Gun Safe question, moving

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Bridger

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With my C&R collection, it's definately time to get a gun safe. My parents don't mind either, since my dad and brother need a place for their shotguns and such as well. We already have a spot picked out, and so on.

Well, how exactly do we go about getting this from Gander Mountain and into our home? I'm thinking we could move it ourselves, it's about 530 pounds, and I'm pretty sure our '99 Ford Explorer could handle that. I suppose there is some worry since it would be all that weight over mostly the rear axle.

Is it something we can do ourselves, or should we get someone we know with a trailer or pickup to help us out with moving it? Or would Gander Mountain offer some sort of service?

If we can do it on our own, the spot is going ot be in our garage, with it's concrete floor. Just back the car in, and wiggle the safe into the corner, where it will be hidden from view and once we figure out how, bolted to the floor.

How did those of you with safes move them?
 
If it is to the point where it's so big you aren't comfortable moving it in your explorer, you can always rent a U-Haul truck or something for just the task. It wouldn't cost too much for only one afternoon and then you won't have to worry about harming your vehicles suspension. My new safe, we just threw into the back of the pick up (2004 F-150) and hauled her to the house, backed it up to the door and got a few friends together to manuver it into position.
 
Thanks

I'm not much of a car person, would it be that bad on the vehicle's suspension for an approximately 40 mile trip? I suppose the U-HAUL is a viable alternative, thanks for pointing that out!

The idea of movers or locals knowing about the gun safe is something I'd rather not have eh?
 
530 pounds is about like two big guys in the back seat. It's nothing. It's Ford Tuff, right?

You and your dad and your brother can handle it, I'm sure. Worst case scenario: you have to rent a dolly. Other than that, you can manhandle it into place.

My safe is in a closet. The closet has sliding glass doors. I had to manhandle it all over the place. It isn't like you can bust it, or anything.
 
Find out how much does Gander Mountain charge to deliver the safe. If it is cheaper than $150, its better than busting knuckles, vehicle, and etc.

On the topic of 530 lbs. over the rear suspension. It is quite nothing for the Explorer.

Kenneth Lew
 
If you're getting a dolly, I'd recomend the appliance kind over the standard type. Those have a strap to secure the safe/fridge to the dolly while moving, and are just overall beefier.
 
Are you sure it is big enough ??

you say you have a collection, & you want to put your guns in it along with your dads & brothers guns, in my opinion a 530 lb. safe is just not going to be big enough, my safr is abt. 900 lbs. & 18 AR-15s fill it real fast, along with 9 other rifles, for a 42 gun safe, it is full !!

i believe you need to think BIGGER !!
 
Hauling a 530 pound load in a quarter ton truck isn't a problem.

Getting that load into and out of the truck would be. Safes don't have handles... .

Rent a U-haul or other truck with a lift gate, save yourself a lot of trouble. Secure the safe firmly in the truck so it doesn't tip over.

Use some sections (5 or 6) of 1" black iron pipe 2-3' long as rollers. On carpet use pieces of 3/8" plywood as tracks, on concrete that's no problem, plywood not needed. Go by Lowe's etc and get a 3-4' pinch bar or railroad bar to help in getting the safe up an inch or so to get rollers under it and out from under it when it's in place. Move s l o w l y. Take your time. Don't hurt anyone, or the house.

Have some help with strong backs and logical minds. It helps to have seen this done/done this before. If it's a first time for you, you CAN do it. Think the process through before you move anything, take your time, plan it out well.

And be careful...

lpl/nc (whose safe weighs 1600 pounds and was set in place on carpet by me and one other person)
 
Thanks for the advice guys, that's what I figured. I like doing this stuff myself if I can heh.

As for a bigger safe, yeah, that would be an option, but I am only going to be at home for maybe two more years, and this will protect them and deter any burglars hopefully. When I get my own home I'll go for something bigger, but for now this will do.

Thanks again
 
Three guys ought to be able to shove a 530 lb safe around a garage with no problem, as long as you don't have to go up or down any steps. (You can probably save a little weight by removing the interior shelving first.) Getting it in and out of the truck would be the problem - an Explorer will handle 530 pounds OK if you fold down the back seat and push it as far forward as you can. But in case of an accident, anyone in the front seat will be squashed if the safe slides forward. And sliding it in and out may mess up the bumper or lower part of the rear hatch opening.

I'd rent a truck with a liftgate or trailer for a couple of hours instead.

Since it will be in your garage, I'd suggest getting some silica gel to keep the interior dry. You'll have to "bake" it frequently to drive out the moisture, but no electical connection is needed.

If it's in a garage, consider bolting it down.

