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Moving tools - Insights

1K views 11 replies 11 participants last post by  Finn 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
The house has been sold and now I have to take down the shop and figure out how to move the tools. We will be going about 7 hours down the road. We have movers coming to move the household goods, but we are packing ourselves with boxes provided by the moving company. But I am a little (ok alot) concerned about them moving some of the tools. Hand tools, etc…. no issue we will package them in a box and off they go.
What about bench top tools? Drum sander, bench grinder, etc…. Should I find a box for these or wrap them in a moving blanket?
Now the big question, Bandsaw, Tablesaw, Drill Press, Radial Arm Saw. My fear here is that they will stack them and mess them up. Thinking of moving these myself with a trailer, but really not sure how I would get them into the trailer.

Looking for any insights, suggestions, experience…....
 
#3 ·
If you use a reputable moving company you should have no fears. I moved from Alaska to Virginia in 2005 and had zero damage and great service. Except for the unloading. I did a lot of research to find the mover before hand. The mover I used told me to not box a thing, his crew would do it. This saved me lots of work and frustration. The other movers wanted everything boxed and waiting for them. This mover recommend 1/2 of a 40 foot semi trailer to move an extended cab 2500 with an 8 foot box and a 2 bedroom home plus table saw, 14" band saw, 4 ' bed 6" jointer and many hand tools and jigs. Plus a load of reloading supplies for my shooting hobby. (I mean a lot) He was able to get everything but a 15 gallon Rubbermaid tub of small easily replaced items in the trailer. It was amazing to watch the speed and effectiveness of this loading. When it arrived in Virginia the people that he hired to unload it into a 10×20 storage space made a mess of it and could not fit everything in this space. I had to rent another 10×10 to get everything secured. I videoed this and spent it to him. He refunded what he charged me for the unloading and paid 3 months rental on the extra space. This service get him at least 6 more customers, referred by me. The original cost was 15% more than the next bid, but it was well worth using this company.
 
#4 ·
Please inventory all tools and any household expensive items.

Number boxes and what was in them.

Photograph all tools with good pictures and take picture of name plate. You will have damage or lost items and the pics will help with settlement.

Yes, this is a pain but protect yourself.

You could also hire someone to help with packing and inventory.

Good Luck
 
#5 ·
When I moved from California to Mississippi, I used a mover for the furniture and household goods. The tools and machines I moved myself with a rental truck. Movers may not knowingly damage things, but accidents do happen and although covered by insurance, some things may be irreplaceable like vintage tools and machines. High end electronics should also be moved personally. These items are very fragile and can be damaged easily; same goes for fine china and collectables like statues, paintings and the like. There's an old saying that I abide by; "If you want it done properly, do it yourself".
 
#6 · (Edited by Moderator)
My daughter recently moved 600 miles and they used the modules that you pack yourself (she hired help to load and unload the modules). The movers only deliver, store (if needed) and deliver the modules to the new location. It worked quite well. For some things they rented a U-haul truck with a load gate and handled those items themselves.
Some movers charge by weight so shipping heavy tools can get expensive. When I last moved 25 years ago I hauled the heavy tools myself in a rented trailer which was much less expensive.
 
#7 ·
Congrats on the house sale!

Machine tool Gas Household appliance accessory Machine Engineering


To move your radial arm saw

- remove the blade
- move the arm off center so that the zero degree miter position index is not engaged
- lock the arm in that off-center position
- move the motor out near the end of the arm
- put a block of wood under the motor and lower the motor until the weight is on the block

This is from the Jon Eakes book and will prevent damage to the miter indexing collar and arm/column. In the picture above, I wasn't able to get the blade off which is OK but not ideal.

If you want to make it more compact, take the table off the saw.

Good Luck!

Kerry
 

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#8 ·
Those pack' em yourself containers often come in varying sizes, so you can get one with the right amount of space to hold your tools. These companies will often hold the containers until you're ready to receive them, which is good if you need to use your garage or shop space as an off loading point for household stuff. Even if you're putting your big tools in such a unit. GET HELP. Don't be a dumb ass like me, wrestling the bandsaw, lathe, table saw by myself.
Moving is nothing but a PURE PITA however it's done. Word of advice: If any of your furniture has mirrors attached, like dressers, REMOVE THE HANDSCREWS and TIGHTLY secure them to the back of the mirror before you wrap the mirror itself. A "professional" moving company LOST the screws for the mirror of my family heirloom 1880s marble topped dresser last April. I'm still pissed about that. They even lost bolts that held the beds together, so be careful about these small but vital pieces.
 
#9 ·
Appreciate the input. I am still really leaning towards renting a trailer for the larger tools. Most are on wheels, so I have a ramp I will use to load them.

KINC, thanks for the advice on how to secure the Radial Arm saw this is helpful.
 
#10 ·
I've purchased all of my big machines used and ended up buying an engine hoist to do the heavy lifting. It's not fast, but I've moved 600lb machines by myself multiple times.

If I didn't have one, I'd rent a 2ton model for a weekend and load onto/off a trailer that way. The trailer is important though b/c the arm typically won't go high enough to clear a truck bed unless you want to tip most things on their side
 
#12 ·
I moved my entire workshop by myself and had no damage on anything. I rented a PODS, ($250) filled it up, tied everything down, and rolled it out of the container and into my new shop by making two short ramps. PODS are just 4" off the ground. I moved it all myself… but I was a lot younger then, I was seventy.
 
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