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Moving large format printers.

Bill DiStasio

New Member
Howdy, I am moving my Epson sc40600 across town to a much bigger place. I am considering hiring someone . Any suggestions about what I need to do with the printer before the move? Is it ok to just have anyone do it or are there people out there that do this in their job? Does it need to be done by some a technician.
Thanks for anything.
 

SignMeUpGraphics

Super Active Member
I'd just get a truck with a tail lift. Wheel the thing on, strap it down carefully then relocate it.
I've moved a couple of wide format roll machines before and it wasn't too stressful.
Not sure if the Epson has a "relocate" feature which will dump the ink out of the head/lines for transportation.
 

rjssigns

Active Member
Head should have something to lock it in place. Don't want that rattling around. My Mutoh was delivered fully assembled in an enclosed trailer so I agree with Sign Me Up.
 

Aflac

New Member
We just moved two Roland VG540 1,500 miles no problem at all. We took them off the stands, set them on some big wooden block, and strapped them down in our cargo van. There is a headlock device for these machines which we used. No problems once we unloaded them and fired um up, all was good. Good luck with your move!!!
 

soggywinter

New Member
Rent a liftgate truck and move the printer yourself. The user manual or an Epson unboxing video on Youtube should show all of the places where they tape or clamp components during shipping. Keep in the mind that the 40600 is top heavy and does not ship assembled so it is imperative that you move it slowly and have multiple guys to control it when moving on sloped terrain. Strap the printer the inside of your box truck. Put an almost full glass of water on your dashboard. If the water is spilling, you're taking corners and breaking too fast. If it were me, I would also take a few bolts out of the stand and test them with a metal hardness kit to determine how strong they are. I have had pig iron fasteners in other pieces of equipment fail from what I would have expected to be routine movement and stress.
 

victor bogdanov

Active Member
I moved a couple rolands in a uhaul van. secure the heads, take off base and laydown on some blankets, padding with more blankets to prevent shifting
 
I have moved 6 Epson s70s and now 4 Epson S80s over the last 5 years. The first move I hired a moving company to move our office and the move was about 30 miles, they used a lift gate to get the printers into the box trucks, strapped them to the side walls and we were off. The unload was easy because our old facility had loaded docks, so we just rolled them out of the truck. Our newest facility werented a box truck with lift gate and moved them ourselves as the move was only about 4 miles. All we did was wait until the last minute to unplug them, then rolled them into the box trucks and strspped them to the sides of the box truck. Used the lift gate and a few people to steady them at our new facility and lowered them down on the lift gates. They should roll easily on the supplied casters. We never secured the heads (probably should have in Hindi sight, but never had any issues because we made sure they were never jostled around too much). For our larger printers and CNC machines we hired a moving company who had moved our equipment many times before without issue, our last move was on a Friday and the crew wanted to "get out early" so they rushed and dropped one of our 16 ft. Hybrids off their curtain truck and it caused several thousands in damages to the machine. This highlights to me that you just need to not rush things as we successfully moved our smaller Epsons without issue because we took our time and we're safe, the "professionals" rushed it and caused huge headaches and thousands of dollars in damages.
 

Erik Mello

New Member
My father and I do this all the time. We have a trailer with a ramp that we use to carefully wheel the printers up and down. We typically move Oki M64's using this method, and those are larger than the S40's. We installed a winch at the front of the trailer as well. Pulling it up the ramp can be a one-man job with this! Then we place it in the center of the trailer, strap the printer to the sides with several straps, close the door and drive very slowly! We've done this probably 50 times so far and never had an issue.
 
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