Originally Posted by
SteveH
I pack and transport more than a dozen antique treadle machines at a time, a few times each year.
I strongly recommend taking the irons apart. Cast Iron is VERY fragile. When it is assembled it is a self supporting structure, but it is designed to support the weight pushing down. Sideways or diagonal impacts can/will snap it like a dry twig.
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Pictures of YOUR specific model of treadle would let me give more specific instructions.
HINT: when you remove a screw/bolt/nut, once the parts are separate, put the screw/bolt/nut back where it came from. REALLY hard to lose or mix up the bits that way
It looks like taking it apart will be my best bet for the move to a new house. But can I leave it intact for the 10 minute drive from the seller to my own place? I was planning on taking the head out (fingers crossed the screws come loose) and wrapping the cast iron parts in some sheets to protect them on the short drive.
I have attached a picture of the cabinet that the seller made and a close up of the treadle mechanism - I still need to see it in real life before I make the final decision but everything seems okay. I just don't see me able to take it apart there before loading it into the car...so I really hope transporting it in one piece (minus the head) will work for the short trip.
As an aside, that box-thing in the lower left corner of the picture, it looks like it's part of the treadle, but I don't know what it is exactly. Something to cover up the pedal of the treadle when not in use?