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Moving 850 lb safe

fastcarsgofastfastcarsgofast Member Posts: 7,179
edited March 2008 in Ask the Experts
Found one here local. It is a Cannon safe, fire rated, 50 gun capacity. The guy selling it has had it about 2 years and only wants $700. Problem is that it is huge and weighs 850 lbs. What kind of equipment do I need to move it? I have hand trucks and some man power but with that kind of weight I was wondering what else I needed.

Comments

  • rufe-snowrufe-snow Member Posts: 18,649 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Go to a equipment rental place and get what are called "johnson bars". There long metal levers with a tapered foot on the bottom. There is a small wheel behind the foot. These are specifically made for moving safes and other heavy objects. They really do work. I've used them my self. As long as you have enough manpower and dollies, and a truck with a heavy duty lift gate, you should be OK. Be very careful, as a heavy safe can be very dangerous if it gets out of control.
  • hslaterprycehslaterpryce Member Posts: 927 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    You can also hire the job out. There are BONDED safe companies that will do that for you especially if the move is up or down stairs, or some other difficult move. Here in NE OH I have a friend that does this along with vault doors, safes, firesafes etc and the cost is not that bad considering the risk of the move of an 850 pound objevt with nothing to hold on to.... Just an option.
  • 41 nut41 nut Member Posts: 3,016
    edited November -1
    Unless you are going up or down stairs they are not that hard to move. 3 of us moved a 1200 and a 1600 lb safe into my place with a heavy duty hand truck. We only had 3 steps up from the shed into the house. Once in the kitchen I could handle the hand truck with the safe myself. Just find the balance point and roll it along. Be sure the safe is strapped to the hand truck.
  • Bert H.Bert H. Member Posts: 11,279 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I moved a pair of Cannon 850 lb gun safes last year when I bought my new house... all it took was (3) of my not-so-wise buddies, a case of beer, and one large (extra heavy duty) appliance dolly.[;)] When I bought another new safe a few months later, I had them deliver and set it up... the extra $100 was worth it[:0][^]

    edit: forgot to mention... those (3) buddies are a bit wiser now[}:)][:D]
  • dg101windg101win Member Posts: 751 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    An appliance dolly with manpower works quite well. For placing it in the truck all I did was place safe behind truck back of it facing tailgate. Then carefully tip safe into truck and slide it in,a piece of cardboard laid down in bed of truck makes it slide easy. Then reverse this at your house slide it out and stand up. Once in house close to its final location furniture slides work well.
    Remember to have the manpower available to help.
  • 5mmgunguy5mmgunguy Member Posts: 3,853
    edited November -1
    Make sure the flooring you are putting it on will take the weight. Over time the floor will deflect if you don't have the floor adequately supported.
  • olsenjbolsenjb Member Posts: 230 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I've moved my own 1200 lb. safe 4 times now (I really need to settle down). I've always rented a 4-wheeled flat dolly from U-Haul for something like $25. I move my safe in two parts. I remove the door and move it separate from the body of the safe. The door is about 1/2 the weight on mine. I lay them on the dolly separately and roll them onto the truck. It actually goes pretty smoothly.
  • Wolf.Wolf. Member Posts: 2,223 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    --
    Get at least one helper, preferably two. It can be done by yourself, but itsabitch. And, what if you get caught under it?

    Get a piece of 1" to 1 1/2" pipe. We use 1 1/4". Cut it into three foot pieces. You need maybe six of them or maybe more. To save pipe, you could make them all 30" or half 36" and half 24". Also, get some 1/2" poly rope. Tie the rope around the safe about 12-18 inches below the top and have a 10-foot tail. This will help control it if it starts to tip.

    Then start building the pyramid. That is, tip the safe slightly, push a piece of pipe under it, roll it forward, insert another piece of pipe, etc. until you get that mother rolling. You have one guy picking up the pipe that comes out the back and inserting it again in the front.

    We've moved lotsa safes (is the plural of safe "saves"[;)]) that way.
  • wuchakwuchak Member Posts: 119 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Equipment List
    -phone
    -yellow pages
    -$200
  • DONDALINGERDONDALINGER Member Posts: 1,541 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    The absolute easiest way to move a safe is with a tool called "side load jacks". You can rent one at a local rental place for like $40 for 4 hours. This is what the moving companies use. I have moved thousands of fully loaded vending machines weighing 1500 pounds or more. It consists of two sides with bottle jacks, a ratchet strap and casters. Once you have it connected you just jack it up and it rolls wherever you want to go with it. A 2 man job. The hardest part is tilting the safe a 1" to get each side under the safe.

    Good luck.
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