 2×3s for added stability. They just need to hold one end of the machine so its level until the forklift is moved to the center of the machine and lifts the entire machine by itself…