Shop moving question?

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Hi All,

This question relates to my electrical question in that I am moving my shop. The move will be 5 hrs. away. Question is how do you decide what's worth having the movers transport for you? Is some of the heavier stuff just not worth moving and better to sell?

Did some of you just sell your stuff and buy new? Yes that sounds good to me but I like most of my stuff. I have a pretty standard shop with my MM16 being my heaviest machine. The rest is a lunch box planer, contractor's table saw, drill press, 6" jointer, router table, lathes, etc.

I wouldn't mind trading up to an 8" jointer and a cabinet saw but I don't think I really need them.

I don't think I should try to move this stuff myself so I'd llike to know what you've done in moving your shop. My next step is to get estimates from movers but I have a bad feeling it's going to get very expensive with all the weight involved. Thanks for any advise.

[Richard Wolf]

I have been looking into this as I see a move in the next few years. It seems like the best way to deal with a shop move is to buy a heavy duty trailer and load and move your own machines. After you are finished you can sell the trailer.
The next option is to look into a pods container. Load and secure your machines have them pick it up and deliver it to your new location.

Richard

[George Summers]

No help on the moving questions, but; when you get here and settled, you will have to join ncwoodworker.net and Triangle Woodworkers Association. You probably already know but we have a Klingspor Woodworking Store (where TWA meets), WoodCraft (both in Raleigh), and a Woodworkers Supply (½hr-45 mins up the road), a great hardwood store about the same distance (The Hardwood Store of NC) and a Rocklers in Greensboro. Do you know what area you will be buying in yet? I'm about 45 minutes north of Raleigh. Welcome to NC.

George

Oh, I forgot, and a Harbor Freight across the street from Klingspor.;) ;)

[George Summers]

The next option is to look into a pods container. Load and secure your machines have them pick it up and deliver it to your new location.

Richard

Richard's post came while I was typing mine. I have heard that the PODS floors are on the weak side and that a load of big machinery is at their limit for safety. You might check that out before you go with PODS.

George

[Kelly C. Hanna]

I moved all of my shop then wound up without enough power to carry 220's safely out in the shop and had to sell the cabinet saw and DC. That said, it's a perfect time to upgrade without lugging everything to the new shop.

[Jim Becker]

Richard's post came while I was typing mine. I have heard that the PODS floors are on the weak side and that a load of big machinery is at their limit for safety. You might check that out before you go with PODS.

There is a thread here somewhere from the last week or two that someone used the PODS, but put an extra layer of plywood down on the floor before loading it. The weight was also close to the tippy-top limit for the hoist to get it on the truck...and the picture in that thread was indicative of that. But I suspect that you (Alan) don't have that much weight to avoid the PODS if it looks like a good solution for you.

When we moved here in 1999 (about an hour...so it was short haul), I had the movers deal with my tools.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

No help on the moving questions, but; when you get here and settled, you will have to join ncwoodworker.net and Triangle Woodworkers Association. You probably already know but we have a Klingspor Woodworking Store (where TWA meets), WoodCraft (both in Raleigh), and a Woodworkers Supply (½hr-45 mins up the road), a great hardwood store about the same distance (The Hardwood Store of NC) and a Rocklers in Greensboro. Do you know what area you will be buying in yet? I'm about 45 minutes north of Raleigh. Welcome to NC.

George

Oh, I forgot, and a Harbor Freight across the street from Klingspor.;) ;)


Thanks George, I PM'd you. I appreciate all the info.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Thanks guys for all the great info. I'm going to check into the Pod and see what they will take weight wise. Anybody use a truck with hydraulic lift to move? Any other wisdom out there will be most appreciated. Please keep it coming. Thanks to Richard, George, Kelly and Jim as usual.

[Allen Bookout]

When we were repairing our home from the damage caused by Hurricane Charlie we used a pod to store some of the contents of our house. The very best thing about it was that you only had to lift the objects about six inches high to get them inside. At the time I was thinking that would be the way to go if I had to move my tools because of the ease of loading the really heavy stuff. A ramp with a very shallow incline would do the trick. I suppose a low trailer would also not be too bad but a bobtail or a semi----major loading problem without the proper equipment.

I did not inquire about the weight limit as we just left it sitting on the driveway.

