Removal of 38 Ton Motor

PW sums it up pretty good, it's best to start talking to the experts.

When we have to large lifts or placement of equipment, we go through the roof and use companies like this.

Bring in people with experience and are in the know.

HIRE AN EXPERT!

Lyn is correct. How the motor got into the building is most likely the solution to get it out!

I revised my answer. I felt the words would fall on deaf ears anyway.

yupp just noted. Now I can read minds!

You are right but nobody can see what you said!

By the way this OP problem reminds me of an old cupboard in an attic we wanted to refurbish. The attempt to move it downstairs was unsuccesful. The thing was not assembled but more or less all in one piece. But it did not go down the stairs!

We asked the owner how it got up into the attic on this 3 story house in the first place. The answer was that it was lifted in by a crane through a hole in the roof!

Go figure. I think it is still there.

Have a word with the bloke that signed up to a "return to factory" warranty .

Sounds to me like the manufacturer is trying to make the repair so difficult that you abandon the idea.

People and tools are a lot easier to move. I'd offer to fly in the techs, pay their expenses, and either supply the tools they need or have those transported to your site also. Whatever it costs will be cheaper than getting the motor to the manufacturer...................and back.

A smaller lift can be used on site for dismantling, and you can also offer some of your own people for the muscle work.

If it's a warranty issue. Offer to split the costs.

Lets face it. If something is wrong with the motor he has to move it one way or the other! Rewiring is not done where it is right now!

If it needs replacement it has to be moved!

No chance, he needs expert advice to move the beast out of the building.

Move 38 tons and what do you get?

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You'll definitely be at least another day older, and probably deeper in debt.

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For the things that affect the odds of St. Peter calling, see comments above by PWSLACK and LYN.

GA .......LMAO!~

If you remove the motor in one piece, can it be transported in one piece?

I suspect this prime mover was delivered in sections and final assembled inside the building. Removal would be the reverse order, disassemble into the prescribed pieces.

[edit] It may further be the truth that only an offending section of the motor be returned for rework, rather that the entire motor.

You will need to hire experts but in general you will have to do the following:

1. Lift the motor off its base with a temporary lifting crane

2. Place rollers under the motor base, all the same size

3. Roll it to where you want to exit the building

4. Lift onto truck.

Since you have not given any details, I would assume you can get a crane inside the building to lift the motor, also you might have to break out a wall in case you have no way of rolling it out and most importantly you have to leave the openings, cranes etc. in place when the motor comes back.

As indicated before in this thread, please HIRE AN EXPERT or you will end up with a 38 ton piece of junk on your hands, besides putting at risk the lives and well being of the workers.

...not to mention the architect...

"A power plant enclosure for a combustion turbine has a removable roof."

I spent nearly half my working life designing power plant structures and I never saw a removable roof. We did provide cranes but just for maintenance, the could carry the casings and rotors but we had to modify them to move a stator. If our turbine buildings were to be enclosed before the machinery arrived, we did special framing to allow entry from the side. It was offered up by crane, set on rollers on cribbing lowered onto shims using jacks, the bolts were inserted into the sockets and the machine was grouted, unless directly on steel framing.

Well I have spent the last 24 years of my life designing and installing specialty systems inside turbine enclosures all over the world. Virtually all of the ceiling mounted conduit is required to have quick disconnects because the roof of the CT enclosure is removable, so that the engine can be lifted out with a crane for maintenance.

Alternatively, follow the following rules of thumb when installing:

a) Keep it on ground floor,

b) provide a door nearby that us large enough to facilitate easy removal,

c) Wherever possible, split up the duty into several smaller units of whatever it is you are trying to do. Especially where multiple units provide cost advantage. I know, it's not always possible.

d) of course, if it just has to be on floor higher than ground then do put in a removable roof as mentioned by someone above.

If installed already,

1) The suppliers who do installations must know best, next the manufacturers and lastly, the client company (meaning your company) must have records of how they got this monster unit into position in the first place. Quite embarrassing if nobody knows the answer, I would think !

Nowhere in the OP does it say there is no access. In Fact the op asks if the motor can be dragged out, this suggests there is access doors......why you got 2 good answers to your post is beyond me.

I have to agree,

When a building is existing with numerous upgrades. No building will be design for all contingencies.

When our company have to upgrade, we look at all possible procedures. One of our plants is next to a river, so that may include a barge with a crane.

I have to say, my first time I had to decided on a procedure such as this, I wish I had CR4 as a resource for ideas, even with the criticism.

Well I guess you and I have a different definition of "access".

You apparently think a sufficiently large hole in a wall is access.

I think a permanently mounted ceiling crane or a removable roof is access.

I don't actually have a good suggestion but there is a web site you might want to visit. A few years ago Bill Fay from http://www.frenchriverland.com/ made some postings on CR4. He and his family work on hydro power plant equipment. There are MANY pictures posted on his web site where they move (and repair) very large equipment. It is an interesting site and might provide you with some useful ideas.

