Moving a gun safe

[Drachenstein]

I've got a 41 gun safe coming in tomorrow afternoon. I got to move it down a small grass hill and in through some french doors. The shippers only do curbside service. I was thinking about renting an appliance dolly from Uhaul to move it. Does anyone have any suggestions or advice on moving these larger safes? Never hurts to ask, there might be an easier way of doing things.

 

[cjaymiller]

Moving

I would get a very heavy duty appliance dolly and about 3-4 guys to help. I moved my 56 gun safe 3 times and it was never easy. You can lay them flat but do not bump them or they will lock internally and then you will need to call a locksmith.

 

[Hkmp5sd]

I've found that if you put an old Army blanket under them, they slide pretty easily.

 

[grymster2007]

There was a discussion 'bout this. I think it's a pretty old thread, but maybe helpful. But I wouldn't recommend doing what one of my employees did.

 

[rjrivero]

Downhill is easy. A block and tackle with a couple pulleys makes short work of it. I put my Heritage 5'x4'x3' in my basement with a block and tackle at the bottom of the door frame. Up hill, now that's another beast.

 

[Drachenstein]

If it ever stops raining, it's been 6 days staight. I'm worried about getting the dolly in the grass and having it sink. I may have to cover it with a tarp in my driveway till it dries up a little.

 

[Buzzcook]

Make sure your insurance is paid up.

Plan before you move, cause making decisions in the middle of a move is not a good idea. Ify you move it on its side or back make sure there's room to stand it back up again once inside.

 

[a1abdj]

You should be able to find a pro to move it in the $300 to $400 range. That's a bargain compared to the average ER bill.

 

[CBH]

I know of someone who laid a safe about your size on a utility trailer, hooked that to a ATV, and drove it down his yard and around back to put it in his finished basement. He had a time going downhill with it.

 

[grymster2007]

That's a bargain compared to the average ER bill.

Good point. $800 safe - $400 to move it + $30,000 ER bill = $30,400 safe. That's not such a bargain! How many people been killed by soda machines?

 

[Suicide*Ride]

Safe moving

My brother moves safes for a living.

As far as your situation: go buy 2-3 pieces of plywood (scafold planks work best but are kinda heavy) & rent a appliance dolly (the kind w/ a strap). Get a couple of friends to pick up & move the last pc. of plywood & make a ramp down to the house. Pick it up... set it down... pick it up... make sure you don't hit/cross the joint in the ramp w/ both wheels of the dolly @ the same time or you'll sink into the grass. Roll 1 wheel & then the other. You can lay a thin sheet of sheetmetal over the joints also.

I wouldn't suggest doing the move while the grass is wet for fear of slipping.

If you ever have to move it inside the house, we use a furniture dolly or golf balls. Be carfull using golf ball on hardwood floors.

Hope this helps.


edit: Don't forget.... guys doing it for a living have experiance & tools. Don't do the move yourself trying to save a few bucks. Grymster2007 is right! Even the "Pro's" can loose a 1500lb safe during a move!

We call'em "Bulldoziers" for a reason.

 

[Lurch37]

I've moved my two safes 4 times now and I always call a friend who naturally moves lots of heavy things, pianos, safes, big refrigarators, etc. He has a heavy duty appliance cart that we use. Going up or down stairs we use heavy moving bankets and slide or push the safe on it's side. On the bigger safe we remove the door which makes it a lot easier to move.

My concern about your event would be the grass hill.

 

[Capt_Vin]

A friend had to move a gun safe from his bedroom to his basement. He rented ( from Rent-America) this electric motorized thing called a 'Walker'. It looked like a small forklift on triangle shaped tracks, and when he got to the stairs, it 'walked' down the stairs. The tracks flexed to the shape of the stairs. It almost worked, should have worked, but about 1/2 way down, the frickin stairs collapsed from the weight.

 

[Tru Trak]

I had professionals bring it in for 250.00 but moved my 900 lb safe around rather easily on 1" Schedule 40 PVC. I tried 1 1/2" wooden closet rod but it just crushed them. Carpet didn't work either for me. It was kind of like dragging the house around! I was rather impressed how well it moved on the PVC and went from tile to Wooden floor with no trouble. The reason for the professionals was to not scratch or damage the safe myself. Good luck and definitly think it through before you try it.

 

[Drachenstein]

After careful deliberation and some good advice I opted for the movers. At my age things don’t heal as fast as they use to. It cost $235, which is not worth a ruptured disk. The other consideration is their insurance coverage in case anything should happen. The stairs story was kind of funny, but something to think about too.

The movers sent three guys and a standard dolly. Two of the guys were really large and were the breakman, the normal sized guy steered it. Shear brute force,no tricks. They took it down the steepest side of the hill because it was the shortest path. They got it down the hill fine. When they pushed it in the door the jolt of going over the threshold caused it to fall on the small guy. The two big guys just picked if off of him, brushed him off, and put it in place. Once they got it in place and everything worked, I paid them and sent them off with a six pack each.

 

[obxned]

You can slide your safe across cardboard, and even up stairs by this method. A fridge dolly is unstable, and therefore dangerous. We move safes quite often. Do it with cardboard.

 

[curt.45]

I used 3/4" PVC but I only have one floor. and my S-10 almost matched the floor hight, till we slid the safe off the truck and it sprang back up.