CNCToolCat's Cat-House

Unloading a brand-spanking new (all they had) 15.5k-pound capacity Caterpillar cushion-tire forklift, with 96” forks (all they had!). The forklift weighs 21.5k pounds, and is made by Mitsubishi.

Renting the big yellow beast for a week, as there’s some machinery to be moved around, and some machinery to be moved in…

Stay tuned!

ToolCat Greg

I can't imagine what it would be like to drive a brand new forklift.

I wouldn't even be able to get that beast far enough in my shop to close the door! LOL

Weirdly, when I took the state required "forklift training" (which can be summarized in 5 minutes but somehow required 8 hours) we were all required to drive a forklift a little bit - and the only one at hand was a Very Brand New forklift. So I drove it for like 200 yards. I did sit in another one once while contemplating whether a new forklift was a pleasing way to waste money, but decided against it....

More to the point - big forklift implies big interesting changes.... We're waiting...

That forklift doesn't look like it has enough ass on it to do 15.5k. Seems way smaller than the Nissan lifts I used to drive in lumber yards during the summers in college. I think those were 5k.

Antarctica said:

That forklift doesn't look like it has enough ass on it to do 15.5k. Seems way smaller than the Nissan lifts I used to drive in lumber yards during the summers in college. I think those were 5k.

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Look again. That is a double axle rollback (that truck can put 45kish on the deck) and the forks are 8' long. The counterweight itself looks exactly double what I would expect an 8k forklift to have and the mast looks real heavy, like a 20K+ size.

The only thing I'm not impressed with are the heels of the forks. They look a tad on the thin side for 8ft long.

The new Hysters I have rented all have finger tip controls. I didn't expect to see hand levers on a brand new Cat. New forklifts are so nice. Especially the big ones. The engine automatically revs up when you use the hydraulics. They have way more power than old lifts. Everything is so tight and smooth. And fork positioners, those things are the bee's knees.

On Monday with the big Cat, we moved the two gear hobs and finished-parts pallet rack two feet down the main wall where they set. Yes, the meager two feet was needed…lol




(On a side note, it’s kinda ironic how the ToolCat ends up renting a Cat for use at the Cathouse…lol)

Tuesday (today) the big Cat was put to a bit more of a challenge than the 7k pound Barber Colman 16-16’s.

It was time to move a 12.5k pound QT28N. We basically just have to turn the big unit 90 degrees, from parallel to the long wall of the shop to perpendicular.

There is problem though: the machine sets only about 1” off the floor, while the forks get to 3-1/2” thickness at the heel.

So, how to get under the QT?
We used a “see-saw” trick that I learned from my friend Sandy, on how to get a long narrow machine like a lathe up off the concrete a few inches.

We easily got a fork in deep enough under the tailstock-end, and starting blocking the machine up from that end.



After each block-move-left, we would get a better bite with the fork, making it easier to lift the machine higher for the next block shift.

The goal is to keep blocking a 4x4 towards the opposite side of the machine, just past the center of gravity.



Once we got the 4x4 left to a point under the chuck, I then had Chuck lower the forks, and walla! The machine “see-saw’d” to the right, lifting the heavy headstock end up.



Now that she’s up high enough, next was getting a bite on the entire machine. We used a ratchet step just for piece of mind, although the machine was stable on the forks.



We were about a foot from the mast, and the lathe has a 2-1/2 foot load center (estimated),
so we end up with a total load center of about 3-1/2 feet. Considering that, with a 12.5k lathe hanging off the forks, it shows how stout this 15.5k lift is! (The lift itself weighs 21.5k pounds.)

The Cat is larger in person than it looks. Chuck is 6’3’, 250 for comparison…haha

We got the QT turned 90 degrees and while still on the cribbing (thankfully), I decided to move it 8” closer to the wall. To maximize center isle space down the shop.

The chip conveyor comes out towards the wall, and I have the machine just far enough off the wall to clear a chip hopper rolled under the conveyor. (Does 2” clearance between the wall the chip hopper count as “just far enough”?…lol)




So, we got her spot-on level, and at the correct height for the coolant tank. Then we decided to clean out the coolant tank while we were at it.

Where’s Mike Rowe when you need him, because cleaning coolant tanks is for sure a Dirty Job!

Tomorrow is another big day for “ToolCat Rigging LLC.” A truck is showing up from Kansas with another task for the Cat, stay tuned.

ToolCat

(Does 2” clearance between the wall the chip hopper count as “just far enough”?…lol)

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As long as you're OK with the hopper tradin' paint with the metal on the wall - I'm OK with it.


Not seen anything about the newsed shop.
Any news there?


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

Damn!! I stand corrected! That Cat must have a solid lead counterweight on the back!! It does look bigger in some of the later pictures.

Looking forward to seeing the incoming 'project'.....

Ox said:

As long as you're OK with the hopper tradin' paint with the metal on the wall - I'm OK with it.


Not seen anything about the newsed shop.
Any news there?


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

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We're gonna screw some 3/4" plywood along the wall where the chip hopper is. That way we just kinda use the plywood as a track to shove against as we push the hopper into place under the conveyor...haha!

