is there any way to load a approx 2500lbs safe in a trailer without a forklift or something similar?

I have often wonder this...

Ive asked people and they said "family is my forklift"

Lol I dont know what kind of family they have but if they can lift 2500 safely I wouldn't want to run into them in a dark alley.

If you could find a solid set of ramps, and a heavy duty winch, you could winch it.

I would not risk it though....2500 pounds is not to be underestimated. I'd find someone with a front end loader.

I sh!t you not thats what this 6' 5" guy said I said good luck

I moved a 3000 safe with an excavator to get it from the building onto the trailer.  Then when I was at another location I used a forklift to unload it because one was available.  

I am going to put the safe in my heated garage when I can finally afford it.  

Mike

Are there logistics issues that prevent you obtaining a forklift?  I rented one in two different cities, and in both cases, drove them to my house on the street.  Price was $55 for 1/2 day. Same guys would deliver for an upcharge.

You could possibly do it with an engine hoist, but height and weight are probably going to be show stoppers. An engine hoist is severely limited when the boom is extended to gain height.

pallet jack?

Ever seen the movie Fast Five?

Are you taking it home or moving it from home? If already in your house...how did it get there. I'm guessing you'll need  a heavy forklift of excavator and use rollers to get it though the house or garage...I've also heard of using waxed boards.

If the trailer has ramps a come along or winch will do it.  Also take doors off and you will probably drop a few hundred lbs.

Probably, but it involves a lot or rope, many poles, levers, and 150 or so ancient Egyptian slaves.



You're gonna need a piece of equipment in some form or another to safely move a 2500 pound safe.





 

A pallet jack can be used to move it through a house.  Even if you have narrow doors, you can eventually find a non-standard narrow pallet jack. Rentals are cheap.

For lighter safes, a piano dolly works great. I have some that will hold 1500lbs sitting by my desk right now........

It can be done. Get a steel 1/2 inch plate. 6x4.

Mod the plate lip to allow for a drag.

Weld cleats for straps on the plate.  

Strap the safe to the plate.

Build earthen ramp to the height of trailer.

Winch the plate with safe attached onto bed if trailer.

Mild steel plate $150 -mods $40- cargo straps $54- chain hoist or winch $60-100

Make steel targets out of plate when done.

You can do it how the ancient Celts built Stonehenge etc. and lifted/moved/raised those huge blocks of stones.  

You can slowly raise the safe by laying it onto a stack of 2x4's stacked neatly into a triangular pile. Using bags of sand as counterweights on the safe, you rock it to one side of the pile of 2x4's, slide in another one, then move the counterweights to the other side and slide in a board to the other side's gap. Once it's high enough, you can set one end of the safe onto the trailer, and roll it the rest of the way on with 1/2" PVC pipes as the rollers etc.

Lather rinse repeat. This assumes you've got no money, but plenty of time.

This guy should be able to give you some ideas. Skip to 2:30 if you need to visualize what I'm talking about.

Ok after doing some looking it appears the best option would be to rent a truck with a 3000lb liftgate. I'm I correct that this would then be as "easy" as sliding it on the liftgate, lift, slide into truck and reverse? Or would this still be an ominous task? And thanks for all the quick feedback!

Your average ant weighs in at about .004 grams and can conservatively lift 20 x it's own weight or 0.08 grams.

Your safe weighs in at 2500 lbs which equates to about 1,133,980.93 grams

So you just need to rally up about 14,174,761.625 ants - or about 10 acres worth based on typical US colony size and distribution averages.

( or a come-along, strapping and some steel pipe for rollers will assist with the ramp and help to maintain a safe distance during tip risky maneuvers)

Sliding 2500 pounds is going to take some muscle.





 

With pipes, and a come along would it be manageable? Would the golf ball trick hold up to that weight?

Sorry Dupe

Got a plan to get the pipes under it?

I imagine if you had enough golf balls you could do it. But I don't know how much each ball can support.



 

From what I have read I would either plan to use the door to tilt the safe enough to get a pipe under or a pry bar and block to lever one side up. But I am open to suggestions!

As much fun as it is for people to make suggestions, a mistake with this type of weight can be deadly.  It's one thing to watch a Youtube video, and an entirely different thing to do it in real life.  There are a lot of tricks, some of which you only learn by making mistakes, assuming you survive them.

