NFOA MEMBERS FORUM
General Categories => General Firearm Discussion => Topic started by: RobertH on August 23, 2014, 08:25:21 PM
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so, my neighbors are moving and they have a fireproof safe that they are giving me for real cheap. the safe is not huge, but it is bigger than my non-fireproof safe. they have a walk out basement, but steep landscaping. i do not have a walk out basement, only stairs. how would one move the safe into my garage? strapped to a hand truck? ideas???
i'll get the make/model tomorrow and maybe some pics.
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What are its weight and dimensions? Weight is the most important consideration. If it's several hundred pounds, you are better off hiring a professional mover. They have experience and, in the event of an accident, they have insurance to repair the damage and pay the medical bills of their injured employees.
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ok, i found out it is a Centurion by Liberty. Model D-20. it is 440lbs and measures 59.25"H x 28"W x 22"D.
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seriously, that last one I moved ---TOW TRUCK,
can pick it up with a sling, move it. and back into your garage
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I just used a two wheel cart and two man power to get mine in the basement. It wasn't a lot of fun but we got it done. Mine weighs a little over 500 pounds.
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If you can move it without having to hire the "Heavy Company", its not big enough! :)
66bigblock
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If you can move it without having to hire the "Heavy Company", its not big enough! :)
66bigblock
well, i'll just say the price was right. i was hoping to take off the door, but it doesn't look like thats possible, but i will have to look into it more. i also think i can take off the fire proofing and shelving.... anything to make it lighter. then it will be me and some friends either taking it downstairs or loading it up to take to my parents.
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440 pounds is not heavy in the safe world. You tube search safe moving. It is pretty easy with a bit of knowledge and a few tools.
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Refrigerator dolly and a couple of strong backs should get it done. BTDT.
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I would call a moving company. Piece of cake for them and probably cheaper than you think. They are insured so you don't have the risk of property or personal damage.
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If you want to go that way, Lincoln Lock and Safe are real good and reasonable. They got a 700 lb safe in my basement in about 20 min using a nifty machine they have that walks it up or down stairs.
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If you don't go the 'professional' route and try the DIY with an appliance dolly... Get some plywood sheets to put on the ground as a pathway out of their basement, across the lawn and up to the front of the house/driveway/sidewalk.
The dolly, with the small wheels, will bury up in the soil without a firm surface to roll on.
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There are videos on you tube of people, using only simple tools, lifting barns and moving them. If neighbors can move a barn, a medium sized safe cant be out of reach.
4 2x6 10 foot long boards fastened to the sides of the safe at 6" below hands at waist high. Bound on with tie down straps that sandwich the boards to the sides of the safe. Moving blanket over the safe to protect the paint. One strong person on the end of each board, or two frail teens on each handle and up she goes.
Each person will be lifting 60 pounds in a 8 man team, 30 pounds in a 16 man team. That should easily walk out of a landscaped area without doing any damage. Cant take a tow truck into someone's yard. Tow trucks do come in handy, I use them to move my (4300 pounds each) gorillas.
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I want to applaude you for going to the effort and expense to aquire this safe. It is a very responsible decision to put a safe in your home. Keeps good people good, keeps bad people away.
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I think the first step is getting it in my garage. Then ill see if i want it downstairs or not. I already have a safe, but this one is bigger. Im certain i can get it moved with my dolly and some friends.
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There are videos on you tube of people, using only simple tools, lifting barns and moving them. If neighbors can move a barn, a medium sized safe cant be out of reach.
4 2x6 10 foot long boards fastened to the sides of the safe at 6" below hands at waist high. Bound on with tie down straps that sandwich the boards to the sides of the safe. Moving blanket over the safe to protect the paint. One strong person on the end of each board, or two frail teens on each handle and up she goes.
Each person will be lifting 60 pounds in a 8 man team, 30 pounds in a 16 man team. That should easily walk out of a landscaped area without doing any damage. Cant take a tow truck into someone's yard. Tow trucks do come in handy, I use them to move my (4300 pounds each) gorillas.
