Lifting heavy things with limited ceiling height (help me get my lathe off of stands and blocks)

I've found myself in a bit of an interesting pickle. A few months ago, I picked up an old Wade 8A lathe, which contains a not insignificant amount of gravity (estimated around 800-1000lbs for the lathe, stand/cabinet, motor, etc... as a unit). As a temporary measure to get it off of the trailer I was borrowing, we lifted it off with an engine hoist borrowed from a neighbor, then ran into the fun problem of "the legs of the hoist are too close together to straddle the end of the lathe", so it sat on two jack stands under the heavy end, and a few 6x6s on the light end, until I decided to try to reorganize my garage into a more usable space. In doing so, I discovered that my engine hoist also shares the same problem of the legs being too close together at the base to be able to set the lathe down directly on the ground. A gantry crane would be the ideal thing for this, except... I only have about 6'6" of height available where I want the lathe to live (part of why I chose that spot, nothing will be going above the lathe other than maybe a work light, so headroom in that spot isn't a concern once it's in place). Unfortunately, the structure of the roof/ceiling isn't substantial enough for me to feel comfortable supporting the weight of the lathe from it, even temporarily. Anyone have any thoughts? 

rent a forklift / pallet lift?

I don't think a forklift is going to be able to fit (I've got about the same vertical clearance with the door open as I do in the spot the lathe is going to sit, unfortunately), but that suggestion did remind me of a funky hybrid of an electric pallet jack and an engine hoist that one of the customers of a former employer had, if memory serves it either had nothing sticking out under the jib, or what support arms were there were wide enough to fit the lathe between them... Of course, finding one of those for rent might be next to impossible.

Can you post a few photos? I have an idea but want to make sure I'm picturing the lathe correctly.

I would look to rent a set of machine skates and a toe jack. If it is only 1000 lbs you can probably make skates or use some furniture dollies. It is amazing what you can do with a long pry bar too. Riggers have a bar they use to move machines too. I have heard it called a rigging bar, a riggers bar, or the internet says a Pry Lever bar. I am guessing you could make something like that for this weight too (maybe out of a 2x4 and some angle iron).

I ran into this problem when I got my lathe. I started with the engine hoist setting the lathe on short stacks of wood. Hi-Lift jack to pick the end of the lathe up and pull out one piece of wood. Back and forth until it was down.

I also used the Hi-Lift, and its propensity to fall over sideways, to pick up the lathe an inch and scoot it over a few inches at a time, one side at a time.

In reply to NY Nick :

The issue is that I can't get the lathe to the ground. Moving it around with the engine hoist isn't a particular issue, the problem lies with being able to set it down on the ground once I have it where I want, hence why it's supported by stands currently

In reply to Tom Suddard :

I'll snap a few once I get home this evening

Use a regular jack and set the lathe on a couple of high density foam blocks.

Then pour gas on the foam.

Just an out of left field suggestion.

In reply to BumpHeadRacing :

That's what the bar and the toe jack are for. A regular bottle jack (from harbor freight) will go down to 4.5". 

That's only $20 (https://www.harborfreight.com/4-ton-hydraulic-bottle-jack-56684.html?ccdenc=eyJjb2RlIjoiMTY4OTUwOTUiLCJza3UiOiI1NjY4NCIsImlzIjoiMTkuOTkifQ%3D%3D&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=20401559404&campaignid=20401559404&utm_content=152714189018&adsetid=152714189018&product=56684&store=173&gclid=Cj0KCQjwz8emBhDrARIsANNJjS4sifSjPsGN7bUUyTu_lWCaKcaOb_XzWpNljv96h9b6pI640NnAygQaAqBkEALw_wcB)

This is the cheapest toe jack I see in a quick search.

https://www.vevor.com/toe-jacks-c_11490/hydraulic-machine-toe-jack-lift-2-5-5-ton-track-lifting-welded-steel-capacity-p_010611790433?adp=gmc&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_id=17220550979&utm_term=&gclid=Cj0KCQjwz8emBhDrARIsANNJjS6oSODCGprUwzaCSIwWS5PzGHtH55yfrAa3Sv20-tqn--reDj6Hn5MaApCyEALw_wcB

In all honesty if you use a bottle jack to get it to 4.5" off the ground you could lower it the rest of the way with a long pry bar. I lifted my Bridgeport high enough to get rollers under it with 2x4's and a pry bar, just a little move at a time. 

Basketballs and poke holes in them?

Can you pull the lathe off of the base, set the base, and then use the engine hoist to set the lathe back on the base? When I rebuilt my SB 9A the parts weren't too heavy until you bolted them all back together. It went on the new cabinet one piece at a time. 

The other option is to use pinch bars and stacks of blocks to lever it down to the floor a couple of steps at a time. If you pull the wheels off the hoist you can get to within 3" of the floor. Also if you lift the heavy end at the chuck, a couple of helpers can usually lift the light end. 

This is a South Bend 16 at 2900 pounds. It's the reason I now own a gantry crane.

Another note, Harbor Freight furniture dollies are rated at 500-1000 pounds each. They are pretty handy for moving heavy stuff as well. This is 2900 pounds sitting on 6 of them while I'm reworking it. While it's not easy to move, it is movable. 

Weld a tab to the base off the side and use a jack under the tab.

Once generally in place, use engine hoist on one side at a time to pick up the lathe and take out the upports and then set down.  Move to other side and do it again.

Yeah, agreed with above.  Furniture movers under the light end, and furniture movers or just some tubing under the wide end and push.

I just moved a ~1200lb pallet changer on my CNC machine around using some bar stock and a pry bar.

Can you approach it from the head end? That's how I got past the "The crane's legs are in the way" problem.

Can you use a Johnson bar and pieces of 6x6, 4x4 and 2x4 cribbing to gradually step it down?

6600 lb. capacity.

Amazon Johnson Bar, $79

Leverage. Long boards or pipes and a few guys could walk that thing across a concrete floor 

Start with a floor jack. Lift to the limit and build cribbing under it. Then build cribbing up to hold the floor jack again. 
 

Rinse, repeat.