Question about moving a large gun safe

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Question about moving a large gun safe

Posted: 10/25/2004 2:08:01 PM EDT

I'm outgrowing my gun safe so I'm looking at larger safes that hold 40-50 guns. My only concern is moving in 3 or 4 years. The delivery company has to worry about placing it in my current home, but how am I going to move it when I leave? These safes weight over 1000 pounds. I would have to get it onto a heavy duty cart and then load it onto a truck with a hydraulic lift on the back. So how do I get the safe up on to the cart? Anybody here go through this before?

Thanks

Posted: 10/25/2004 2:12:21 PM EDT

[#1]

Get two medium sized (movable ) safes.
Build dedicated gun room/vault in next location.
Moving that large of a safe is difficult when moving it at grade. Throw in a flight of stairs and it is nearly impossible for the average person.

Some things to consider if you upgrade to large safe.
Are your stairs wide enough for the safe?
Are the stairs structurally able to support the safe?
Is the path to the stairs atructurally able to support safe for short term?
Is the path to the stairs straight? No reason to re-position safe or turn a corner with safe?

Posted: 10/25/2004 2:13:06 PM EDT

[#2]

Moved mine in and around the house on sections of thick-walled PVC pipe. Works like a charm.

Posted: 10/25/2004 2:13:58 PM EDT

[#3]

I moved mine with a furniture dolly,
after I removed the door.

Posted: 10/25/2004 2:17:15 PM EDT

[#4]

Don't forget to put it over a section of the floor that can support a Michael Moore sized object.

Posted: 10/25/2004 2:18:03 PM EDT

[#5]

I need to get a safe b4 i start to worry about moving one.

Posted: 10/25/2004 2:18:06 PM EDT

[#6]

I just hired moving men with ins. in case they take out a wall or something.

Posted: 10/25/2004 2:26:46 PM EDT

[#7]

I'm getting a large one when we build a new house this winter. How do you keep the humidity under control in these things nowadays??

Posted: 10/25/2004 2:27:51 PM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:
I just hired moving men with ins. in case they take out a wall or something.

GREAT ADVICE, thats what I did, and do not regret it.....it also saved my back...

Posted: 10/25/2004 2:29:36 PM EDT

[#9]

No stairs are involved (thank god). My house is one story built on a concrete slab. I plan on keeping the safe on the ground floor or in a basement wherever I live. The PVC pipe trick sounds good, but can PVC pipe support over 1000 pounds. How did you get the pipe under the safe?

Posted: 10/25/2004 2:30:38 PM EDT

[#10]

If you are going to use pipe to roll the safe around, then use 1in steel pipe....

Posted: 10/25/2004 2:35:35 PM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:
No stairs are involved (thank god). My house is one story built on a concrete slab. I plan on keeping the safe on the ground floor or in a basement wherever I live. The PVC pipe trick sounds good, but can PVC pipe support over 1000 pounds. How did you get the pipe under the safe?

Thick wall pvc will work fine, as will EMT conduit.
I have a friend who recently moved one on a concrete floor on golf balls.
Even a big safe will tip over easy enough to get something under the edge to start the process.

Posted: 10/25/2004 2:37:37 PM EDT

[#12]

I guess I could pry up one side of the safe an inch or two, then put the pipe underneath. Anyone try this method? Is there something I'm overlooking?

Posted: 10/25/2004 2:39:13 PM EDT

[#13]

Are there any stairs there? If not, a good appliance dolly with kick-out wheels and a friend or two would do the trick. Of course, most of the ones that the rental companies have suck. You would want something like this:

Or if it's really, really heavy, you could get your hands on a set of these:

Or just hire a moving company that already has this stuff.

Posted: 10/25/2004 2:41:03 PM EDT

[#14]

The last two we got have a rod that plugs in to electrical outlet. Must put out some heat to keep humidity down.

Byron

Posted: 10/25/2004 2:42:04 PM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
Are the stairs structurally able to support the stairs?

I have been thinking about this one all day....

-John

Posted: 10/25/2004 2:43:33 PM EDT

[#16]

There are some out there that you can take apart to move. Cant remember which brands/models, but they do exist. (I took apart and moved one that could hold 30 rifles)

Posted: 10/25/2004 2:56:30 PM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
I guess I could pry up one side of the safe an inch or two, then put the pipe underneath. Anyone try this method? Is there something I'm overlooking?

No prying involved. Safe is top heavy, push at top to tip and then slide or kick PVC under. Once on the pipe you can tip, turn, and toll .2 men can easily move and turn the safe. Mine weighs over 1K and it is a 2 man job with the PVC.

Posted: 10/25/2004 2:59:38 PM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:
Quoted:
No stairs are involved (thank god). My house is one story built on a concrete slab. I plan on keeping the safe on the ground floor or in a basement wherever I live. The PVC pipe trick sounds good, but can PVC pipe support over 1000 pounds. How did you get the pipe under the safe?

Thick wall pvc will work fine, as will EMT conduit.
I have a friend who recently moved one on a concrete floor on golf balls.
Even a big safe will tip over easy enough to get something under the edge to start the process.

I have moved several with 1/2 emt conduit. Make sure and cut to a length shorter than the safe is deep so going through doors will not be a problem. I have heard of golf balls but if too many rolled out at once this could be scary. You can use a small pry bar to get started make sure and put a block down on the floor so you don't mar the tile or wood floor. Just take it slow and easy and she will work fine. Also you might want to lay a cover of matt type paper down first and sweep any little rocks or dirt up so that they don't get imbedded in the floor.

