Hi! I made a deal for my first machine and I have a short bed pickup but would really appreciate any advice on how to transport machines. The game is Mortal Kombat II and if anyone can take a tape measure to give me dimensions it would help me a lot. I think weight is 300 pounds. If there is a site with all this kind of info please let me know. I'm hoping 1 other guy and me will be able to get it loaded up.
I was thinking cardboard for bottom of bed, maybe some old blankets and a tarp and some ratchet straps to secure it. Any advice? Thanks. This site has been so great so far!
If I have time I'll measure mine, but it should fit in any truck bed just fine.
Use some old moving blankets if you have some. Bring some extras to pad the sides when it is in the truck bed. Cardboard can also be used to pad sensitive areas.
Open the machine up and take anything that is not bolted down/secure out to ride in the cab. MK2 typically has their boards bolted/screwed to the side, but you never know how the previous owner has it set up. If you can't get inside...cross your fingers and hope anything loose is not major enough to do damage/get damaged.
Close everything up. Line the machine up against the truck bed (back first). Lay down a moving blanket or two if you wanna use them. Then tip and push so the machine is laying on its back. Sometimes I can do this in one motion, sometimes I gotta tip first, then push. You can also use the moving blankets to help scootch the machine back. I've moved machines as big as MK2 (and heavier) myself doing this, but I'm also a big guy. Having a second person DEFINITELY helps.
Once in the bed, throw some padding on the sides to prevent possible scratching and between the top of the machine and the truck cab window. Bungie/rope down the machine however you feel comfortable. You're not so much strapping it down so it won't fly out, but more to try and limit all the sliding around it will do. It will slide around to some degree no matter how well you hog tie it down, so don't discount the padding. Don't make sudden stops or the cab could wind up through the window and drop kicking you in the head (hence the padding).
Getting it off the bed is everything in reverse. Slide the machine out until you can tilt it, then tilt/lift to bring it upright. This is the scarier of the loading/unloading imo, because I've tilted too late and had the machine almost lay on its back. Tilting too soon can have the machine crash down. Not gonna kill it, but still...
Pro-tip: going in and out is way easier the closer the bed is to the ground.