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Think this is the best. Then:
If you don't go the 'professional' route and try the DIY with an appliance dolly... Get some plywood sheets to put on the ground as a pathway out of their basement, across the lawn and up to the front of the house/driveway/sidewalk.
The dolly, with the small wheels, will bury up in the soil without a firm surface to roll on.
Those dolly's at TSC are good for 600 lbs. I have one, and put over 600 lbs on them, no probs.
Or you can invite a whole lot of people over from the boards, and after we move your safe, we can go to a range and get some trigger time.
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Convince anyone helping move the safe you conduct bio hazard tests in your home for some research project, and need the safe to keep spores in. That way rumors of your valuables dont start circulating the neighborhood.
After it is all moved, tell them you need to move the safe again in 30 days to ship it to a federal waste management facility and ask them if they want to help again?
Tell them to bring disposable gloves and a resperator. Lol
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I think the first step is getting it in my garage. Then ill see if i want it downstairs or not. I already have a safe, but this one is bigger. Im certain i can get it moved with my dolly and some friends.
The key is to pay your buddies in Universal Man Currency.
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I do accept universal bank of fiocchi...
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The key is to pay your buddies in Universal Man Currency.
Is that ammo or beer?
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The cost of the Emergency Room visit for a friend who smashes his hand will make you wish you just paid the movers.
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The key is to pay your buddies in Universal Man Currency.
Is that ammo or beer?
I believe its called friendship. lol.
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The cost of the Emergency Room visit for a friend who smashes his hand will make you wish you just paid the movers.
People die driving their own cars. Some folks like Ralph Nader always take public transportation and do not have a DL. I would rather drive myself.
My former vocation demanded I own safes to insure the safeguarding of other peoples property. I often had to move a safe for one reason or another. Changed locations, purchased an additional safe, etc.
You hire a safe moved, if the safe falls and hurts someone, the way the laws work, you get lawyers on your heals anyway, because you owned the safe and directed a agent you hired to move it.
Personaly, I think the fewer people involved in moving a safe, is the way to go. That requires tools. Truck, trailer, winch, come-a-longs, tie down straps, palets, pallet jack, Johnson Bar, bucket of golf balls, stair climbing heavy item mover.
Moving a smaller to medium sized safe a few feet from one house to another can be done easily one way or the other. Just be careful. I move safes by myself with no problems, and easier yet with a goofer to help move tools, open doors, etc.
I used to use come-a-longs to load safes on to trailers. One safe move, I had enough of the foul things, and went and purchased a 12,000 pound wench for the front of my truck. That item has proven to be very useful over the years.
Depending on the lay of the land, a safe can be moved easily from one place to another, with one person, two sheets of thick plywood (for grass or dirt), a Johnson Bar and a bucket of golf balls.
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I believe its called friendship. lol.
No, that's the Universal Woman Currency!
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Then ill see if i want it downstairs or not.
FWIW............
A safe located in your garage is often quite easy to steal.
All that's needed is to open the garage doors, back up a pickup truck to the safe, tilt the safe into the truck bed, push the safe further into the truck bed, and take off. Once the safe's center of gravity is on the truck bed, it's EZ.
As it happens, I've moved safes from garage to garage by myself in the same manner. Buying and selling. Used an SUV (bed is lower than a pickup) and totally surprised myself by being able to do it.
Much harder to get one out of the basement. That activity usually takes two strong lads pushing at the bottom and one even stronger one pulling on the dolly to get it up all 13 steps.
Like I said, FWIW.
sfg
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FWIW............
A safe located in your garage is often quite easy to steal.
And another FWIW... it sure gets seen by everyone driving by whenever your garage door is up, unless you disguise it somehow. Hitting garages seems to be a big modus operandi right now. We've had a lot of people waltzing into garages in our neighborhood on the pretense of selling something, but I think they're just casing the place out. (Then there are Those People who leave their garage door open 24/7 and attract the scum to the neighborhood, then act surprised when they get robbed.)
