(Topic ID: 224103)

Anyone have any experience moving heavy safes?

By Grinder901

5 years ago


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    There are 56 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 2.
    #1 5 years ago

    We have this super heavy (prob at least a ton if not two tons) jewelry and gun safe. We haven’t used this safe in over ten years. The combination has been lost to time. I want it out of the store for space purposes. The father in law said he is fine with it leaving as long as 1. He doesn’t have to pay for its removal and 2. He can make a little something on it.

    Geez

    Ok so I found a few people interested in moving it out of the store but not willing to also pay me for it.

    I found one guy the other night who said he would remove it and would pay me $200 for it. Good deal. Now how the hell do we get it out of here? This thing isnt budging and is prob over a hundred years old. Two employees and myself put two 3 ton jacks underneath it (it’s on metal wheels) and jacked it up a few inches but barely moved it. It’s about 5.5 feet tall, 4 feet wide and almost 3 feet deep.

    Anyone have any tricks of the trade? I want this huge paper weight gone badly.

    Any help or suggestions would be very appreciated. Thanks!

    Ryan
    Advantage Pawn

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    #2 5 years ago

    I'm no expert, but it would seem like you need a forklift and a flat bed to move something like that.

    #3 5 years ago

    The good old wooden log roll Some people say to use golf balls...not exactly sure how that works and probably a good way to lose a limb.

    #4 5 years ago

    It's not attached or bolted to the floor is some way, is it?

    #5 5 years ago

    Try a pallet jack. It looks like it might go thru the middle. You should be able to rent one locally.

    #6 5 years ago

    take the doors off. it'll drop the weight considerably

    #7 5 years ago

    When we moved one out of my grandparents old store to their place we used a pallet jack and 6 guys to get it to the front doors. From there it was a lifted on a flatbed truck via built on crane lift and chains...crane struggled to get it high enough for the bed. Reverse order to drop off. It has never been moved since, it will last longer than the house.

    #8 5 years ago
    Quoted from tommyp:

    take the doors off. it'll drop the weight considerably

    This and pallet jack, however he does not have the combination to open it. In my younger years I helped move several safes of that size and it was no fun.

    #9 5 years ago

    After you open the doors you should be able to lift them off with a few people that drops the weight considerably

    #10 5 years ago
    Quoted from Grinder901:

    The combination has been lost to time.

    Quoted from Mitch:

    After you open the doors

    LTG : )

    #11 5 years ago

    That thing is on wheels. Can you push it left or right ?

    Sunk into floor ? Wheels rusted locked ? Bolted to floor or wall ?

    LTG : )

    #12 5 years ago

    It is easier to drill from the back to access the tumblers using a manipulation tool so the doors could be opened. Locksmiths also have a list of most common combinations if someone has the patience to sit there and try them.
    One warning, I do not think this one is old enough to qualify, but some safes actually had a poison gas capsule mounted directly behind the spinner to thwart attempted drilling. I know it sounds crazy, I learned this from a High Haz Specialist from the UK who encountered one.

    #13 5 years ago

    I haved moved around 20....Always hired a Professional Company....wasnt worth the risk of damage, back injury, etc....

    Good Luck!

    #14 5 years ago

    Sounds like you care more about the business than he does...see if you can still get your old job back...!!!.....just kidding,jk.... .............Joey

    #15 5 years ago

    Pallet jack x2. Just in case the angles are awkward. I think they rent them at United Rentals or Sunbelt which are usually at Lowes. Time the move right so you dont have to pay extra for overnight.

    #16 5 years ago
    Quoted from phil-lee:

    One warning, I do not think this one is old enough to qualify, but some safes actually had a poison gas capsule mounted directly behind the spinner to thwart attempted drilling. I know it sounds crazy, I learned this from a High Haz Specialist from the UK who encountered one.