Good luck on your move! Allen

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Allen, The Pod seems to be a very popular option. We're thinking of getting one for temporary storage while we move. BTW Alan is the correct spelling. :)

[Chris Giles]

Alan,
I moved my house and shop a few years back, and as you suggested, the quotes from movers were outrageous (Chicago to New Hampshire). It was over $8000 just for the shop which had easy level access, and I would have had to rent a forklift and load the truck myself. Essentially all they would be doing is driving the stuff out here, and unloading into my awaiting parking lot. No thanks.

I ended up renting a Penske 24ft. truck one-way two times, and in those two trips was able to move the whole lot. These trucks were all new at that time, and held up quite well under the >10,000 lbs loads. Each trip was about $800.00 with my AAA discount, so the total came in around $2000 with gas. I borrowed a forklift from my neighbor to load it, but one could easily rent one for the day. I believe if there is any way to move it yourself, you will save some serious bread. Good luck.

[tod evans]

alan, my vote is with richards first impression, buy a trailer.....02 tod

[Matt Meiser]

When we moved (only about 8 miles) we had to put everything in storage for about a month because of how the deals worked out. To get everything into storage, I used my trailer and moved a little at a time. To get it out, we rented a Budget truck with a lift gate. That worked very well and is how I would do it again.

[Jim DeLaney]

For my cross-country move a year or so ago, I hired Allied Van Lines to move it all. They sent a four man crew to load it all - I'd done most of the packing myself - and another four man crew to unload at the destination.

The total household goods and tools move was about 20,500 pounds. Cost me just under $10K to move it 2500 miles.

I had absolutely no damage, and nothing was missing. It went onto the truck in Tustin, and off the same truck - no intermediaries - in Austintown about two weeks later.

The crews did bitch a bit about the weights of things like the cabinet saw, the LT16 bandsaw, the 9" metal lathe, and the 600#+ workbench, but they were moved without incident or damage. Didn't even knock the tablesaw fence out of alignment!

[JayStPeter]

Alan,

I'll go the opposite to everyone else. I was very happy to have the movers haul all my stuff. I got it prepped before they showed up (removed TS fence/extension and bandsaw table, blocked or removed motors, thick coat of wax ... etc.). If they damage anything it's covered. If you do ... not so much. It was surprisingly inexpensive to have the movers move my shop. I got them to quote with and without the shop. I recall the delta being a couple hundred bucks. Well worth keeping my back healthy to do the rest of the stuff a move involves. The biggest problem I had is some of my shop cabinets wouldn't make it into the truck, so they got left behind.

Jay

[Ned Bulken]

Aw heck, that sounds like FUn!
I'm in the 'move it yourself' camp. with a couple of minor changes. I would just get a generic 24' ryder truck with the ramp, then build what are essentially beefier mobile bases, and roll the tools up the ramp to the truck. If you want to get really fancy, build a crate for each one, and then secure them to the walls when you move. If you want to only go for the crate option, get the appliance dolly, and roll them right up the ramp to the truck. As for strong backs... put out the call on each end here, perhaps we can have a moving party!

[Scott Fernald]

Just moved this past summer and had the movers haul all the shop tools to the new garage. I hauled all the small tools, boxes, wood, etc. in multiple trips (a local move) with my pickup. They had a crew of 6 guys and just loaded up using ramps into the back of the trucks.

They also moved my 180 gallon fish tank (which is 385 pounds of glass!) without a problem. One guy grabbed each end - took it out the basement door, around the side of the house to the truck...amazing...

They had some big dudes, but more importantly, I think, they were full time employees of the company we used - not temp labor - so they knew how to properly lift and secure things. Something to consider when you are picking movers....

[Eric Murphy]

You might have to take what I say with a grain of salt. Every time I've moved, it has been paid for by my company. I don't know how it differs from hiring movers privately since I've never done it that way.

I have always let the movers move my equipment for me. I was initially concerned that they might not take it (due to my company paying and the fact that it was heavy equipment) but they assured me it was no problem. I was also concerned about damage in transit. I shared this concern with the drivers/loaders and they made sure that my tools were always loaded last, well secured and they didn't put a bunch of stuff in on top of the tools.

