How do people get a gun safe moved, they are heavy?

With great difficulty.

Does yours have a receptacle for a lifting eye to be installed in the top?

As far as trh's comment he again shows he doesn't know what he is talking about.

Are your steps carpeted?

With blood sweat and tears,and some choice words,been there also friends helping..

Refrigerater cart with straps, a couple budies, and a whole bunch of gruntin

Alot easier than getting it out of the basement!

empty it first 20 guns is at least 140 lbs

It will be a lot lighter if you take the door off. I used a refrigerator dolly(roller on the back and a heavy strap that locks the dolly to the safe.) and a son to move mine up stairs. I wasn't really much of a problem. Just do it one step at a time. I wouldn't let anyone get between it and gravity.

1) Stand upright on first floor
2) saw hole through floor around said safe
3) voila!

(Sorry - couldn't restrain myself!)
Good luck.

Mark

Not if you have a walk out basement, then it is about the same amount of work getting it in or out.

I assume this is a basement that doesn't need a sump pump.

I'd be thinking about a good easy ropes system with pulleys and put the safe on its back and slide it down. Then roll it on pipes wherever. Would be the easy way to get it back up again too.

But as always depends on what you might have to anchor a ropes system to.

I watched a professional safe mover do it. pulled up with a tandem axle trailer, used a small fork lift to move safe to street level, sitting on it's wooden box. Brings over a dolly on wheels that has metal that goes under the safe. Has hydraulic jack on side to life safe up about four inches off ground, dolly wheel on all four sides of safe. Two guys can move off a truck and install a safe in about ten minutes.

the pallet jack went down the steps into the basement?

wasn't moved into a basement, but they DID have to move it up some steps. Had some sheets of metal they laid over the steps so they could roll it.

Check your local yellow pages for a professional safe mover. I had mine moved out of my basement earlier this year and it cost right around $150.00 for them to come do it. It was worth every penny and my friendships are worth a lot more than that!

They had a hydraulic stair climber taking it up and then used wood dowels to roll it across the carpet and into a room upstairs. Took longer for them to unload and load their equipment than the actual job took.

If you don't mind spending some money hire professional safe movers/installers who should have the proper equipment.

Or with a little help you could DIY by renting one of these rated for whatever weight load you're wanting to move:

never seen one of those....

PUSH IT DOWN THE STAIRS!!

I had my house built around my basement safe.It will never leave the house.

I wish I'd have filmed it when I moved a new safe into our basemant. You'd all get a kick out of the polish way of doing things.

It involved a chainfall and some nylon lifting slings. I didn't calculate THAT much stretch in the slings. A 600lb+ safe will fly down carpeted stairs... if you let it!

This.

I moved mine UPstairs, which is magnitudes more difficult. However, it's just a 16 gun safe, the much bigger ones wouldn't have made it upstairs, I don't think. Too wide and too heavy.

I've had to move a couple of times since I bought a safe so hired professional movers to move it. It was right at $150 per move (in town) and worth every penny. I only had a couple of steps to deal with each time, but the movers used a heavy duty appliance dolly with straps and didn't have any trouble with it.

I've since moved it myself from one room to another both with a dolly and just sliding it on carpet. I wouldn't consider moving it my self if I had a basement to deal with...

Hey, related question... I'm having one delivered either tomorrow or the next day. Right now (pre-delivery), it's standing on a little set of steel brackets so they can get a lift under it.

Do y'all recommend leaving that on there? Does it affect stability? Take it off and save it till the next time it has to move?

The safe is about 910#, 72"x44"x27" (about). Will be on a slab (former garage) floor. Slightly sloped to the rear. No plans to move it in the near future, etc.

Thanks.

My safe is about 950# EMPTY. I ain't touching it, as far as moving goes . . .

I don't know how your stairs are framed, but a couple temporary posts would probably be a good idea to beef things up. Lot's of ways to get hurt moving heavy stuff...

Either hire it out (easiest) or get a heavy duty appliance dolly and a couple friends.

I like the ultra lift idea, although several of the other ideas are interesting. Thanks for the replies.