2,500 pounds will kill you.  It will kill your helper.  It can cause extensive damage to structures and equipment.

If you do not have experience moving this type of weight, hire a professional.

Been there, done that.  Tha'ts not a forklift.  

 
 

This makes the most sense, one mistake and someone could die.

Well I believe I agree at this point.

Platform lift trailer

The platform lowers hydraulically to lay on the ground, you load the safe, secure it, then use the hydraulics to lift it up to regular height.

A friend and I moved a 4000 lb safe he bought (TRTL60) with one and a pallet jack, come-a-long, some rope and pieces of 2x4 and 4x4, and a boat load of 10,000 ratchet straps from Sams club.

We rented it from the local rental place.  They use it to haul around scissor lifts.  It cost us ?$100 for 24 hours.

10,000 lb ratchet strap to hold the safe onto the pallet jack.  Move very slowly and think ahead.

Come-a-long to pull it up on the deck (attach to trailer and pallet jack).

We used a few of these across the top.  Then run a ratchet strap (from here) from one back corner of the trailer around the front of the safe, through the sling and back to the other back corner.  Do the same from one front corner, through the sling and to the other front corner.  Do the same thing from back corner, around the opposite side of the safe and back to the same side front corner and vice versa.

Four ratchet straps, two slings, and it isn't going anywhere.  

If you want to be even more secure, you can run some stacked 2x4s or 4x4s from the front of the safe at the bottom to the front of the trailer and then run a ratchet strap around from the front of the trailer, around the bottom of the safe and back the the front again.  The wood keeps it from shifting forward, the strap from shifting backwards.

We actually left the pallet jack under the safe on the trailer- jacked it up, put some 4x4s underneath around the jack, and then strapped it on.  

There are different trailer designs out there, but 2500 lbs should be easy for just about any of them.

We called a rigging company for a quote and they were in the many thousands ?$3K plus? (I don't know how serious they were, they were going to use a crane on each end of the move)  to move it 70 miles.  We did it for around $200 (already had the lifting slings and a bunch of the ratchet straps).  Remember, momentum is your enemy.  If something starts to tip, don't be in its way, and don't try to stop it, just watch it go.

Video link

Different design, similar to what we used

A warning on truck liftgates: They are not level to begin with, tilt more out of level under heavy load and do not start and stop smoothly. Find a truck with a 5,000# rated lift gate, it will handle better. Once the safe is on the lift gate use one or more of the 2" wide ratchet cargo straps to secure the top of the safe to the side cargo rails a fair distance inside the back of the truck, this will serve to counter the tendency of the safe to tip backwards off the lift gate due to the tilt. When doing the lifting or lowering someone should be in the truck and able to ratchet the straps a bit tighter if needed, and someone operating the lift should be outside and around the corner operating the lift switch. The entire area around the liftgate should be clear, if the safe starts to go do not make any attempt to try to stop it, by the time you recognize it is tipping it's already gone. I've not tried this with a safe, but I have done it multiple times with a Bridgeport mill which is pretty similar though a bit easier to attach straps to.

my buddy and I just moved a 1500lb safe by ourselves.......it did help(well it helped allot) that I had a truck with a Tommy Lift......but as said those are not level and can tip, stay on the upside of it :)

to move it out of the garage, we used an appliance dolly, put it under one end, we pushed on the top of the other side and one of use could move it without issue, we had it in the truck in less than 15 mins, out was the same

I gotta say for 2 old fat dudes we were pretty impressed with ourselves

If the safe is already palletized, rent the right kind of trailer and a power jack, and after strapping it securely to the pallet, move the safe to the trailer.  Strap the safe and pallet to the trailer and block and crib it in place, and you should be ok.  If not, then rent a forklift and you might be able to do it that way.  The hard part will be installing the safe inside your home.  Unless it's in a garage, this is where bad things can happen.  If you have any reservations, I'd just hire a pro, and save yourself the trouble or worse.

Have you moved the safe yet?



If not, a 24" truck with a rail lift and a few E-track straps will do the trick . Shoot me an IM and I can get you set up for one at your local Penske.





 

lololololol this