OP
All good food for thought thank you! Fortunately I’ve got a little bit of time to work things out. Who knows? Maybe the new homeowner will want to buy my safe but I don’t want to depend on it.
Safe moving
- Thread starter jscheck
- Start date
Believe me, I second llowry61's recommendation.
Rodan
Member
FWIW, that's less than I was quoted just to move my safe from my house into my own trailer.
I think it depends a lot on what's available in your local area.
Worth every penny to let the pro's do it. That kind of weight can be dangerous if you don't know what you are doing.
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When I moved into our new house I had two safes to move.
One is a 1200 lb. double wide.
It has two doors. Each door is the width of a single door unit.
We removed the doors.
I backed my truck into the garage area where it lived.
Four of us tilted the body onto the back end of the bed of the truck and we lifted it in by hand. (Actually, eight hands.
)
We brought the safe body to our new house about 25 miles away.
Then my son and I took the truck back and we hoisted both doors into the back of my truck. We brought the doors to the new house and installed them.
From the outside of my garage to the location it will reside, it's about fifty feet. We wheeled it in and parked it.
Now, safe number two was a little bit trickier.
It is only a 700 lb. safe.
But, it had to go up a flight of stairs. I have ten foot ceilings so do the math on the stair count. (16)
Two guys on the high side.
Two guys on the downside.
The two guys on the high side had body straps around the safe.
The two guy on the downside did the lifting. (I was one of those guys.)
Obviously, one step at a time.
We used an appliance two-wheel dolly for the job.
Worked like a charm.
Four guys, two safes. Just about three hours total with travel time.
bdGreen
One is a 1200 lb. double wide.
It has two doors. Each door is the width of a single door unit.
We removed the doors.
I backed my truck into the garage area where it lived.
Four of us tilted the body onto the back end of the bed of the truck and we lifted it in by hand. (Actually, eight hands.
)We brought the safe body to our new house about 25 miles away.
Then my son and I took the truck back and we hoisted both doors into the back of my truck. We brought the doors to the new house and installed them.
From the outside of my garage to the location it will reside, it's about fifty feet. We wheeled it in and parked it.
Now, safe number two was a little bit trickier.
It is only a 700 lb. safe.
But, it had to go up a flight of stairs. I have ten foot ceilings so do the math on the stair count. (16)
Two guys on the high side.
Two guys on the downside.
The two guys on the high side had body straps around the safe.
The two guy on the downside did the lifting. (I was one of those guys.)
Obviously, one step at a time.
We used an appliance two-wheel dolly for the job.
Worked like a charm.
Four guys, two safes. Just about three hours total with travel time.
bdGreen
You don't say where you are going to, but Taltons in Raleigh has been in business over 50 years.
kamloops67
Member
My safe is only about 5-600 lbs and it’s a pain to move
When I am forced to move it I remove the door and ratchet strap the safe to a moving dolly
Going over uneven ground I ratchet strapped two 2x4s to it like the handles on a litter and 4 strong guys can carry it
I’ve never hired anyone to move it , probably be cheaper than feeding my friends steaks and beer all night ;-)
When I am forced to move it I remove the door and ratchet strap the safe to a moving dolly
Going over uneven ground I ratchet strapped two 2x4s to it like the handles on a litter and 4 strong guys can carry it
I’ve never hired anyone to move it , probably be cheaper than feeding my friends steaks and beer all night ;-)
AJ
US Veteran
Fayetteville (Pope) or Goldsboro (Seymour Johnson)??
I used to move safes for a living. Much has changed over the years though.
I highly suggest hiring a professional. They have the experience, equipment and insurance. You don’t.
I’ve seen the damage that can happen to safes and people. I won’t ask any of my buddies to help because they’re old guys like me.
I highly suggest hiring a professional. They have the experience, equipment and insurance. You don’t.
I’ve seen the damage that can happen to safes and people. I won’t ask any of my buddies to help because they’re old guys like me.
Voice Of Experence: Have a professional move the safe.
I just moved from Maine to Arizona. Had a 500# Cannon safe on the second floor of my home in Maine. Let the movers I hired deal with it and they did an excellent job. No way I could have done it myself.
Got to agree with you. I have moved, removed and installed a few safes in the past.
