in february of 2026, the Guild of Book Workers Midwest Chapter was offered a standing press, as long as we could get it out of where it was and somewhere else. we chatted with the guy who owned the space (the landlord of the prior Perfection Type shop) and it seemed doable – can't be heavier than a piano, right? so we cleaned out the rest of the equipment that remained in the shop (mostly old printing equipment) and prepared to have movers move the standing press.

attempt 1 – march '26

i call up Manny's Piano Movers, who were really great to work with. unfortunately my estimate in weight for the 2' x 2.5' x 7' cast iron standing press was woefully off and they couldn't even budge it with their one truck crew. so we plan on a 2nd attempt with more guys.

attempt 2 – march '26

the doubled crew is able to move it on to the lift gate of their truck. aaaand the lift gate won't budge. the gate's rated for 1500lbs, which puts this bad boy north of it by a decent margin. Manny's calls it quits and tells me to get in touch with Quick Way Rigging.

attempt 3 – march '26 - april '26

first my emails go to spam and it takes 2 weeks to get a response. then, once a review is done, i'm informed they'll have to wait until the road restrictions are lifted (so sometime between mid-april and mid-may, depending on the weight-class of the truck) since they don't have any small trucks. in hindsight, i should've figured this was their way of fobbing me off since the job is too small/uninteresting for them (and an initial quoted price of $3000+!). a subsequent no-response email and no reply to a message i left meant i was looking for someone else.

attempt 4 – april '26

from the building lobby of where my dentist's office is (alas, i found out i have a small cavity), i started calling other movers who seemed to specialize in moving heavy things, such as gun safes (because what is a standing press but an open-air safe filled with books?). luckily for me (and especially the owner of the space where the standing press is, who was very eager to get it out of the way), Ty at Minnē Movers immediately recommended that i contact "Jeremy". and luckily for me, Jeremy, of Blue Line Moving (320-309-4127), could come that very same day (otherwise he'd have to come out the following week).

with only two guys and some knowledge of physics, they were able to move the standing press from origin to destination in probably an hour or so. would've been faster if my garage door's clearance was high enough that they could roll it into place with a pallet jack – but more on that in a moment. i rather belatedly thought of documenting the process, so pictures are sparse.

the move

i would like to take a moment to thank the mysterious guy who gave Jeremy and Kyle advice as they were loading up the press (was it you, Paul Frank??): if the platen is not tightened down, the movement during transportation will likely sheer-off the bolts that hold the center shaft in place. thank you for your very fortuitous knowledge and timing, i am in your debt!

equipment needed:

12 x hockey pucks
2 four-bys
a large crowbar
a pallet jack
a stairclimber, if you need to move the press at an angle

lever up the press: put a block on the ground (use varying thickness blocks to better control how much you are levering for safety reasons) and use the crowbar to lever up the press so that you can slip two hockey pucks underneath the up-raised corners.
repeat (1) on the other side. your press should now be resting on 4 hockey pucks, one on each corner.
repeat (1)-(2) until the press is on 3 hockey pucks for each corner.
lever up each side again, but now you will place four-bys under each side so that the pallet jack can easily slide underneath the press.
get the pallet jack underneath the press – now you can move it much more easily!
move the press into position. i am indebted, again, to Jeremy and Kyle for spending additional time to orient the remaining Buffalo Iron Works brass plaque outwards so it's visible.
now reverse the process! put four-bys in place, lower the press on to it via the pallet jack, then using physics & levers, slowly remove hockey pucks from alternating sides until the press is on the ground. or in my case, leave 1 pair of hockey pucks on one side and some wooden shims on the other, so it stays level.

(sidebar for the stair climber) if you need to move the press at an angle, you basically will raise up the press a little bit – could just use the crowbar – and slip the stair climber underneath one end. you will then need to be very careful about pulling the press towards you as you lever it up at an angle. make sure to set up the stair climber first and maybe have a 3rd person handy to push to get the press at an angle. this was needed for my move, since the garage door was probably at 6' 10", but the press is just north of 7'. as a side note: the stair climber was beeping cause we were over limit, putting the estimate for weight at around 1700lbs.

pictures

a clear image of the platen tightened down to avoid movement during driving.

a somewhat useless picture of the standing press being put into position – you can see the hockey pucks.

the final spot! ready for all your pressing needs.

last updated: 2026-05-03 10:44:25