Moving a gun safe – tips and hints

Moving can be a quite exhilarating undertaking. However, when you look around your place and spot that piano and pool table, a smile will be quick to disappear from your face. Of course, you can hire Pro Movers Miami for all the specialty items, and turn that frown upside down. Still, say that you want to handle your relocation on your own, and one of the items that require moving is a gun safe. Probably the most dreaded of all, moving a gun safe is the task that will require a lot of your energy throughout this whole process. Luckily, we are here with some tips and hints that ought to help you go about this difficulty.

Initial approach

Telling you that a gun safe is a heavy object has little to no surprise element to it. However, a claim that will bear a bigger meaning is that you can make that safe lighter. The philosophy behind it is simple – take everything out from it. Items like ammo and guns can find their place in a separate box for the time being until you have your gun safe relocated.

This might seem like a futile action, but remember that every little bit helps, especially when moving bulky and heavy objects. Important notes to follow, no matter the size of your safe are:

• Try to park the moving van so that the rear is facing either the sidewalk or the driveway that you will be approaching from. Once you lower the ramp, make sure that the part to it is easy and without any blocking.
• Walls, door openings, furniture, and other important items ought to be protected with scratch resistant material. The goal here is to avoid damaging anything that the safe will pass by.
• When you’ve established the path with which the safe will travel to the van, make sure that it has clearings of at least a foot on each side. You can count on a bit of wobbling and curving to occur during the transport.
• If there is a certain number of steps that lead from the front door to the vehicle, it is best to create a ramp with some planks of wood or other solid objects. In a situation where this is not feasible, try to get an extra pair of helping hands, so as to aid with the lower side as you are moving a gun safe down the steps.

Dealing with heavier safes

If you are a proud owner of a safe that is over 3 feet tall and simply too heavy for one person to lift, these are the steps you need to follow:

• Acquire a furniture dolly or a forklift. Without these aids, moving a gun safe as big as yours will prove to be impossible. You can rent or borrow one from any big storage unit or moving company. If, however, you would want to have one for whenever you need it, know that you can buy it in a home improvement store.

• When the time for your move comes, it’s best that you have a team of people ready to help. The best way to put the gun safe on a dolly is to have people stand on the sides of it, and lean it back. You would proceed with sliding the dolly underneath the safe and stabilizing it.
• It is of paramount importance that the balance of the safe on the dolly is ensured. Having that the gun safe weighs immensely, it is wise to assume it can fall over. And you certainly don’t want an 800-pound safe to crush any individual or cause any other harm or injury. So, set that safe properly and secure it firmly.

Loading it into the moving truck

This is the time where your physical strength has to shine. So, bring out those big guns you’ve been pumping in the gym, and let’s get to it:

• This is no time to be shy about asking people to help. Get as many lads as you can. Let the entire team be at the bottom of the ramp leading into the back of the moving vehicle.
• Everyone should find their place behind the safe. Truck straps will prove to be quite useful in this particular situation. Tie them around the safe and have one of your fellow strongmen stand in front of the safe, pulling, while everyone else does the pushing. A small disclaimer: pushing won’t be of much help for the actual move. However, it will help guide the safe and ensure it doesn’t derail or fall off the dolly.
• When your powerful lads begin pushing the safe up the ramp, it is of utmost importance that you do not stop. It is the momentum that you need to utilize to your advantage. So, invoke your inner Hulk, and push as if it’s your last. By the time you reach the top of the ladder, there will be enough momentum to ensure that you move the gun safe to the desired position inside the truck.

• If you are struggling with any part of this task, or have doubts about your capabilities, hire help. Even more so if you are moving somewhere far. Long distance movers Miami are there to ensure the safety of your safe, as well as the items surrounding it, in case of unavoidable shuffling and moving during the transportation.

Moving a gun safe that is not too big in size

When it comes to moving a gun safe that is not so intimidating in size, the process won’t differ too much from what we previously described. Besides being slightly less intense, the steps ought to remain the same. However, adjustments are more than acceptable. You will be able to do just fine with fewer people and less strength involved in the whole process. Still, if you plan on carrying the safe, have at least two people helping you in such quest. However light it may be in comparison to those big safe, it is still a rather heavy object. Make sure not to put it on top of anything else, as its weight may crush other objects.