    Looks like safes from the WWI era up through the early 1930s may have booby traps like that. Yikes.

    https://www.timesunion.com/local/article/A-safecracker-s-nightmare-926316.php

    https://gazette.com/news/antique-contains-safecracker-s-worst-nightmare/article_22f1f40f-fa7e-531e-897d-f977fa92ac05.html

    https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5308a4.htm

    #17 5 years ago

    Ask an egyptian, they build piramids!

    Are you sure is not attached to flooror wall with anker

    #18 5 years ago

    So you found a guy to remove it and will pay you $200 for it, so let it sit until he arrives and takes care of it?

    #19 5 years ago

    It’s not bolted in any way. We jacked it a few inches and budged it a little. Once lifted, the wheels turned freely.

    Yea no combination so no chance getting it opened or the doors removed. I’m sure when he bought the new safes and had them delivered, the movers simply moved it from its old location to its current one. There were three of us trying to move it to get an idea on how hard it’ll be once the buyer comes and shit, I’m thinking it might not be able to be sold/moved.

    I called a professional safe mover. Though based out of Nashville, I asked them some questions about what I might be looking at if I tried to do it myself or hired someone. She said if her company was doing it and it was local, they would charge $2500 for it. More to dispose of it too. WTF.

    Father in law said they have these motorized, electronic pallet jacks that can lift the safe and then quickly drive it out the store. But again, he’s not willing to spend any money to get it out just for the sake of freeing up space.

    #20 5 years ago

    I used to do this for a locksmith company before I started working with elevators. when you're in a tight spot like that need to get yourself a big Burke bar it's basically just a giant pry bar, you start prying it shimming the corners and repeat until you have enough space to get a dolly underneath of it or a pallet jack and get it out of there

    #21 5 years ago

    How do you know nothing is inside it?

    #22 5 years ago
    Quoted from snakesnsparklers:

    So you found a guy to remove it and will pay you $200 for it, so let it sit until he arrives and takes care of it?

    Makes sense unless the guy brings a few friends and the group is in the back with all the pawned items messing with the safe, struggling with it so one or two employees will have to be back there watching and supervising their actions. The buyer asked if I thought it could fit in the back of a truck. I said F no. That’s like putting a truck in the back of your truck. I said he’d need a moving truck and a commercial lift gate and I’m not even sure if that’s enough now. Those employees now can’t help customers to keep the store making money. Father in law ain’t gonna go for that. He’d just as soon say screw it.

    #23 5 years ago

    Start cutting it up with grinders? You might eat through a bunch of blades, and it will probably take a considerable amount of time...

    #24 5 years ago
    Quoted from Mitch:

    How do you know nothing is inside it?

    Great question. I mean, it’s been sitting in the back, unused for over a decade maybe closer to two decades. You’d think in all that time of items were missing, they’d try to get into the safe or keep the combination handy right? They moved it because it was older and it began giving them problems with the tumblers I believe. It’s not a crazy assumption to assume that they emptied it prior to moving it. I asked the father in law if he was certain it was empty and he said he was not.

    I told the buyer the safe and whatever might actually still be in the safe is his to keep once he pays me and gets it out

    #25 5 years ago

    I have moved one using the pyramid method... put a series of steel pipes under the safe, roll it on the pipes. Take one from the back and move it to the front as you go.

    #26 5 years ago

    Anyone famIlar with yanking Atm's out of convenience stores should be able to help you out here.

    #27 5 years ago
    Quoted from Electrocute:

    Anyone famIlar with yanking Atm's out of convenience stores should be able to help you out here.

    Tow truck. Back it up to it, through wall or window if need be. Wrap chain around it, off you go.

    LTG : )

    #28 5 years ago

    This woman got $1500 for what looks like the same safe. Of course she could open hers. Try contacting her.

    https://offerup.com/item/detail/375997889/

    #29 5 years ago

    Seriously, it should roll (or drag) better if you can get it on some thick plywood. 3/4" or better. A skid steer with a tree boom could easily pick it up once it's outside. Forks could do the same.

