I bought a new 60 gallon vertical air compressor that weighs 475 lbs. It's bolted to a pallet and it needs to be unbolted, hoisted up and then moved to the mounting location and dropped onto mounting studs.
But... I don't see a safe way to hoist it up and it doesn't have any apparent lift points. Just chaining it up to a hoist would bend various guards and lines. It looks like I could build a custom lift frame to do the job but it doesn't seem like that should be necessary. I sure don't want it toppling over.
re: How to safely remove air compressor from pallet?
Ken, mine at work are mounted on (bolted to) a steel subframe, a pallet of sorts, it is made of 1/4" angle iron and has two pieces of rectangular tube beneath it for the forks of the lift truck to hoist into position where it is then bolted down by the angle iron.
At home my compressor sounds the same as yours, I left it on the skid but modified it a little. I added two 2"x4" boards down the middle to make 4 'beams' on the skid, then cut out the first couple of 'deck boards' in the center to give me increased clearance to get to the drain at the bottom. The whole skid is then bolted in place using long carriage bolts up on the mezzanine in my shop.
BTW, all my compressors get modified a little to receive two drain valves.
I toss the standard drain cock in the tool box and put a brass T-fitting in it's place. One end of the T gets an auto drain, when the system pressure drops to ~30 psi (weekends) it opens and blows off any accumulated water. This style has a hose barb and we run clear poly tube into a clear container so we can monitor the amount of water coming out.
The other end of the T gets a brass 'toggle drain' like you would find on a truck with air brakes. This has a spring-loaded center pin with a hole in it to receive a pull cord. Moving the pin in any direction causes it to open. The cord from it hangs down beneath the compressor and can be used to bleed off pressure, drain water, or just to check if there is water at all.
re: How to safely remove air compressor from pallet?
This compressor has a ball valve out the bottom side which makes it easy to manually drain but the automatic one sounds like a better way to go when working for an extended period.
Maybe the manufacturer (Quincy) will have some suggestions on hoisting it up. It's rather dumb that they don't have lifting eyes or at least holes for hooks or straps.
re: How to safely remove air compressor from pallet?
I never took mine off the pallet it came on. Made it easy to move with a pallet hand truck when the junk behind it needed cleaned out, plus it was easy to load when I sold it.
Mine was an el cheapo TSC, when it got below about twenty degrees I left a heat bulb on the compressor or the motor didn't have enough torque to get it going and it would trip the breaker. Hope you bought a better one then the one I had.
This compressor has a ball valve out the bottom side which makes it easy to manually drain but the automatic one sounds like a better way to go when working for an extended period.Maybe the manufacturer (Quincy) will have some suggestions on hoisting it up. It's rather dumb that they don't have lifting eyes or at least holes for hooks or straps.
Maybe now's the time to weld on your own lifting eyes. My heavy (500 lb) walk behind concrete saw didn't come with an eye---of course it wasn't intended to be lifted via crane into a dump trailer either. But now I can load unload without help, nor ramps.
Maybe now's the time to weld on your own lifting eyes. My heavy (500 lb) walk behind concrete saw didn't come with an eye---of course it wasn't intended to be lifted via crane into a dump trailer either. But now I can load unload without help, nor ramps.
You might be right. I've had my eye on a Hobart 187 MIG welder for a few months now...
re: How to safely remove air compressor from pallet?
No lifting eyes? No problem. Just bend a 3/8" rod into a U and weld the legs to the tank side. A few spare U bolts work great too--- just be sure to grind off the plating and try to not use and cut off the threaded portion. The threads make it weaker, and not so professional-looking.
re: How to safely remove air compressor from pallet?
Yep, the idea of welding on the tank gives me the willies and I'm sure it would void any tank warranty.
The manufacturer, Quincy, emailed me a reply that said to just use a lifting strap (not chain) under the U-channel where the motor and compressor mount. It looked to me like that would put pressure on the finned lines from the compressor but I'll have another look tonight.
How to safely remove air compressor from pallet?: Tools - Techniques Howto -- Tools Discussion Forum
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02-06-2010, 21:25 
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