Posted: 10/25/2004 3:00:49 PM EDT

[#19]

I've moved a few safes for friends.
I use golf balls. Just tip the safe back a bit, throw about a dozen golf balls underneath and 1 person can move a safe anywhere you need to go.
You will need another person to get the few balls from behind the safe and put them in front when you move it far enough. It is soooo easy like this.
The golf balls even keep the safe high enough to go over any door jams with ease.

You can move that bad boy all the way to the tail lift with ease.

Posted: 10/25/2004 3:00:52 PM EDT

[#20]

Thanks for all the input. I will probably go with Mace's idea and look for a place to rent a rol-a-lift.

Posted: 10/25/2004 3:03:49 PM EDT

[#21]

Quoted:
Moved mine in and around the house on sections of thick-walled PVC pipe. Works like a charm.

Mine is 6 feet tall x 4 feet wide and weighs 1700 lbs. It was moved here by A. G. English in Broken Arrow, OK (shameless plug

).

They moved it into my house on thick walled PVC sections. The company moves over 20 safes a week so they should know what they're doing. They also used different diameters of PVC to negotiate up and down steps and stairs.

When in doubt, get out the yellow pages and hire a bonded and insured professional.

Posted: 10/25/2004 3:13:47 PM EDT

[#22]

Four large people and one of the above dolly's worked for me. Now sits in the second story hallway.

Posted: 10/25/2004 3:19:56 PM EDT

[#23]

Quoted:
Moved mine in and around the house on sections of thick-walled PVC pipe. Works like a charm.

Holy Pyramids, Batman.

Posted: 10/25/2004 3:42:29 PM EDT

[#24]

I have a pair of 5 ft. tall 750 lb safes that each have a 500lb body and 250lb door. They have the same combo and are bolted together on the inside by four 1 inch long 5/8 carriage bolts with 2 inch washers. The dealer I bought them from, who also sells bank vaults and jewelry safes, recommended this setup because it would be easy to move while maintaining the same level of burglary and fire protection. The insides are mirror images of each other. Although probably unnecessary, the dealer even made plugs of the fire protection material and safe lining material that are held in by the upper and lower shelves of the safes. The only drawback is that both doors open to the right. This pair of safes was about the same or a little more than a 1350 lb safe together with the moving charge. The dealer did gave me a bit of a price break on the safes as a pair. I moved this set-up from the dealer to my first house and again to my latest home with only two other guys and an appliance hand truck. I am now over 40 and will never do it again because my kids will be doing it under my experienced supervision. You could do the same with a 500 lb or 600 lb safes. Then you are looking at moving 350-400 lb bodies and 150-200 lb doors.

Posted: 10/25/2004 3:50:21 PM EDT

[#25]

Ask some locksmiths and places that sell safes for some recommendations of people who move safes. I did this. They all recommended the same guy. All he does is move safes, he went 45 miles, picked it u p and moved it into my house. $100. I told him I was going to me moving in 1 year (this was a 1 1/2 years ago). He recommended leaving it on the skid, but said he would do it either way. I left it, and now in a month or two he will be picking it up and moving it again. He had all kinds of special little machines that could move safes around, up down steps, etc. Most had electric type controls he just drove them. It was really cool, and not worth my liability for a hundred bucks.

Posted: 10/25/2004 3:56:58 PM EDT

[#26]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Moved mine in and around the house on sections of thick-walled PVC pipe. Works like a charm.

Mine is 6 feet tall x 4 feet wide and weighs 1700 lbs. It was moved here by A. G. English in Broken Arrow, OK (shameless plug).

They moved it into my house on thick walled PVC sections. The company moves over 20 safes a week so they should know what they're doing. They also used different diameters of PVC to negotiate up and down steps and stairs.

When in doubt, get out the yellow pages and hire a bonded and insured professional.

The red intrigues me... I have a safe that weighs 5-600 lbs. It was difficult for my brother and a friend to move down into my basement. I do not look forward to moving it out when we move some day. After brainstorming, I've come up with the following options (none of which include PVC!)

1: Strap safe to dolly, attach long ropes to sides of dolly, pull up stairs with, say, 2 people on each side. 3/4" plywood plank ramp optional.

2: Strap safe to dolly, attach ONE long rope to dolly, pull up using boat winch purchased for this occasion. Winch mounted on 2x4 "bracket" to span the door opening. 3/4" plywood plank ramp optional.

3: Attempt to sell with house and buy new for new house; have it delivered.

Posted: 10/25/2004 4:43:32 PM EDT

[#27]

Luckily, Liberty Safes has a store here in DFW.

My FIL made a gift to me of one of his Liberty Safes after he sold some guns.

I called Liberty, they picked it up, brought it 20 miles to my office, put it where I wanted it, changed the combo, and plugged in the de-humidifier...all for $150.

Worth it, IMHO.

BTW, they sent two dudes...two REALLY BIG dudes, in an F-150, with an appliance dolly and some pieces of plywood and cardboard.

Safe weighs 850 pounds IIRC.

Posted: 10/25/2004 6:59:35 PM EDT

[#28]

If heavy duty PVC concerns you just use metal sprinkler piping for moving on a single level. You'll discover real quick why you need to bolt your safe to a wall or the floor. Just tilt it enough to get the first pipe or two under and then lower it a bit you can tip it over without too much effort and that's where the fun begins It definitely easier and safer to use pipe than a hand truck if you can do it that way.

I also use 6 6" sections of sprinkler pipe to move my entertainment center away from and back to the wall when I have to clean behind it or install or remove a component or change wiring.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Question about moving a large gun safe

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