Ok, in a couple of weeks I'm going to be buying the Winchester safe from Sam's Club.  I've been giving a lot of thought to how I'm going to get it loaded at Sam's, and how I'm going to get it unloaded when I get home.  It's going in my basement and I have a walk-out, so that won't be bad.  My neighbor has an appliance dolly, so that will make moving around in the basement easier.  What I've been pondering is what to transport it with.  The action that concerns me the most is getting it down out of the back of a truck.  It occurred to me today that I might be able to borrow a friends' tilt-bed trailer.  That way, it would be low to the ground, maybe only a foot up.  So, I see it going something like this: Sam's will bring it out on a small pallet with a forklift, set it on the ground right behind the trailer.  Open the safe, unbolt from the pallet.  Tilt the bed down, lay the safe down on the bed, center it over the axle and level and pin the bed.  Maybe level the bed then center the safe.  Strap it down, drive home.  Back up to basement door, release tilt bed, slide safe down to ground, stand it up onto the appliance dolly and roll it into the house.  Anyone see a problem with this?  The great thing about the trailer is that I won't have to be lowering the safe 2-3 feet off the back of the truck.  That and laying it down seem like the riskiest moments.  Using the trailer could also make this a 2-3 person job as opposed to a 4-5 person job.
Thoughts?
Jim

The finish on most "glossy" safes is not as durable as you think.  The back may get f'ed up with all that sliding.

How heavy is it?

There are folks who move safes for a living.  Mine was $125 delivered and dropped in place.  They used a little "tank" robot that walked it down my steps.  My safe was 900+lbs.....

I believe it's 635 pounds.  I've got scrap carpet that I was going to lay down on the trailer.  I've considered having it moved for me.  I need to call around and get some pricing.  I don't have a hitch on my truck, so I'd have to spend some money just to get a hitch.

Jim

golf balls work pretty well.

Carpet or movers blankets may help as you've noted, it may not be a huge deal......635lbs is not that much when 4 guys are handliing it.

Make sure you have the help there when you need it....

My car was in the shop the week I wanted to buy my safe from Sam's.  I needed a rental and was fortunate enough to get a free upgrade to a pickup.  Sam's brought it out on the forklift and set it behind the truck (with the back side facing the tailgate).  We tilted it down on the gate, and then the forklift driver hooked the palette and lifted up the bottom of the safe.  Then we slid it in.  The bed had a liner, and the safe was covered in cardboard, so neither the bed nor the safe was scratched.  When I got it home, I took it out of the pickup bed myself with a 2 ton shop crane.  I had a load leveler, so that let me slowly tilt it from horizontal to vertical whilst unloading.

I cannot in good conscience recommend either the loading or unloading procedures above, but they worked for me.  And to think some people don't believe in angels...

Wear steel tip shoes?

Yikes.  I don't think I'll be trying that maneuver.  You're saying he used the tip of the fork, put it partway into the palette, and lifted so the safe would lean back at an angle?  
Nope, won't be doing that.

Quoted: We tilted it down on the gate, and then the forklift driver hooked the palette and lifted up the bottom of the safe.  Then we slid it in.

I've moved several in that weight range.
With one other guy, we leaned it onto the tail gate and slide it on in the bed.
NOTE when pulling it out, have something on the ground to soften the fall.
The appliance truck helpes getting into the area where it's going.
I use card board to slide them around into position.

Quoted: My car was in the shop the week I wanted to buy my safe from Sam's.  I needed a rental and was fortunate enough to get a free upgrade to a pickup.  Sam's brought it out on the forklift and set it behind the truck (with the back side facing the tailgate).  We tilted it down on the gate, and then the forklift driver hooked the palette and lifted up the bottom of the safe.  Then we slid it in.  The bed had a liner, and the safe was covered in cardboard, so neither the bed nor the safe was scratched.  When I got it home, I took it out of the pickup bed myself with a 2 ton shop crane.  I had a load leveler, so that let me slowly tilt it from horizontal to vertical whilst unloading. I cannot in good conscience recommend either the loading or unloading procedures above, but they worked for me.  And to think some people don't believe in angels... hr