My background as a pipefitter/steamfitter gave me the knowledge to do things like that. Over the course of time I moved,repaired, installed all sorts of heavy and in most cases clumsy equipment. Some items were boilers, large pumps, autoclaves, air compressors and other assorted vessels.
Now long retired and due to age, medical conditions I will not do things like that anymore. My present safe is about 1,500# dry and will probably go with the house. My last house safe was smaller and lighter but the new owner was a shooter and I told him I would leave it to finish the RE transaction!
He took the deal!
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IMHO, any safe that is over 400 pounds and needs to go up or down stairs, be moved more than a few feet or through tight doorways, should be done by a bonded & insured professional. You will NEVER forgive yourself if either you drop the safe and do damage to it, the floor, another object, or friends get hurt or even worse! I know no one who likes to spend money on something they can normally do themselves, however accidents happen in a split second and moving these objects is not something we do every day!
When I moved I had to get my Liberty Presidential safe weighing over 1,300 lbs moved up a flight of stairs (from the basement), around a very tight turn (less than 1" to spare) and then put onto a reinforced oak skid in my garage for the moving company to take. The bonded and insured safe moving company I used charged me $1,100 bucks to do what took about an hour, but to me was worth every single cent! The moving company then charged me an additional $500 to load it onto the moving truck, transport it 1500 miles and then move it to its final resting place in my home. So the cost of $1,600 was IMHO well spent and that is something I would never attempt on my own.
Honestly - that job was something I'd never risk a friends safety over either.
When I moved I had to get my Liberty Presidential safe weighing over 1,300 lbs moved up a flight of stairs (from the basement), around a very tight turn (less than 1" to spare) and then put onto a reinforced oak skid in my garage for the moving company to take. The bonded and insured safe moving company I used charged me $1,100 bucks to do what took about an hour, but to me was worth every single cent! The moving company then charged me an additional $500 to load it onto the moving truck, transport it 1500 miles and then move it to its final resting place in my home. So the cost of $1,600 was IMHO well spent and that is something I would never attempt on my own.
Honestly - that job was something I'd never risk a friends safety over either.
AJ
US Veteran
Another school of thought is to sell the safe and let the buyer worry about moving it to where they want it. Then take the money you sell it for and the money you saved by not paying a mover to move it and use those funds to buy a new one. Just a thought is all.
A while back a buddy at work bought a gun safe.
When asked he if he would like it delivered and installed, he declined.
He brought his truck and trailer plus two friends.
When they got home, they thought they would slide the safe to the back of the trailer. Then strap it and use a front end loader.
As they struggled to slide 800 pounds of dead weight on a pallet, the pallet broke.
Of course his wife is taking a video of them struggling.
The safe slowly flopped on its front breaking two handles and driving one of them into the lock.
Watching three grey haired guys get the hell out of dodge when the safe fell was funny.
Thankfully nobody got hurt.
Thirty days later, the safe was in his house complete with new handles and lock.
The safe company charged him three times the cost of the delivery fee to repair and move the safe.
When asked he if he would like it delivered and installed, he declined.
He brought his truck and trailer plus two friends.
When they got home, they thought they would slide the safe to the back of the trailer. Then strap it and use a front end loader.
As they struggled to slide 800 pounds of dead weight on a pallet, the pallet broke.
Of course his wife is taking a video of them struggling.
The safe slowly flopped on its front breaking two handles and driving one of them into the lock.
Watching three grey haired guys get the hell out of dodge when the safe fell was funny.
Thankfully nobody got hurt.
Thirty days later, the safe was in his house complete with new handles and lock.
The safe company charged him three times the cost of the delivery fee to repair and move the safe.
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To replace the safe I have would have cost me over $10-$11K delievered (today) - I did think about that option but the person who bought my old house was not at all interested in buying it - I did ask. I could never replace the safe I have for the $1,600 I spent to move it.
With an inexpensive and easily replaceable lightweight safe - you are right on! Mine is a monster 1,300 + lbs. and it has a non removable door.
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As Clint Eastwood once said in the movie Unforgiven, "A man has to know his limitations".
AJ
US Veteran
This one did not cost that much to build. The safe door with frame weighs enough to set a Ford F-350 Dual Wheeled pickup all the way down on it's springs when loaded into the bed.
