Moving a T-Bolt

[Chriswg]

Hi all,

Just looking at the practical side of moving a Thunderbolt. Getting it on the back of a pick up truck is easy with a loading dock, however getting it off on the other end may be a challenge.

Can anyone confirm whether the blower section could be lifted down from the back of a truck with two or three people or is it going to be too heavy?

[Brendan W]

It can be moved with the help of 2-3 (although I would recommend 4) people. Me and 2-3 of my neighbors helped move the blower on mine when I had to move mine when the HOA got their panties in a wad over it. I however no longer own the siren if that is relevant.

[QuantumCurse]

Bolting it to a pallet will probably help you the best. That's how mine came and it was easy to move after that with the help of a tractor with forks. If that's not possible for you buying moving dollies from Harbor Freight will help you move it. That is also what I did. Mine is currently mounted to a set of dollies. Hope this helped.

[Hannah]

Method above works but depends on series of blower. The big a1s i can tell you from personal experience that you will not be able to move them without taking them apart they're that heavy. The smaller 4M series blowers you could move a little easier probably without taking it apart. Now if it's a 5 m you might have a little bit of trouble moving it in one piece and it may require to be taken apart to be moved.

[dilloncarpenter]

Two other people and myself were able to get my full blower out of a pickup truck with a ramp. It definitely was not easy, but it is doable. Three people can move an entire head unit easily.

[coastalsyrolover]

If I move a blower I'd probably try taking it apart first... it's doable but it's a lot of work fully assembled. The head however can be dollyed semi easily. Perhaps one of those flat dollies the consist of 4 boards in a square with wheels... usually found at harbor freight or Home Depot. Figuring out a ramp for that though might be another story...

[TboltTX1]

Can anyone confirm whether the blower section could be lifted down from the back of a truck with two or three people or is it going to be too heavy?

It really depends on what size blower it is.

I have an A series 6M blower and had only one other person to help me move it (neither of us could lift any of the disassembled components by hand). So to move it we opted to rent an engine lift with a trailer hitch attachment which was used to lift the entire blower assembly onto the back of a pickup truck. I then ratcheted the blower assembly over the tailgate and to the rear bumper, once it was in the back, so it wouldn't slide forward and drove very conservatively over to where it would be stored to avoid making harsh stops and possibly breaking the ratchet straps or bending the tailgate (it really is that heavy).

6M Thunderbolt blower.JPG (123.55 KiB) Viewed 6687 times

While it was suspended in the air by the engine lift and after removing it from the pickup bed, I used the holes already drilled in the frame, which were originally used to mount it to the wooden skid, to mount some heavy duty casters on the assembly. This allowed me to roll it around in one piece easily (at least on smooth surfaces) once it was on the ground.