    20
    #30 5 years ago

    As a 37 year locksmith and safeman I have a bunch of experience on this. Get 3~4 guys and with one sitting on the floor using his legs and the other guys shoving it will roll. Once it starts rolling try to keep going until you get to the exit. Unless you are on concrete you WILL be marking up the floor unless you use plywood underneath.
    The "poison gas" is just tear gas. I put them in all my safes to prevent a punch attack. Stinks like hell. One other thing, that safe has asbestos fireproofing so keep that in mind if you try to drill the door. Drilling that era door with the Yale wheelpack is not to bad unless they have glass relockers. DONT POUND ON THE DOOR OR HINGES. To bad your so far away, I have access to a auto dialer that attaches to the front with magnets and you set it up and it starts dialing and when you come back the next morning it will be open.

    Manipulation may be difficult on that one because of the loose tolerances in the wheelpack. Many of those parts were hand fitted back then.

    #31 5 years ago

    Auto-dialer coolest thing I've seen this week

    #32 5 years ago
    Quoted from TheLaw:

    Auto-dialer coolest thing I've seen this week

    Travis must have been another unknown team member in the italian job

    #33 5 years ago

    That sumbitch ain't goin NOWHERE. It will outlive the state of TN and there's prob $1,000,000 in there.

    #34 5 years ago

    Plasma cutter that biotch. Otherwise small forklift if possible.

    #35 5 years ago

    Guessin not many of y'all have driven forklifts. As a hod carrier for 10 years, I drove the big Lulls when needed. Even those could not pick this thing up over a couple feet....maybe.
    Pallet jack?
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    #36 5 years ago

    How do auto dialers work? That’s cool!

    #37 5 years ago
    Quoted from Travish:

    As a 37 year locksmith and safeman I have a bunch of experience on this. Get 3~4 guys and with one sitting on the floor using his legs and the other guys shoving it will roll. Once it starts rolling try to keep going until you get to the exit. Unless you are on concrete you WILL be marking up the floor unless you use plywood underneath.
    The "poison gas" is just tear gas. I put them in all my safes to prevent a punch attack. Stinks like hell. One other thing, that safe has asbestos fireproofing so keep that in mind if you try to drill the door. Drilling that era door with the Yale wheelpack is not to bad unless they have glass relockers. DONT POUND ON THE DOOR OR HINGES. To bad your so far away, I have access to a auto dialer that attaches to the front with magnets and you set it up and it starts dialing and when you come back the next morning it will be open.

    Manipulation may be difficult on that one because of the loose tolerances in the wheelpack. Many of those parts were hand fitted back then.

    Thanks everyone. Since we know we can jack the safe up, we can then put plywood down underneath. I def don’t want to mark up the carpet as we push it out of there.

    Travish, since you and your wife are my favorite posters, I may fly you two out to supervise the safe’s removal and then dinner afterwards, $200 max

    #38 5 years ago
    Quoted from Grinder901:

    Thanks everyone. Since we know we can jack the safe up, we can then put plywood down underneath. I def don’t want to mark up the carpet as we push it out of there.
    Travish, since you and your wife are my favorite posters, I may fly you two out to supervise the safe’s removal and then dinner afterwards, $200 max

    You could also have him open it first just in case there is something inside.
    Might be worth the plane ticket

    #39 5 years ago

    Had a safe that size that we moved down in Texas in my parents bedroom, used the forklift to bring it up to the house and it took six of us guys to move it from the outside door into the bedroom with moving straps around our forearms and shoulders. It was a bitch.

    #40 5 years ago

    I figured out how you get rid of it....

    You start a thread on Reddit with an eleborate story about how the old man is a pawn broker, the tumblers stipped working 10 years ago when business was better,and since they were doing so well they did not care and the safe just got moved to the back corner. Tell reddit that anyone whom picks up the safe and removes it can then open it and have the contents.

