danny
Silver $$ Contributor
Safe Moving?
- Thread starter danny
- Start date
So a buddy and I, me 6'4 and 230, him 6'4 and maybe 280 go pickup one of the 72" tool chests from harbor freight in his pickup. This thing is on a pallet all strapped up and weighs 700lbs. They use a fork lift to set it in his bed/tailgate and we use ratchet straps to pull it the rest of the way in.
We get to my house and we can't hardly budge the thing in the bed of his truck. We back his truck up to my sloped driveway and build a ramp of lumber. I then proceed to pull it out of his truck and down the ramp with a come along strapped to a big metal post in my garage that holds the house up. It was super sketchy coming down the ramp because it wanted to tip. That was 700 pounds, on a pallet, with 2 large, fit guys in their mid 20s on a wide strong ramp with not that much of an angle to it.
Fast forward to this year. I'm moving to a new house and we hire a truck with a lift gate and 4 guys to help us move all our stuff. Me and these four guys got the toolchest loaded with tools onto the lift gate with ease and held it steady while the gate lifted us up and we rolled it in the truck. We get to the new house, the lift gate lowers us down nice and safe and we roll it into the garage safe and sound. 5 big guys could lift a corner of the chest over bumps, keep it from tipping, etc. 2 could not.
We get to my house and we can't hardly budge the thing in the bed of his truck. We back his truck up to my sloped driveway and build a ramp of lumber. I then proceed to pull it out of his truck and down the ramp with a come along strapped to a big metal post in my garage that holds the house up. It was super sketchy coming down the ramp because it wanted to tip. That was 700 pounds, on a pallet, with 2 large, fit guys in their mid 20s on a wide strong ramp with not that much of an angle to it.
Fast forward to this year. I'm moving to a new house and we hire a truck with a lift gate and 4 guys to help us move all our stuff. Me and these four guys got the toolchest loaded with tools onto the lift gate with ease and held it steady while the gate lifted us up and we rolled it in the truck. We get to the new house, the lift gate lowers us down nice and safe and we roll it into the garage safe and sound. 5 big guys could lift a corner of the chest over bumps, keep it from tipping, etc. 2 could not.
Herzo
Silver $$ Contributor
A cousin decided that he and his (then) son-in-law could move a 600 pound safe down a 1/2 flight of stairs. They were successful in moving the safe, but he ended up under it with a crushed foot. 25 years and many surgeries later, the docs removed his leg below the knee.
Pay the pros to move it.
Pay the pros to move it.
Why did you create this post? Sounds like you never had any intention to listen to the experience of others, let alone take their advice. You already had your mind made up to do it yourself. I have had 3 safes moved - from 550 lbs to 1500 lbs. I would never try to move any of them with my friends - I value them too much to risk their injury.
rocketron
Silver $$ Contributor
I just did about the same move as yours (750 lbs) with my brother and nephew. If your going to do it yourself pick it up in a van with a ramp or a trailer with one and have more help than your wife.
We put the safe on its side strapped to a four wheeled cart and rolled it off. When we got to the step we flipped it up part way on the step and blocked it up level. Then we flipped it back on to the cart and rolled it to its new home.
We put the safe on its side strapped to a four wheeled cart and rolled it off. When we got to the step we flipped it up part way on the step and blocked it up level. Then we flipped it back on to the cart and rolled it to its new home.
oldman1951
Silver $$ Contributor
You need to go to your local John Deere tractor dealership. They sell Liberty badged as John Deere. That safe cost me about $1200-1400 four years ago. They delivered it to me for free. I have six of them!
JSH
Gold $$ Contributor
I have moved and helped move more safes than I care to remember. As mentioned there is little to grab onto. And when it goes wrong it does it fast, gravity is a bitch.
That is no monster, helped move just a door that weighed around 1200.
I will suggest putting at least two ratchet straps around the safe itself, just to hold onto, then use two more to hold to a dolly.
One can’t have to much GOOD help either.