Good luck.
 
i bought a winchester safe that was about 900 lbs, and hired a piano mover. they brought 4 guys with strong backs and weak minds and manhandled it in place. they really had to work at it and almost gave up at one point.

my safe was full and I moved, so i decided to leave it with the house and get a new one. i bought the biggest model i could find which was the ft knox yeager at 1920 lbs, and the guy who owns southern security delivered it and installed it almost effortlessly all by himself, using a small but sturdy dolly, a piece of iron pipe, and a couple small pieces of 2x4 wood.

obviously, like everything else in life, safe moving is a mental game.
 
I paid the $100 to have my safe installed. That was probably the best $100 I ever spent. The safe guys delivered it the 40 miles and got it in the house no problem. It way beat having to try and install it with my father which I am sure would have been a trying day.
 
I'm with AR15nut. Are you sure that safe is big enough?

I bought an 18-rifle safe; according to the factory docs, it weighed 850lb empty, without its' pallet. As everyone else has said, your 530 pounds is nothing for a full-sized truck. I hauled that 850 pound safe around in the back of my F-150, and I noticed the change in handling, but it didn't stress the suspension. You shouldn't hardly notice it at all.

And Taliv's got it, too. Safe-moving is a mental game. I moved that safe by myself, mostly; my wife helped guide me when I couldn't see over it during turns, and holding doors open, etc.

Getting an 850 lb. safe out of the bed of a truck by yourself can be a challenging mental exercise, since ya don't wanna have to lower it to the ground 'by hand' and blow out your back or get a hernia. I'll spare ya'll the details; but if you don't think your up to it, there's nothing "guilty" nor stupid about hiring workers to get it done. That actually shows some "delegation brains"--I think in the pc world it's called "organizational skills". :D

Muscle's cheap; in fact, usually, 'by the hour' it's way cheaper than your hospital deductible. I once saw a guy strap a refrigerator to his back and say, "tip me over", and we did. He grunted that 20cf box down 15 stairs, and waited at the truck til his partner got the gate down and he could set it down. Amazing; and he was happy to do it for his half of $20.
 
part of the trick to moving the safe is to use its weight. specifically, open the door of the safe and use it like a lever to lift the back of the safe up an inch or two. using the weight of the door, it takes very little muscle to lift the back of the safe a couple inches.

with the back lifted, slide a round iron pipe under it in the middle.

next, tilt the safe the opposite way (balancing it on the iron pipe now) and put another pipe under it.

now, roll the safe on the two iron pipes.

...walk in the park
 
Bridger, if your young, strong have a couple of friends willing to help and have a pickup truck or can rent one, you can to the job yourself.

Last December I looked at and priced gun safes at a number of local dealers. The one I found that best suited my needs was a Sentry model G5241. Its capacity allows for the storage of fourteen long guns and numerous handguns.

The best deal was offered by Home Depot. They asked $349.99 while other local dealers wanted as much as $873.33. The only problem with the deal was that Home Depot wanted almost $100 to deliver the safe to my home.

A neighbor (aged eighty) had a Ford Ranger pickup truck and offered to allow me to use his truck to pickup the safe. My concern was that once I got the safe home I wasn’t sure how to get it off of the truck and move to its final destination in my garage. I thought of a way and knew that with my neighbor and my wife to assist me, we three old farts could do the deal.

At Home Depot, It took five men and a fork lift to move the safe onto the truck. The fork lift to hoisted the safe to the truck bed and then in response to my request, the five men changed the position of the safe from vertical to horizontal on top of a blanket I had spread on the truck bed.

When I got the safe to my driveway at home, my neighbor, my wife and I very, very slowly pulled the blanket sliding the horizontally positioned safe off of the truck (the blanket also prevented scratching the safe and the truck). We used a hand-truck to move the safe from the driveway to its final destination on a concrete floor in my garage.

None of us are young or remotely strong anymore. Nevertheless with deliberate care, we did the job.

Good luck on whatever you do.
 
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While the safe is bottom up make a tracing of the holes and the bottom so later if you want to bolt it down you will have a pattern. I work on equipment that weights 500 to 600lb it is a mental game done parts of an inch at a time. Consider if the door comes off stuff like that to get the weight down. Most of it is getting a grip on the thing, I use slings and temp bolts, long metal bars. :)
 
When I sold my 600lb. Liberty the guy that bought it showed up with a few guys, a dolly and a trailer. It was child's play loading it up! I'd use a trailer if I were you - well no, I'd pay to have it done but if you do it I'd use a trailer! :)
 
Ok, here is my question....

Why is it that nobody from his area has offered to help that has probably been through this before....I would, but I am in Texas, so sorry.
 
aguyindallas,

Thanks for the offer heh, but I think based on what everyone has said that we will be able to handle it. Just takes a bit of brains, and with my engineering brother and my recent household tasks I think we'll do fine. Might even draft my girlfriend into it :eek:
 
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