Not specificall related to tools but just moving in general...I've had them advise me not to pack anything by myself. If I packed anything myself, they always marked the box "CP" (customer packed). If anything in the "CP" boxes was damaged, they (and their insurance) were not responsible for any damamge since I packed it by myself. After finding that out, I did not pack anything myself any more. Again, maybe that's different for a move you are paying for but I would at least ask.

I had a tv damaged a couple of moves ago. The picture tube still worked just fine but the plastic case/housing around the tube was so cracked up and damaged that it would barely stand up by itself. It was clear to me that they had put something very heavy in on top of the tv or that it had fallen from a fair height. We had the same crew load our stuff and one house and then unload it at the new house. One of the crew tried to convince me that it was that way when they loaded it. He had a tough argument to sell considering I pulled out the digital camera and showed him what it looked like the morning they loaded it onto the truck! I had taken pictures of all of the big ticket items before they showed up to start loading. Made it real easy when it came time to file the insurance claim.

[Dev Emch]

First of all, I would tell everyone to buy a utility trailer. Get one with a tandom axle as one axle may turn out to be to light. Once you get one of these trailers, it will become your best buddie. Not just for moving but for getting lumber, new tools, moving that old washer to the dump and buying the new washer. The only thing better than a standard utility trailer is a trailer that has hydraulic floor that goes to the ground for loading and unloading. You just drop your deck to ground level, roll that oliver table saw onto the deck and tie it down, hoist the deck under hydraulics to the ride position and drive away.

As for strong backs. Folks, if it weighs more than 100 pounds, forget it. Dont hurt your back. Rather you should be using rollers, dollies, jacks, and ramps, etc. I could not live without my GKS machine rollers and toe jack. I just recently used it to single handly move, load, transport and unload a very large chest freezer with no help and no fork lifts. I move heavy iron all by myself including my 2000 to 3000 pound oliver jointer. Do I resemble Arnold? Only by first name sake. Rather I use the afore mentioned tools. Its pointless to try to bench squat a sofa all by yourself!

As for van lines. I cannot describe how I personally feel about these hudlums without bringing on the Wrath of Ken. Its that bad! I am currently in dealings with Allied Van Lines regarding a milling machine I had them move and I will say openly, NEVER AGAIN! NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER AGAIN! I guess if your the CEO of Tyco, et al, you can contract these folks and they will coddle you all the way and do all the work. But I dont have the luxury of back charging an expenise account here. One move and the trailer has paid for itself. This is truley the only way to fly when your paying the bills.

[Joe Scarfo]

I packed everything my self. Used a company called AFF which meant I had to pack the goods, load the trailer myself, and unload at the destination.

The big items table saw (2 x uni's), 15" planer, combo sander, drum sander, etc were all loaded into a 12' U-hAUL I pulled up here with my truck. The rest of the shop was loaded into the AFF tractor trailer.

The U-Haul was great as it's low to the ground and made it easy to load the heavy items. I did brace the Uni Motors so the trunions did not carry the weight of the motors on them.

I rented ramps to unload the U-Haul and everything went great.

Good Luck w/ your choice...

Joe..
Whose now in Green Bay and definately missing those swaying palms in Tampa

[Allen Bookout]

To Joe..
<!-- / message --><!-- controls --> Whose now in Green Bay and definately missing those swaying palms in Tampa.

Joe, Don,t feel too bad as it was no picnic yesterday down here either. High of 55 to 60 degrees, cloudy with some light rain. Everyone was just freezing to death.

I agree with the tailer idea except if you do not have a tow vehicle at the current time. Then thousands of dollars for the vehicle alone plus eight or ten miles to the gallon plus storage space for the trailer if you live in a restricted residential area and so on. You could sell the trailer after the move but that would be hard to do after seeing how handy they are.

Everyones situation is different so I think the best answer is: "It depends".

It depends on what you already have.
It depends on who is paying for the move.
It depends on where you are moving to.
It depends on what kind of equipment you have to move.
It depends on how long the move is.
It depends on how physically fit you are.
It depends on your current financial situation.
It depends on a lot of things.

I have moved a lot of times and have always done it with rental equipment so that I had control. I did, at times, hire some guys from moving companies that were working on the side to help me load and that helped. It also saved a lot of money since I was paying for the moves my self. It was always a bit of a pain in the tail but that was soon forgotten.

I know that it is hard to do, but if you can, allow extra time. That will take the pressure off and help a lot.