That is no monster, helped move just a door that weighed around 1200.
I will suggest putting at least two ratchet straps around the safe itself, just to hold onto, then use two more to hold to a dolly.
One can’t have to much GOOD help either.
paperpuncher
Gold $$ Contributor
I moved heavy stuff for 20 years doing equipment liquidations and Ive moved quit a few gunsafes. If you decide to use an appliance dolly get the one with the foldout brace that keeps it from over tipping. Do yourself a favor and get some help you may not need it but better to have it there in case and it will go much easier. That big safe on an appliance dolly could easily get out of shape and thats when things get broke. Your going to loose leverage over the dolly while you are trying to move it especially in tight areas corners doorways ect. Best of luck be safe
jmkasza
Silver $$ Contributor
When its empty and on a flat concrete surface, they are reasonable to move. Getting it off the pallet was the hardest part; don't do that without another set of capable hands. When we moved in 2018 (the first time I've ever hired movers) 2 professionals that had obviously done it many times before used an appliance dolly and had a 3rd help when getting it moved up the ramp into the truck. They didn't struggle, but it didn't look easy either.
I recall that at delivery it was done with 1 guy, a lift gate truck, and a pallet jack. He had it in my garage in under a minute. And even better it was free delivery from when I bought it!
I recall that at delivery it was done with 1 guy, a lift gate truck, and a pallet jack. He had it in my garage in under a minute. And even better it was free delivery from when I bought it!
You need this equipment. Anything less is not enough.
https://www.rigging.com/money-and-g...sQVB28nAm3dBHV4tUIpforTiiSYBkoQRoCq2AQAvD_BwE
https://www.rigging.com/money-and-g...sQVB28nAm3dBHV4tUIpforTiiSYBkoQRoCq2AQAvD_BwE
Why mess around? Call in our son.
One thing to consider: the money you save to do it yourself will not replace a limb lost when inadequate equipment or know-how fails.
moving heavy stuff is NOT TRIVIAL. Get professional help.
moving heavy stuff is NOT TRIVIAL. Get professional help.
When I bought my 1800 lbs. safe it was an easy move. I have a walk out basement and I have a 4x8 stake trailer with the floor only 14 inches from the road when empty. The personnel helped with the loading at the back door of the shop. When the two of us got home I backed the trailer up to the door and the 4 foot step up to the basement was only 10-12 inches or so from the trailer floor. We went with 2x12s solid across the door way and rolled the safe to the boards or 1 inch pipes. We rolled the safe down the boards arrested by a come along. Once on the basement floor we just kept moving pipes from the back of the safe to the front until we got to an opening in the wall and moved from the pipes to 1 1/2 X 2 spacers under the safe. I then enclosed the opening in the wall making a closet to encase and somewhat hide the safe.
A friend of mine had one that makes the one in the picture look like a piggy bank. It had double doors and he had somewhere between 100-120 guns in it. Before he put any guns in it, he/they stuck three (3) chairs inside it and him and two other guys had a small beer party in it to celebrate it being delivered. If I remember right, Smith Security Safes in Tontogany, Ohio built it.
I would learn on a 600# safe before I tried to move a 900# one. You have no idea what you are up against. Call some locksmiths and ask who would be good to hire to move it, then use them.
DirtySteve
Gold $$ Contributor
Did Danny survive?? And did he have a S&W model 19 with 4 inch barrel...? Just thinking out loud...
Safes are heavy and once they get past a certain point in tipping, there aint no stopping them from falling..
Safes are heavy and once they get past a certain point in tipping, there aint no stopping them from falling..
Around a dozen years ago I worked at a John Deere dealership that sold a lot of safes. Depending on the size, we used 3-4 guys with a serious appliance cart. We usually didn't have issues unless moving down flight of stairs (we refused to take them up more than a step or two). One of the guys that did the moving was around 6'5" & could bear hug a 55 gal drum of oil & lift it into the bed of a pick-up himself...He did most of the tipping. We did crack some stairs on a new construction going into a basement.
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