Moving a Gun Safe

   / Moving a Gun Safe #1  

CurlyDave

Elite Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2005
Messages
4,287
Location
Grants Pass, OR
Tractor
JD TLB 110
I may need to move a gun safe (1000 lb) at some point in the future.

In the past I have done this by working the safe up onto wooden blocks with a lever dolly (http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_35452_35452) until I could get a pallet jack under it.

Then I would roll the pallet jack onto a rented lift gate truck and lift the whole works with the lift gate.

The last time I did this the lift gate was very jerky, and it deflected significantly under load, leading to a few moments of anxiety, with the safe rocking back & forth on the gate, and threatening to tip over and fall 4' to the ground. I am certain it would have fallen on its side and been very hard to upright again.

My next move will be a longer one, so I would like to avoid both the truck rental and the lift gate problems by getting the safe (either on the pallet jack or on a pallet) into the bed of my pickup truck. I will have a tractor with real (not clamp-on) forks at the far end, so getting it out will be easy.

Any ideas on how to, absolutely, positively get the safe into the bed of my truck without any danger of it tipping & falling?

It can either be a lift from below solution, or, there is a 1/4" hole in the top of the safe for an electric heater wire feed thorugh, which I could use to attach a lifting eye, for a lift from above solution.

One-man solutions are preferred, although I could get help if absolutely necessary.
 
   / Moving a Gun Safe #2  
I would go for lifting from the top, no chance of falling over then. Feed a wire through the hole in the top. attach it to something big inside the cabinet, make a loop on the outside, and stick a 4x4 or something similar through the loop, enabling you to use both forks. An extra hand to stop the cabinet from swinging might help, but it can easely be done alone.

Pic: another cabinet lifted from the top
 

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   / Moving a Gun Safe #3  
I would check that hole in the top as I think it should be bigger than 1/4".

It should already be a threaded hole and you should be able to buy a good quality screw in eye, not one of those bent over ones that aren't welded. Another way could be to use a good grade chain and a good grade bolt.

I know it sounds like a lot to say 1,000lbs but when I brought mine home from buying it, I slung it up from the deck on the house. I was able to get a strap around the beam that the joists are nailed to mid span of the 6x6 posts.

Once on the ground, I just tipped it a little and slid a dolly under it and was able to move it where I wanted it with no help at all.

I don't know the weight but it is a high quality 14 gun safe with very good fire protection so I would say it could approach 1,000lbs?

As far as the truck bed, that's where mine was but it may be a lot easier to get a nice low trailer. I rarely use the truck bed for heavy things as I have a few trailers. You could just roll the pallet jack right on to the trailer.

A low trailer and pallet jack is how I moved my entire garage and I'm talking about many heavy items. Commecrial air compressor, lathe, milling machine, etc. It made to job a dream!!

Ken
 
   / Moving a Gun Safe #4  
IMO the lift gate truck is your best bet. Just get a truck with a heavier lift gate next time. It sounds like the one you had last time was kind of light duty. The ones I have on my service trucks are rated at 1 1/2 tons and would easily lift a gun safe.
 
   / Moving a Gun Safe #6  
If you can, see if you can rent a "commercial dolly". The ones that have the legs that flip out underneath the dolly and will hold the load on an angle without anyone having to hold it in place (strapped of course). Have one from work which I used, me and another guy can move that type of safe around no problem, which we did when we moved mine from one house to another.

Bed of truck, I just use iron pipe nipples that are longer (wider) than the safe, lay the nipples down, load the safe on the pickup, roll back, strap in or close gate. Unloading, the safe rolls right out with no effort.

Perhaps it's just me and murphy, but I'd never try to move something like that by myself. Too many "small" things that could go wrong that could lead to some BIG problems.
 
   / Moving a Gun Safe #7  
My next move will be a longer one, so I would like to avoid both the truck rental and the lift gate problems by getting the safe (either on the pallet jack or on a pallet) into the bed of my pickup truck. I will have a tractor with real (not clamp-on) forks at the far end, so getting it out will be easy.

Dave,
I have moved my safe several times using a fork lift, same as I move my super heavy plastic injection molds that weigh up to 3,000 lbs. You say you can get to the safe with real forks on the tractor? Pick up the safe with the forks, load onto your pick up bed and rest the forks on the bed as level as you can. Then secure the safe with tie downs so it won't tip, but not tight. Put a chain across (near) the bottom of the safe nearest the tailgate. The chain is there to keep the safe from sliding off the bed while you back the fork lift or tractor out. The safe should easily slide off the forks. Then strap tight your safe for transportation.
 
   / Moving a Gun Safe #8  
CurlyDave

Can you get a short term rental on the lift gate truck. If so, I would use the lift gate to help me load the safe on to my pickup then return it since you have the means to unload at the other end.

Vernon
 
   / Moving a Gun Safe #9  
Hi Dave,

I've rented a "Low Boy" trailer for moving a Bridgeport Mill. It has a mechanism that raises the axle and puts the trailers steel deck right on the ground for loading. The yard I rented from is in San Leandro CA.
 
   / Moving a Gun Safe #10  
I watched a guy move my full refrigerator with one finger using two inflatable strips powered by what looked like a small blower... sort of a little hovercraft when he redid a kitchen floor.

mark
 
 
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