The newsed shop was purchased April 2020, so almost a year and a half now. We're still renting space at this location on the other end of town (like the Cathouse it's right off I81).

The shop was owned by two brothers who were partners with my dad (he sold out about 5 years ago.) My company bought the non-active brother completely out, and the shop we purchased is paying the salary (and buyout) of the other brother Montie--who is our salesman (and a good one!)

Montie lives in Kentucky, and keeps inventory at his place. He delivers to the mines and distributors weekly, and scurries to Virginia every week to stock up on inventory and pick up orders to deliver.

I plan to have Montie's share of his shop purchased completely within a couple more years, but he wants to keep working after that. At 70, he's hyper, likes the work and especially the people, and I've told him as long as we get along (and we do, after all he lives 2-1/2 hours away) he can work as long as he wants.

Montie is the main reason I purchased his shop. He and I have always worked well together (remember he was partners with my dad for a decade), and he's good at what he does (sales) and I'm good at what I do (making parts) and that we can only win working together. So we do!

I have been running the purchased shop just as needed, since the two machine operators quit because we let the foreman go when we purchased the place.

So, I've used my people (including summer help) to run inventory as needed at the purchased shop (similar products). But most days are here at the Cathouse.

We hope to get the machines moved out of the rented shop by year's end, but that goal is slipping (we have no yearly lease, so can basically split any month, with a month's notice).

Turns out, we (mainly me) have been too busy to focus on the logistics of the "BIG MOVE".

You know how it is, when it comes to sorting and organizing and throwing out and getting stuff ready to move, people tend to stand around waiting on what to do... haha

In business you have to distinguish between absolute deadlines and flexible deadlines...and with the benefit of a monthly lease, moving the purchased shop's machinery is definitely a flexible deadline. I've lost too much hair over the years fretting over this shop...lol!

Anyway, we've been busy with the uptick in the U.S. coal industry, so we're riding the wave!

ToolCat

The next day we used the big Cat forklift to unload yet another Mazak QT28N lathe for the Cathouse. This machine is 28N number 4, adding to our arsenal of quality older Mazaks.

I found this one at a large factory (via a dealer) way out in Kansas!




We used a rigging and hauling company called Hutchinson’s to pick the machine up, hold at their place till we were ready, then haul to southwest Virginia to it’s new home.

Check out the tandem 3rd drive axle, and the size of the front tires on that Kenworth. Driver says this load was nothing, he usually pulls the big heavy stuff. He was headed to South Carolina with the other machine on the trailer.




My only gripe was the blankets they used were greasy, and left blackness on the machine...it did clean off easily though.

I was so busy guiding the forklift, I didn’t get any pictures of the actual unloading process. The 15.5k Cat had no trouble with the 12.5k machine, even lifting to a height of about 6 foot off the floor to clear a machine going in!




The ex-wifey Shauna (who has worked at the Cathouse most of the 25-yr history, baby momma, and current girlfriend of 5 years...lol) is cleaning on the new-to-us Mazak.

The machine has the factory parts catcher, and a quick-jaw-change 12” chuck. Unbeknownst to me when I purchased it, the machine is also the optional “big-bore” model, with a 4” bore spindle (3-1/2” through drawtube). Not that our products require such a deep throat, it’s nice knowing we have it if needed!


(Off to the other phone for more pics...)

ToolCat

.....you work with your ex wife?

More pics of the newest QT28, and how she fits in the shop:





The quick-change 12” chuck (they have the standard serrated adapters mounted):









ToolCat

cnctoolcat said:

The ex-wifey Shauna (who has worked at the Cathouse most of the 25-yr history, baby momma, and current girlfriend of 5 years...lol) is cleaning on the new-to-us Mazak.

ToolCat

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Alrighty then........LOL

Shop looks fantastic! I am sure she deserves some credit for that.
Does she help on your restorations of those old beasts? Or does she shy away from getting that deep?

My Wifey will come out and run parts. But ain't no way she will come out here and clean, LOL

I really don’t a need but I sure do like those qt28’s really nice long machine.

wheelieking71 said:

Alrighty then........LOL

Shop looks fantastic! I am sure she deserves some credit for that.
Does she help on your restorations of those old beasts? Or does she shy away from getting that deep?

My Wifey will come out and run parts. But ain't no way she will come out here and clean, LOL

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I'm just trying to decide if that's one person who has all three titles or if there are three different women all working at the cathouse. Inquiring minds....


Joking aside, nice shop toolcat.
Hodge

Hodge said:

I'm just trying to decide if that's one person who has all three titles or if there are three different women all working at the cathouse. Inquiring minds....


Joking aside, nice shop toolcat.
Hodge

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Can you imagine those 3 in one place at the same time?


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

Ox said:

Can you imagine those 3 in one place at the same time?


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

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No, I can't imagine...................

AJ H said:

.....you work with your ex wife?

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No, he works with his girlfriend.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

Ox said:

Can you imagine those 3 in one place at the same time?


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

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I could if the Cat House was in deepest Utah, but then he'd have more than three.

Jeez, imagine if they were all PMS'ing at the same time.