Any tips on gun safe moving?

Curt Barrett

Curt Barrett

New member
I finally bought a new Liberty gun safe yesterday. Being we have such a vast and deep knowledge pool here at PM I thought who better to consult than you fellas for tips on moving gun safes. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowingsmilie.gif

It's an average size safe I guess. There are a lot bigger, but it's still a chunk-o-metal to move around. It's around 1000 lbs. 6 ft tall, 45 gun safe.

Once out of the truck it is concrete patio to get to the front door. I have one step about 8-10 inches to go up and onto a wood deck before entering the front door. The deck is well built but do you think it will support that kind of weight if I lay down plywood to distribute the weight? I only have to travel about 4 ft across the deck and then turn into the front door. From there it is through the living room and into the den. Flat and no other doorways. I guess the biggest challenge will be getting up the one step and onto the wood deck.

One friend of mine used lengths of pipe to put under the safe to roll it along. Moving the sections of pipe along as they went kind of like the pyramid builders. He had the safe on it's side till he got it where he wanted then tipped it up. Would you guys move it standing up or laying down?

Another friend had his two Fort Knox safes delivered and installed by a safe mover. The safe mover had a electric stair climbing dolly made for safe moving. I'm assuming it was standing when moved.

Both guys laid down plywood as they moved the safe through the house. There is a safe mover available but he would have to travel about 110 miles. Think it would be worth having him do it? I have the safe home already in my shop.

Any tips you guys have to share would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks much!
 
when i moved my safe in i used a good hand truck, safe standing. My doors are wide enuff to fit it thru. the ply wood is a good idea not only to distribute weight but also for carpet if u have to go across any, the dolly didnt wanna roll across mine.
 
fridge dolly three big guys and a 12 pack lol thats how we moved mine it wieghs around 1300 dang near went through the floor when we set it up the first time /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Curt.

All of your ideas are sound. The pipe ideas works well to move across the flats. Don't forget to keep cardboard between the pipes and the safe. I think I would use plywood on the deck, to protect the deck and not have the board "bump" every 5 inches. Two or three friend with stong backs are good. I moved my 500 lb (+/-) 27 gun safe up and down a flight of steps by myself with an elec. dolly but if you only have one step then just a big fridge dolly may be a better choice.

Having said all that. If you can afford a safe mover, thats how I would do it.

Good luck.
 
1000 lbs won't be that hard even without an electric dolly if you have a couple of friends to help. Use ramps to get up the step and the ply wood is a good idea.

Measure your doorways first! you'll feel really silly after getting that thing up the step and then figuring out that you lack a quarter inch of space (we won't talk about how I know that).

A refrigerator dolly will help a lot, but the pipes will work fine.

It's only 1000lbs, four guys could probably carry it in if there was room.
 
Guess im on the other end of the spectrum. I say pasy the guy and let him worry about all the details. He breaks something, it comes out of his end. Not your pocket.
 
I was in the moving business for over twenty years. I've moved numerous safes and heavy machinery. That's one of the reasons I'm in the shape I am today. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif Some good advise has already been given. The best advise (IMHO) is Crapshoot's. If I couldn't recruit four of my moving buddies to do the job, I'd hire a safe mover.
 
Well most ideas have been said, except what I've done. We have moved our safe a couple times with a pallet jack. We used a heel bar to raise/lower it when blocking/unblocking for the jack. I also supervised moving a couple in a business recently. We used the heel bar to raise then rolled them out on concrete stakes to where we raised/ blocked then moved with the pallet jack and blocked/lowered with heel bar. These two safes weighed #2000 & #2200. So I would get some pushers, jack it up and go slow on the corners. No matter how you go plywood and ramps are good. Take it for what it's worth and good luck.
 
Thanks much for the help guys! Some very sound advice here. Especially measuring the doorway. lol!

I'll probably look into what it costs to have the mover come up. If it's more than I want to spend, I might try the pallet jack. That is what they used to get the safe to the loading dock and it worked pretty slick.

Another option I'm considering is putting it in my shop. That would be an easy install. The shop is insulated and very weather tight. Only bad thing is it is currently not heated.

Anyway, thanks again for the help. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif

Take care, Curt
 
The cheapest way would be to rent one of these:

SRTM_66.jpg


The small wheels are on a swinging arm. After you put the blade under the safe and strap it down you release the swinging arm. It'll stand on it's own when tipped back. Two guys can easily move a 1000 pound safe. Make sure your helper isn't the type that'll sue you if he gets hurt.
 
Hello,
A freinds broken leg while helping out is no fun. I'm sure every thing would be OK with everyones suggestions. Accidents are accidental for a reason. The investment you have in your firearms and this safe is probably worth having a professional come in and move it, rather than have to sell a couple firearms to pay for your buddy's injury if something should happen. Plus the pro's will be in and out before you know it.
 
As has been mentioned before. Some safes have a buit in safty to protect your investment against theft. Some safes when tipped beyond a certain degree activate a fail safe which makes it darn near impossible to open.
 
My gunsmith had a safe in his (unheated) shop with a digital combo lock. When the weather turned cold he had to use a blow drier to warm the locking mechanism up before it would work.
 
That is a sweet dolly Weasel. Looks to be up to the task. I originally set out looking for one like that. Looks like it would keep me from getting a broke leg. lol!

Good point Lance. I hope mine doesn't have that feature. They loaded it in my truck laying on it's back. lol!

nmleon, you are right. After weighing the pros and cons of putting it in my shop, I think I'll bring it inside. Besides, safes are too pretty to hide in the corner of a shop. I did read in Guns and Ammo recently that 70% of gun safes are installed in the garage. That surprised me. I think that number reflects how many times wives get involved in deciding where to put the safe. lol!

weedwalker, I'm told that the floor should be ok. The wide bottom of the safe distributes it's weight enough where it should not be an issue. I may crawl under and add a support just to be safe though. (no pun intended. lol!)

bobcat, Weasel and Lance, I was able to contact a safe mover yesterday. As usual my timing was impeccable. He had just finished a move that brought him fairly close to my area. It would have been fairly cheap to have him swing by on his way home and move my safe. I missed that boat though. The guy was super helpful though and gave me a quick tutorial. He said to construct a ramp to get up the 8" step. He recommended a small, narrow pallet jack like Tripod suggested. Said it should wheel in fairly easy with a couple friends. He also said any more than 3 guys almost makes it harder. They just get in each others way. He also said in the event it did start to fall, get out of the way. lol! He said he would be happy to come up and move it but I might be surprised how easy it was when I pay him. So I'm going to give it a shot I guess.

Thanks again for all the help fellas!
 
Take Weasels advice and go rent one of those dollies. Im in the office furniture business and I have moved alot of fireproof files with one of those. Two big stout guys and a little grunting and you should be able to handle it. The step will be your biggest problem. Either build a ramp plan on a few choice cuss words. Once you get it broke over on that extra set of wheels you dont have to worry about holding all the weight. Getting it broke over is the toughest part of it. Good luck and be SAFE!!!

Guy
 


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