    Play dumb and let them document as they go. ProBlem solved

    #41 5 years ago
    Quoted from Whysnow:

    I figured out how you get rid of it....
    You start a thread on Reddit with an eleborate story about how the old man is a pawn broker, the tumblers stipped working 10 years ago when business was better,and since they were doing so well they did not care and the safe just got moved to the back corner. Tell reddit that anyone whom picks up the safe and removes it can then open it and have the contents.
    Play dumb and let them document as they go. ProBlem solved

    Add a few Ghosts seen, and its worth a fortune!

    #42 5 years ago

    You'll probably only find a dead spider and some cobwebs in it.

    #43 5 years ago
    Quoted from ForceFlow:

    You'll probably only find a dead spider and some cobwebs in it.

    Rumor has it that Jimmy Hoffa was in the area just prior to hs disappearance...…..just saying

    #44 5 years ago

    What you'll find inside the safe? A scrap of paper with the combination on it.

    #45 5 years ago

    I own a gun safe a bit larger than that, though it’s modern so it likely weighs less and has no wheels. I had the safe company deliver it after purchasing it for an extra $200. Two guys showed up with a pallet jack and some plastic skids. Worked like a charm.

    When we moved we paid the moving guys an extra $150 to move it. Four very strong mid-late twenties guys with shoulder/forearm straps moved it. They were worn out but got it done.

    You’d think it would be worth something as scrap metal by its weight. Anyway, good luck.

    3 weeks later
    #46 5 years ago

    Ok. Last Friday the buyer came with his father and between 4-5 friends to help him. I had spent the day prepping the path they would have to push the safe through.

    The father in law was gone for most of the day but he returned for the afternoon, more than likely wanting to be there to supervise the safe’s departure. Using a heavy duty car jack and lots of muscle, the group was able to move the safe and push it through the store. It was a close call down the aisle with only an inch or so of space between the safe and the shelves.

    Things started to become a clusterf*ck as they tried getting it out of the store. They rolled the safe wheel over the metal door threshold on the floor and bent it some. The father in law started losing his mind. The group stalled as they got the safe outside the front door and tried to load it on the trailer they brought. It was blocking the front door some on a Friday evening and boy I got chewed out for doing this. I told the buyer I preferred it be done Saturday since the owner doesn’t work Saturdays but his help was available on Friday. As they tried to load the heavy ass safe onto the trailer, they dropped it in the parking lot. It did some damage to the asphalt and one of the curbs in the parking space. Again, I got an ass chewing. He kept interrupting me putting things back that I had moved (I took two doors off the hinges to ensure the safe would clear those door ways) to call me over and show me what a mess the buyers had made. I was helping customers with redemptions and pawns while also selling two guns, some TVs and an air conditioner while he continued to grab me and pull me aside to say I told you so. Pretty stressful. He would have preferred this waste of space stay in the back forever rather than deal with its removal. Never mind getting some money back for it or the extra space we’d have with it gone.

    Eventually the group got it loaded up and we cleaned up the area. They paid me and promised to fill in the damaged areas with asphalt.

    It was painful but I’m glad it’s gone. It’s been sitting there for 15 years or so. More storage and space to organize things in the back now.

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    #47 5 years ago

    Seems to be very minimal damage to parking stop and asphalt surface. Maby he over reacted a bit ya think.....

    #48 5 years ago

    I say good riddance. Do you even own the parking lot? I don't see any damage worth mentioning.

    #49 5 years ago

    Yea he owns the building/lot.

    He over reacted a bit but I get it. This is his baby and it disrupted the flow of business getting it out and could have done more damage.

    I’m just trying to be an asset, be helpful and clean up the back so we can store things better. I hated the idea of something that big taking up all that space.

    #50 5 years ago

    sounds like it could have been an episode for a pawn shop tv show =D

    There are 56 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 2.

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