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allen1466 · 02-21-2006, 07:17 AM

Hello Everyone,

I currently have a gun safe that I need to move. The gun safe is 27 1/2" deep x 36" wide. So that gives me 990 sq. inches. It weighs 960 pounds. So a little less than a pound per sq. inch.

My floor joists are on 16" centers, well close enough. I think who laid out the joists had a thicker shoe on one foot than the other. The joists measure 1 1/2" x 9 1/4".

My question:

I need to move the safe from one side of the room to the other. I'm trying to keep the safe close to one of the outside walls. I don't have the dolley that they used to get it into the house, but I have access to a pallet jack. The safe is still on the pallet (good thing).

Will the floor joists handle picking up the safe with the pallet jack??? The safe people had a mechanical dolley w/ a motor on it to raise/lower the safe. Now I will be putting all the weight/pressure on the floor joists through the pallet jack. I need to move the safe about 15-20 feet.

Thanks, Allen

tgeb · 02-21-2006, 11:59 AM

Allen here is how to do this with out any special tools.

Get a few lengths of wood dowel or some smooth 1" pipe.

Lay a dowell on the floor infront of the safe, lean the safe back and roll this first dowel about 1/2 way under the pallet. Put one dowel just under the front, roll the safe forward while placing additional dowels in its path. Next thing you know the safe is across the room.

A pallet jack will concentrate the weight too much and could damage the floor. This method will spread out the weight more and cost next to nothing.

Let you friends figure out how you moved all by yourself!

Let me know how it works out

Tom

bob the builder · 02-21-2006, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tgeb

Allen here is how to do this with out any special tools.

Get a few lengths of wood dowel or some smooth 1" pipe.

Lay a dowell on the floor infront of the safe, lean the safe back and roll this first dowel about 1/2 way under the pallet. Put one dowel just under the front, roll the safe forward while placing additional dowels in its path. Next thing you know the safe is across the room.

A pallet jack will concentrate the weight too much and could damage the floor. This method will spread out the weight more and cost next to nothing.

Let you friends figure out how you moved all by yourself!

Let me know how it works out

Tom

I like your moves!!! That's what I'm talkin bout...

Bob

tgeb · 02-21-2006, 07:49 PM

Thanks!

I work alone on many projects, sometimes I have to figure out ways to "get 'er done", that's one of them.

Tom

Teetorbilt · 02-21-2006, 09:02 PM

Why the safe in the first place? I have creatively hidden guns in every residence that I have ever had.

allen1466 · 02-22-2006, 07:05 AM

Hey Teetorbilt,

I guess I have too much invested just to have my guns laying around the house. I collect Marlin Lever Action Rifles. All of them have the straight stock, not the pistol grip style. I also have a few custom made bolt action rifles. You just never know what will happen at your house while you are gone.

So, my mind got the best of me and I purchased a safe. I really don't want to move it, but the women that is decorating my house to sell, wants me to move it to the other side of the room. I don't have a problem with that, it's just one more move that I didn't want to do.

Allen

tgeb · 02-22-2006, 08:03 AM

I can't blame you for collecting Marlins, I have a 30-30 I bought off a guy in around 1982 and I love it. And it is better to be "safe" than sorry.

Tom

Teetorbilt · 02-22-2006, 10:18 PM

allen, just a tip. Disable them. I keep many around the house and office and I'm the only one who knows which ones work. Missing parts really deter theft and give the cops something to work on if anything is stolen (how many people need a bolt for a 30-40 Krag-Jorgenson?).

allen1466 · 03-03-2006, 08:13 AM

Hello Everyone,

Just wanted to give an update on moving the gun safe.

After days of finding friends, family and playing phone tag with the original safe movers, I opted for the safe movers. He gave me a great deal.

I gave the pipe trick a few hours of thought. The reason I didn't opt for the pipe way, was that the pallet didn't have bottom boards. The pallet was made from (2) 4 x 4's with 1 x 6's nailed to the top. So I would have to do some tricky turns and didn't feel right about going that way. Plus I didn't want to ruin the h/w floors. I would have been in big trouble with the "Boss".

I thought he would use the mechanical doley, the one with the motorized lift. Well, he just used a very small hand pallet jack. I was kind of leary about the floor joists, but it worked very well. The floor didn't make a squeek. He was shocked about it as much as me. He made the statement, " I can't believe I didn't hear a sound. Almost all homes, with the weight of the safe, the floor makes some kind of sound. You must have a very well built home".

I will get a discount on moving the safe when I sell this house and move into the new one next year. So everything worked out well.

Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions!

Allen