Chris-
Isnt there anyone near Dan (I assume) with a farm tractor who could load it? Most of the bigger tractors will lift 1200#.
Thats how I unloaded my first mill.
You could also rent a trailer from Admar supply in Watertown, and load it by hand. They have a drop bed trailer, that drops to the ground. Lipke & I loaded my second mill in 20 minutes.
We moved Doss's mill with it too. EASY !! The drop beds are WICKED heavy duty. Have Dan drop by and take a look at one. Not sure if U haul makes /uses one, where you could drop it in TN, instead of bringng it back.
To skate it across the floor, use (3) or (4) 1/2" black iron pipes about 6' wide as rollers. The mill will tip up easier than you think. Slide a pipe under it as a fulcrum, tip it up slide the rest under. As one spits out the back, replace it in the front.
When its on the bed, roll the motor down, lower the knee as low as it goes.
I used chains/binder around the base, with some .040 aluminum, so the chains would bite the base.
I also uses car straps into the eye at the top of the head slide.
We pulled it ou of Cazenovia at 60 mph, and it never moved.
Once you wrap the thing in plastic, you should think about putting a cloth tarp around it so the plastic doesnt wind whip so bad. The cloth tarp can be cranked down pretty good.