I think he has refurbished a lathe with about a 6 foot swing and an end mill with about a 10 foot table. My numbers might be off but he works with sizes and weights that are similar to yours.

Rigging sounds straight-forward if your walls / doors are appropriatly sized and you hire an experienced rigging company. Get an 80K-lb fork truck under it / over it, carry it outside and load onto an appropriately-sized double-drop with a police escort. If the destination is not nearby, then it will have to go by rail. That's the way we move our 2000-ton plus forging presses around. Watch your toes !!

It really comes down to talking to the people that actually does this.

1. Why are you returning the motor?

2. You should be able to handle any maintenance without removing it.

3. Is the floor strong enough to support such a move, assuming you use Hillman rollers?

just to get a better idea about what you have....how many horsepower is this motor??

In India you can, with some effort, find group of experts from State of Kerala called locally as "Khakha gang"who routinely do amazing erection of very heavy duty machinery by sheer innovative skills under most adverse conditions. Take the advise of maintenance chaps employed in heavy engineering industries to locate them and hand in as total turnkey project.

Good luck!

Hire a bunch of lo tech redneck teenagers and "Double Dog Dare" them that they cannot move it.No self respecting redneck teenager can resist a DDD.

They will figure it out.

30,000 lbs of bananas comes to mind, for some reason......

By the way,there are air-flotation cushions that are used to move heavy loads.They are perforated on the bottom, and use air pressure to float the load,and it will move with very little friction.I have used these to move large and heavy machinery in the past.

Also, a hydraulic crane with extendable boom can be used if the crane cannot get inside of the building, if the load is within a reasonable distance form the opening.

Good luck.

After posting a reply and returning to forum,my avatar had been changed to an image of 2 cups of steaming coffee.I did not change it.

I logged out and returned, and it is back to normal.

Is someone playing games or has someone hacked my profile?

Thanks

Google air casters. The following link shows two 8 year old girls pushing a 3 and a half ton truck sideways - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRql1fjZQf0. These can be used to move colossal weights with little effort. You may have to hydraulically lift it off its mounts or even use air bags. Some companies have systems that combine the two, so the lift is activated then the load is pushed to one side.

as mentioned before ,you have to check the area (flat and compacted)and to check the centre of cravity of the motor , and by using hydrolic liftting jack (normaly comming set of four )with one control unit and keeping water level at all sides of the motor to moniter the level during liftting and place it in rollers then start pullig or pushing the motor the direction you want ,Note :inssure that the area is compacted

Generally, when you install a piece of equipment that's fairly large and heavy in industrial settings you provide HD overhead crane rails when you build the facility! Even existing buildings can be retrofitted to accept a new crane rail. I've done this so many times in the past for GE, KAPL, military facilities, and the Watervliet Arsenal.

Doesn't take a 'Rocket Scientist' to figure this one out....

If you have to, dismantle the engine into more manageable chunks.

<...Doesn't take a 'Rocket Scientist' to figure this one out....>

38 tons??? are you sure on this weight???? this doesn't seem to add up to me.what does this motor do when it's in service??, that's gigantic!I agree with all the input about stationary cranes, rails, I-beams, etc. in most all of the States, by code you must "provide access to any equipment that you expect to "ever be serviced ( so a conduit or duct in a chase wouldn't be something you'd ever expect to access again in their normal service life). a motor however CERTAINLY would require maint and possible change out over time. but we are talking India here I suppose, codes (if they even exist) must be far more lax than here

I worked in Navy shipyards and 38 tons was nothing. 200+ ton lifts were routine, but don't stand under them.

I agree with Ronseto, 38 t is not a big deal. the issue is the means and space available.

My suggestion if the motor is ground floor or close to( i.e: 200 to 400mm) :

1.Set a pair of rails levelled with the motor base, leading outside the building.

2. Lift the motor with hydraulic jacks, set teflon plates (10x200x200, 8 of them should suffice to insert when it shifts, or one get entangled) in suitable points to allow to slide it out.

3. You can pull it out in steps, with two 5t chainblocks, +1 more to correct direction if it shifts.

4. Once out, crane.

If the motor is on a plattform, say 1.5m high, the same technique apply, but you need to calculate a frame with te required supports to do the same.

Important Notes:

a. Top of the rails should be 60mm width at least, to avoid cut the teflon plates.

b. Use common sense and qualified advice with the structure and the rails size. Reinforce in case of doubt.

c. Levelling of the rails payback in safety and efficiency.

d. Always horizontal. Forget about some slope to make it faster/easier.

c.Do not pull with electrical winches, trucks, or any other machine.

ONLY use manual chainblocks. It allows to control incidences during the maneouvre.

Here you have a sample with a 48t gearbox. Slide length 18 meters, it took 6h.

Preparation 3 days.

Salu2 cordiales,

Abel.