Mine weighs about 950 pounds. After letting it just sit in the garage for 18 months I decided that if I was dumb enough to buy it, then I was probably also dumb enough to get it into the basement. Basically, my neighbor and I did it ourselves. We covered the 7 steps into the basement with a heavy aluminum ramp. We then attached the safe to an a moving dolly capable of holding 1300 pounds. We lifted the safe/dolly into a horizontal position with a skidsteer that had a ginpole on the bucket and poked it through the back door which opened onto the stairs. We sat it down on the ramp and lowered it with a come-a-long all the way to the bottom of the stairs. We then enlisted two teenage flunkys to help us stand it up. After that, we just wheeled it into the appointed space and spent the rest of the day drinking beer.

I actually think it would be easier to get it out of the basement than it was to put it down there.

Safe dollies can be rented at any of your rental yards and work great until you reach the stairs if that's what you have... no need to take safe dollies off if there are no stairs involved... they'll roll it out of the house on to the truck, off again and back into new location...

Phil

Northern Tool does sell a 1200# appliance dolly, which helps a lot.

That said, I'd hire movers to do it, unless there were an easy way to use a hoist/come-a-long to safely lower it, and it was a reasonable sized safe. One amatuer mover slipping could mean a real bad day for everyone.

Position it on the first floor above where it will sit in the basement, then cut the floor around it!

Jack the house up, slide it in, lower the house. Or, maybe it's time to find a place on the main floor.....

Last one I was involved in we rented a dolly like the ultra lift in the video. They really work BTW. Our only causalty was rocking the safe back onto the wheels...one of my compadres saw foot to put his foot behind the wheel to hold it in place. He was last seen hopping off into the darkness on one foot screaming like a banshee. Luckily...he fell down in a short distance so he just went into a death roll in a small circle. After we got the safe in place we wheeled it over to him and loaded him up...taking him back to the pick up and off to get xrays. He did celebrate that Christmas in an air cast.....

+1

GREAT minds - etc etc, Terry (see above)

This is how they moved my safe too, worth every penny.

When I was a young, hungry college student, I was one of the hired flunkies that helped move a couple of big safes when a business relocated. It was an eye-opening experience. Without the right equipment and training it was a very difficult and dangerous task. We barely accomplished the mission and were lucky no one was hurt.

As a mature adult with a few dollars in my pocket, I have paid professional safe movers both times I have needed to move a big safe. They are amazing to watch, and well worth any reasonable cost. And much cheaper than a trip to the Emergency Room.

If it's under 980 lbs you can use a stair climber - which is a modified hand truck with a motor and battery that will lift / lower it up or down each step.

Better yet hire a safe moving company to do it and sit back and watch.
Most people who sell safes know who to call.

TFF!

I hired a moving company to move my safe from the garage (where it was delivered to) into the house.
Fast and easy.

JD338

I have moved safes a number of times. I would highly recommend hiring a pro. Especially if you are in a profession that an injury might keep you out of your regular job and result in no pay for you for a while.

That said, if you move it yourself, remove the door. That is the majority of most safes' weight. Heavy duty appliance/safe dolly is good. What works real well is a pallet jack. Open up the safe and use the door to tip the safe forward so you can get a block under it so the forks will slip under later. Then use the pallet forks to lift the door up and off the safe.

I moved a safe one time with my wife who had just had a baby 5 days previous. I had to lower the safe down off a trailer 3 feet high. I used a block and tackle attached to a dolly and my wife belayed the safe down with it as I held onto and controlled the dolly as we came down the ramp. Would work for lowering down stairs as well, IF you have a good anchor point at the top of the stairs.

I moved my 710 pound safe into the basement of our previous house by myself. The house had a landing off the back door with a few steps up to the kitchen and several steps down to the basement. I dollied the safe to the landing and parked it. I placed a two inch section of steel pipe across the doorway to the kitchen and using a coffin hoist (a chain come along capable of very heavy lifting) connected to the pipe, let the safe down with the coffin hoist. I used some heavy nylon straps around the safe and padded the stair side of the safe with carpet. It really was simple and safe. Once in the basement I used the dolly again to position the safe where I wanted it. It sure beat grunting and groaning and fighting with all that weight.