I wonder how one of these new "tile" locators would be, affixed discreetly under the safe or even inside the safe or the hollow stock of a rifle -- if it could get a signal inside metal.
https://home.thetileapp.com/
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I would call a moving company. Piece of cake for them and probably cheaper than you think. They are insured so you don't have the risk of property or personal damage.
I did a little checking a while back ... most moving companies have a minimum fee that makes this a fairly pricey proposition.
I grew up moving pianos so moving a 440 lb safe doesn't seem like that big of a deal to me.
Start by removing the door. That's often the heaviest part and usually pretty easy to remove. Move the door and the "box" separately.
Do not use a dolly that concentrates all the weight on a single step at a time as you move the safe into your basement. Use a dolly with skids or simply slide the door and safe down the stairs spreading the weight across multiple steps at once.
Air dollies are great for flat surfaces but won't work on stairs.
The plywood on the lawn idea is good for getting the safe across your neighbor's lawn to your home. Alternatively, strap the safe box to a piece of plywood and have two guys pull it with a rope or strap while two more guys push it. Do the same with the door.
If you cut the plywood narrow enough, you can use is as your slide for the stairs. Purchase finish grade plywood so as to avoid slivers in your carpet.
Let me know if you need more ideas.
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I moved my 54 gun safe with an appliance cart and had no problems. If you are just putting it in your garage, no problem. I put my safe in the basement going down stairs and needed several friends to slide it down the stairs without the cart attached.
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Is that ammo or beer?
Yes.
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Robert, if you need help, I'll come down and help ya. Just pm me on date/time.
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Depending on day & time, I can offer up my assistance (& maybe my 14 yr old son's help) too.
I have some moving straps that might help.
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Same here man, you know I'll help if I can.
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Thank you everyone for the ideas and the offer to help. Since there is no rush (right now), ill take my time. I looked at it last night and im pretty sure the door comes off, so that would help a lot. I will pm or text people if i need the help. Maybe ill post pics when this is all done. OpSec will be maintained though.
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With the door off, you loose some strength in the safe. If you spring the frame, you have nothing. If the floor / stairs you travel over will handle the weight door on, leave it on. IMHO.
I have moved safes both ways, doors on, doors off. You take a greater risk of finger pinching / amputation messing with taking the door off and on, than you do just moving it. It is not a massive amount of weight, it will move easy enough with the door in place.
Took a 300 pound door off once to move a safe, because I was concerned about the stairs holding the weight. Putting the door back on, was harder than moving the safe.
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The door of a 440 lb safe might weigh 200 lbs. I agree with Gary that it will be a bit of a hassle to take the door off and put it back on, but a safe without a door is, perhaps, half as heavy and has places where you can grab hold to carry it.
I seriously doubt that you could "spring the frame" of a quality safe if you move it carefully.
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FWIW............
A safe located in your garage is often quite easy to steal.
All that's needed is to open the garage doors, back up a pickup truck to the safe, tilt the safe into the truck bed, push the safe further into the truck bed, and take off. Once the safe's center of gravity is on the truck bed, it's EZ.
As it happens, I've moved safes from garage to garage by myself in the same manner. Buying and selling. Used an SUV (bed is lower than a pickup) and totally surprised myself by being able to do it.
Much harder to get one out of the basement. That activity usually takes two strong lads pushing at the bottom and one even stronger one pulling on the dolly to get it up all 13 steps.
Like I said, FWIW.
sfg
It is wise to bolt your gun safes (or residential security containers) to the floor. Many of them come with predrilled holes in the bottom for this purpose. Bolting down would preclude easy stealing by the method you've mentioned (tipping it into a truck bed and driving off). Additionally, it makes it harder for thieves to force the safe open using pry bars since it can't be tipped over easily (there are youtube videos demonstrating this if you're curious).
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bkoenig and gsd helped move it. Great guys and did all the work.