Moving a safe

[fishy]

Hello,
Currently working on a purchase of a decent sized safe. Model I have settled on is an Amsec BF6030. Base is 30x26, and the safe weighs a little under 900 lbs.

The safe will be installed in my basement. Those basement stairs will almost make installation prohibitively expensive.. there are 12 of them. I am considering doing the moving and bolt down myself (with several extra pairs of hands).

Can this be done with a regular appliance dolly? Will I need to reinforce the stairs?

Am I out of my mind?

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

Take some plywood and build a ramp. This will distribute the weight more evenly. Tie some rope to the safe and gently let it slide to the bottom. While doing this make sure no one is below the safe just in case.

 

[PotatoJudge]

Tie some rope to the safe with a dozen of your buddies on the other end and gently let it slide to the bottom

Fixed it for you.

While you're at it, have those dozen buddies stand on the stairs and see if anything breaks.

 

[lipadj46]

It has been done and yes it is crazy. When I helped my friend move his 1 ton safe to his basement we put down a plywood ramp and rigged up a winch from his truck in the garage to help lower it down. It was still very hairy though and someone could have easily been squashed like a bug or sliced up by a broken cable.

 

[JesseTX]

I managed to do it in my house.

Was hairy. Involved a lot of sweating and plywood and praying that the furniture dolly behaved.

I'd follow the above advice. Rope, twice as many friends as you think you need, and a ton of patience.

 

[highorder]

I was just talking about this on the other site...

I used to work for an FFL that sold and delivered safes. We had a "tiny tank" tracked dolly. You would bolt or strap the safe to the tracked wonder, and use the remote to "drive" it anywhere, including down stairs, etc.

Call a safe company that delivers. They will probably have a tracked wonder if they are worth their salt.

here is what I speak of:
http://www.track-o.com/Ingenius-Moving-Equipment-Pictures

 

[a1abdj]

Three words:

Professional Safe Company

Don't risk killing yourself or others to save a few dollars.

 

[Gunfighter123]

I know a guy that was almost killed with he and four other guys were moving a safe to his basement and the stairs gave way !!!!!

BE CAREFULL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Quoheleth]

Not about the move, but about gun storage in a basement...

have you taken water seepage into consideration? flooding? My grandparents' home in Nebraska would regularly get 1-2" water seepage. Grandpa built an elevated floor out of 2x2s and plywood to prevent furniture damage. He also poured a small elevated concrete slab in the corner (I think it was bout a 3'x3'x6" high) to keep his safe (a real, honest-to-goodness safe) elevated.

If it's a major flood, nothing will help, I know. But if you're investing in that major of a safe, what's another $50 worth of concrete and a little rebar?

Q

 

[Ohm]

I don't depend on holding the rope for big things going down the stairs. I make up a jig that goes against the basement door frame to hold the rope force.

I use pair of 4x4 timbers about 5 foot long. I drill holes and bolt (5/8 carrige bolts) a piece of metal conduit about 5 inches in diameter to the timbers. The timbers stand vertically on end, one on each side of the door frame, pressing against the doorframe trim moulding, and the conduit is horizontal about 4 feet above the floor. The bolts go thru both walls of the conduit and the head of the
carrige bolt is countersunk into the timbers so it does not damage the door frame.

I attach a strong, long (3 to 4 times the length of the stairs), rope to the stair climbing type dolley down at the axle for the wheels, and bring the rope OVER the top of the load. Bring the rope from the dolley up UNDER the metal conduit and make two (for your first time doing this) or one (if you have done this before) full turn(s) of the rope around the metal conduit. Now make an additional part of a wrap to bring the rope back downstairs, over the top of the conduit.
If the rope is correctly positioned, the rope will come from the dolley axle, over the load, under the metal conduit, wrap around the conduit, go back down the stairs over the conduit, when the dolley is going down the stairs.

The strong person (me) manipulates the dolly. I have to duck under the conduit when I start off. My 130 lb wife is at the end of the rope at the bottom. She lets off on the rope slowly while I guide the dolley. The rope is long enough so that she is well away from the bottom of the stairs, and she has strict instructions to run to the side if anything goes wrong.

As you will all recall from high school physics, , a rope wrapped around a drum will support much greater load than the tension exerted.
http://www.jrre.org/att_frict.pdf

I have 2x4 shelving under the stairs, which provides additional stair support.

 

[rondog]

Zanotti Armor and Dakota both offer safes that come in pieces, that you carry each piece down separately, then assemble the safe in place. The only SANE way, IMO. The Zanotti's are more versatile, with different models and options, but the Dakota's are half the price. There's probably others out there if you want to google it. Otherwise, hire some pros.

http://www.dakotasafe.com/ http://www.zanottiarmor.com/

 

[rondog]

You might want to keep in mind the joy of taking it UP the stairs in the future. I want one in my basement too, I'll probably go with the Dakota.

 

[2RCO]

Hire a mover. When I lived in Cincinnati there was a guy that would move them for around $100 within a 20 mile area. I'm sure he's higher now but he moved them up and down stairs for me twice.

 

[bill in IN]

Mine was about the same. Delivered and placed (I bolted it down) for about $1,400. It wasn't worth it for me to have to deal with it.

 

[FuzzyBunny]

Hire a mover! A real life safe mover with all the gear.

Best money I ever spent. The 2 guys made it look so simple but that comes with experience and the right tools. Believe me it is money well spent.

 

[Lazuris]

A mover is cheaper than your back.

 

[rcmodel]

I think most basement stairs would need some shoring up with 2x4 posts in a few stragic places.

I know mine sure would.
They are two 2"x12"'s on edge, with the stair step runners cut out, leaving only 5 1/2" of wood at the back of each step. A half-ton safe and a few hefty guys hauling it would probably fold them up like a wet noodle.

rc

 

[whatnickname]

Moving a safe yourself???

I moved mine once (Lincoln 35). If anyone finds my balls rolling around would someone please tell me where they are? )

 

[fishy]

Thanks everybody for the help!