Moving a safe long distance

[jdh47]

Not knowing how much your lathe and mill weigh it's hard to say. If you don't exceed the weight capacity of your trailer and it's rubber and floor is in good shape then yeah move it yourself. You're going to handle that stuff with more care than movers would. Not knowing the abilities of the movers to handle stuff like that I couldn't say whether they would do a good job. If you can rent, buy or make a rola-lift it will move the safe easy.

 

[Kurz]

but the awkwardness of a safe would really prohibit doing that alone. I'd rather let them do the safe and not worry about it. Anyone ever have the big movers handle your safe?

I helped a friend move his safe about 30 years ago and that was the last time I did that. We were successful but the pain and agony of the necessarily slow and methodical pace was enough to convince me that this was a stupid idea.

Sell your safe in your current location and buy a new one when you arrive at your new location. No fuss, no muss, no mess and definitely NO worries at all! Arrange to have the safe seller meet you at the new location with your new safe and let them install it. They know how to do it right.

I quit buying safes because they are impractical. Every firearm you need is always at the back of the safe so most of the safe has to be unloaded in order to retrieve it. Handling each firearm arm multiple times allows for repeat damage with dents and scratches which lowers the value of each firearm damaged. Ridiculous idea.

I built a vault in the house and at the shop with vault doors, environmental controls, alarms and other necessities. Walk-in convenience and no shuffling firearms to get to the one you need. Far better idea in my opinion.

Be careful during your move!

 

[Kittitas George]

I've helped move a few safes, some big and some smaller. My method is tip the safe a little, place PVC conduit under it, 3 or 4 are usually enough, then just roll it, of course stairs or ramps require a different approach and more muscle. To remove the door use a lever and fulcrum, watch your fingers!! Horse trailers work real well for moving. Good luck with the move and your new home.

 

[ballisticdaddy]

When moving 3 years ago I could not find any moving company that would take responsibility for neither the safe, any of the firearms nor the tooling. Heavy moving / rigging company loaded it on a rental truck and I drove it almost 1,200 miles and had another mover / rigger unload everything and get it in place. I have the Cannon Armory 100 and it definitely on the larger side along with a lathe and drill press. Everything went well with proper planning......and supervision

 

[PigButtons]

Talk to the company that sold you the safe and get their input.

 

[ckaberna]

I moved my whole household including the safe and lathe and mill in a 16 foot cargo trailer. 850 miles one way and it took six trips. Gas was a lot cheaper back then.

Think I would have sold it all and bought new. But I hate to drive. Lol

 

[buckeye68]

I have moved my safe 3 times. Each trip was less than 75 miles. I called a safe moving company and gave them the size and that it weighs 1300 lbs and that it was located in the basement. They show up with 2 small guys in a box truck. 30 minutes later it was gone. I was amazed that very little work they did. They had a hand cart with rubber tracks on it and they drove it up the steps with them only making sure it didn’t slip. Wroth the $250 bucks for every move.

 

[skeeljc]

Here is what they probably used.

Power Mate Stair Climber

 

[Shooter13]

Sell the safe and buy a new one when you get where you're going, get your company to comp you some for the difference because it will save money in the long run!

 

[INTJ]

I sold my 2150 lb safe (72x50x33) with my house last Dec. Hired safe lovers. The driveway had a 15 degree slope for 45' of its 60' length. They had the safe on a pair of roll-a-lifts. Ran a tow strap around the roll-a-lifts and attached to the tow hooks of my pickup. I then backed up the driveway and got it in the garage.

My new safe is a little bigger (72x60x33). It will probably weigh 2500-2700 lbs. My new driveway is only 30' long and has a gentle slope. Hopefully I can just use a pair of roll-a-lifts and with four guys get it in place. If the truck driver can't do a lift gate delivery and put it in the curb, I'll need to rent a forklift.

 

[jbarron]

If you are thinking about using one of these cheap local movers. Be careful. Somebody I use to work with hired them to move his furniture across town. They loaded it all up and took off. They did not show up at the new place. He called and they were holding the furniture for ransom. He called a lawyer and the police. Both told him to pay it. Get everything in writing.

 

[dsinfour]

I moved my out of my basement and up a set of stairs by using pvc pipe and my John Deere by myself .