This is about how we do it at the gun shop and safe retailer that I work for part time, just a few suggestions;  The truck will be easier getting it on and off than the trailer, and when they set it down, set it about 18 to 24" behind the edge of the bed (on the truck).  Leave it in, or have them put it back in it's cardboard box (I would take it off the pallet first).  With one person in the truck bed and three people behind the safe carefully tip it back onto the bed.  Then with all four people behind the safe, pick up from the bottom and push into the truck (coordinated effort is best here).  Slide it all the way foreward against the front of the bed.  Be sure to strap or tie it in place from the bottom of the safe.  It is easier with the tailgate removed and will avoid damage to the tailgate.  The low flatbed or tiltbed trailers are actually harder to both load and unload due to the fact that you have so much weight down low.  The easiest way to get it inside, if possible, will be to back the truck up to the door (hopefully you have a slider or wide door on your walk-out), so that when you slide the safe out, the bottom will be inside the house.  Then with 1 or 2 people in the bed and the rest inside the basement to stabilize the safe, carefully stand it up.  If the floor is carpeted, it will be pretty easy for 2 to 4 people to slide/shuffle the safe into place.  If the floor is linoleum or tile, you will want to set the safe on an old blanket or rug to make it easier to slide.  If the floor is cement, you will probably want to leave it on the pallet until you get it inside and just about where you want it.  Lastly, if you are in doubt at all about doing it yourself, pay to have someone move it.  I've seen both people and homes damaged when they tried to do it themselves without carefully planning it out and having enough people on hand to help.  We're in southwest Michigan, and usually charge $125 to $150 to move or deliver one.  We normally use a truck with a lift gate, powered multi wheel dollies  and the "robo cart"for stairs.  We move safes up th 1500 pounds this way.
Hope this helps, Be careful.

The real question is : "Is this safe big enough?"

I looked at the safe at Sam's, but ended up getting a Liberty 35 cubic foot instead. Once I started moving stuff in I was glad I went in that direction. Of course, my wife shoots too, so I needed the extra space for her stuff too.

Paid $150 to have mine moved. It was two BIG dudes and an F150. They had covered the safe in cardboard, and used an appliance dolly. Safe weighs 850 lbs.

I'd say it's worth it to pay the proffesionals. YMMV.

Quoted: Many pros use lengths of PVC pipe to roll the thing into position. It's really amazing to see them work.

Yeah that would be amazing to see....I've rolled gun safes using 1 1/2" copper pipes.   Works very well.  I just couldn't bring myself to trust a plastic pvc pipe.

One last thing, watch your overheads when standing it up or going through the door. measure form the bottom corner of the safe or the pallet to the opposite top corner for the amount of clearence you will need when you stand it up.

For the truck, S-10 with Rhinoliner, or F-250 with drop in bedliner?

Quoted: Many pros use lengths of PVC pipe to roll the thing into position. It's really amazing to see them work.

Thats what the 1 guy who moved my 600lb safe did.  By himself.

Amazing to watch.

TXL

Had mine (45cu ft) Liberty moved by a locksmith-safe sales company. took them about 40 minutes to deliver and set up cost $100 ... only damage done to wallet.. no strains or sprains or scratches for me somethings are best left to the pros

Was that PVC water pipe or the much stronger electrical conduit?  Makes a difference. Me, I opted for 1" metal pipe. 6 6" sprinkler risers.  Makes it real clear how they built the pyramids without space aliens helping, that and how easy it would be for somebody to get your safe out if not fastened down.

Keep your hands, arms, feet, toes, shoulders and similar objects on your helpers out from between the safe and moderately immovable objects.  You'ld be surprised how quickly and easily they go where you don't want them to go.  Getting them moving isn't usually the problem, stopping them where you want them to stop is the challenge.

U-Haul trucks with ramps are $19 a day.  Furniture dollys are ??  But leaning it over onto and out of a p/u bed is not to dificult.  Take the tailgate off, it can't take the weight and just gets in the way.  Put it back on to travel.  Having it lying on it's back makes a much better load.

Tilt one side, slide pipe section under.  If it tilts easy get 2 under.  Straighten it out and start rolling putting more sections as you go along.  Short sections make it easier to turn and change directions.  However, if the bottom is not flat longer pipe sections get both sides.  Some safe bottoms are made out of a rectangle of box stock as opposed to flat plate and rolling off small pipe pieces is a hassle.

It isn't that hard with a little preparation and the right planning.

BTW, those little sections of pipe get stored in my "entertainment center" cabinet.  Makes it real easy to move it out from the wall with the TV and all the sound system stuff still in it when I need to get something that fall behind it, or change out a component or get to the wiring harness, etc

I just sent out quote requests to two local moving companies.  The first one is back already.  $170 per hour with a 2 hour minimum!!!  $340!!!  If the other comes back that high, I'll be doing it myself.  "Heather" said it would be 4 guys and a truck.  That means the labor rate's $42.50/hour, ouch.

Waiting on the second one........

Jim

Depending on how wide the safe is, and length, most likely the F250, more space between the wheel wells.

Call around to different locksmith's in the area. Dont use a moving company. I'm in NY and we do that all the time let me know if you need a few leads in your area.