Mart

Hire a professional safe mover . I bought one of the safes when a local sporting goods store closed. I was wrong when I thought my son and a couple of his friends could move the safe. $200 to have the safe put where I wanted it and bolted to the floor.

They slid Dad's safe down the steps on a piece of cardboard. They laid the safe on it's back on cardboard and then slid it down slowly.

Rent one of these:

http://www.powermate.info/

Easy: Hire professional safe movers!

I'm all for doing things myself, but some things I will not touch. Electricity is one. I'll do plumbing, carpentry, even sheetrock. I'm hiring an electrician!

Waaaaaayy too many things that can go wrong not to hire a bonded, insured, professional safe mover!

This is wise advice. I built two frames from 2 x 8 and positioned them underneath the stairs. One about a third the way up and the other two thirds the way up. My safe empty weighs near 2,000 lbs. I cut some 2 by 8's to act as runners down the stairs then layed heavy cardboard on them. I had an eye bolt screwed into the top of the safe and my buddy hooked his winch line to it. We we able to push the safe through the door on some pipes for rollers and he powered it down the stairs. When it got to the bottom we took the 2 x 8's and used them as levers to stand the safe back up on a pallet. Then used the pallet jack to move it to where I wanted it. It was truly a 4 man job. To do it again, if that ever happens, I'll hire it done. My new neighbors own a safe shop so I'm thinking he'll become my new best friend!

Take a sawsall and cut around the perimeter of the safe.

get a professional moving company. shouldn't be more than $200 in a normal situation. be sure they have insurance just in case.

-ken

if it is a big safe (> 1k lbs) and you are going down steps, i'd advise getting a moving company to do it. if you put 1k safe on even the heaviest fridge dolly and try to take it down steps, somebodies going to get crushed. i move mine with a 3k pallet jack from work but its all on one level. if you have a walkin basement, get a few sheets of plywood and a pallet jack and some 2" black iron pipe to get you over the door thresholds. then lay the plywood on the grass and roll the safe on the jack over it and leapfrog the plywood as you go. thats the way we got mine into my house. it weighs 1100 lbs and it wasn't easy.

First safe I bought I had them deliver it too.. Guy used an electric 4-wheeled hand cart with pivoting axles that will 'walk' itself up/down stairs.. This one guy and this cart easily moved this 1100# safe inside and in place within a few minutes... It was a thing of beauty..

keep the floor really wet under it for bout a week.

Not criticizing at all, but Tarkio has it. I was a mover on the side for a decade (HS/college), and cliche though it may be, if you have to ask...

I've been hired to clean up some disastrous failed attempts at moving heavy pieces, including see porches, sub-floors and stairs collapse. Memorable items offhand I recall that were *beasts*: a 350 Chevy V8, to the 5th floor, with the last two floors not large enough to have more than two men on it... A 12 X 4 X 3 fish tank, with about 40 gallons of water and the rocks still in it... A few large safes weighing perhaps 1200 lbs. It ain't that big of a deal if your brother loses his grip on a fridge that comes down a steep set of stairs at the guy below (though it certainly can be good for an ER visit). Try that with a half ton of steel safe and people can DIE. Not to mention do some *very* expensive damage to the item, as well as the home.

We always used leverage, mechanical assists, straps and the most important thing: your head. Pay some outfit to do it. Make sure they're insured and know WTF they're doing.

Kamo,

From what you have posted in the past, anything involving your and your brother can be good for an ER visit! An MD friend of mine refers to this phenomenon as "testosterone poisoning".

I have helped moved some big heavy stuff up or down stairs, and I agree with your advice: if it is really heavy people can die (or have permanent damage), so hire somebody!

I hope all is well with you and your family this holiday season.

John

To all you guys who suggest using professional movers....that's well and good if there are any available. Those of us who live deep in the boonies do not have that option. The nearest "professional" to my location would be over 150 miles away. It's likely that the cost of such a mover would exceed the cost of the safe in many locations. Hence.....all the improvised do-it-yourself techniques noted here.

Did you watch the movie "The Italian Job"? They did exactly that to steal a safe filled with gold bars. They used explosives to cut a concrete floor but otherwise it was the same.