In this thread I asked for your suggestions about moving a large gunsafe.
Well, yesterday, the monster finally arrived. (Click the thumbnails for a bigger version).
It came in a big truck, with a big hoist on the back.
It was rolled off using a pallet truck and the hoist.
The riggers measured the garage door, and decided to try bringing it inside (down the slope) in an upright position, using a "lift and roll" device.
The lift and roll is two halves of a frame, which are attached to the object to be moved with a ratcheted strap. Each side is fitted with an "L" plate, which hooks under the corner of the object, and an hydraulic bottle-jack, which lifts the object until the wheels have clearance to roll. The wheels are steerable, and can be turned ninety degrees to brake the movement.
Although the safe weighs 1300 kilos (+/-2900 pounds), it can be rolled by two men using the device, plus some boards and ramps to get over kerbs.
Because the cargo had to go down a slope, the riggers attached a come-along to their truck, and a strop around the safe and the lift-and-roll, to allow everything to be lowered under gravity in a controlled fashion.
I didn't get photos of the next step, since things didn't go quite as planned, and I was busy... Although the height of the safe plus the lift-and-roll was less on the flat than the maximum opening height of the garage door, it was going in at an angle because of the down slope. That meant that the leading edge of the safe went in, but the rest got stuck half-way in, because it was tilted upwards. (There may have been some profanity at this juncture).
Back to the drawing board...
The riggers decided to lay the safe onto its back on a pallet, roll it downslope lying on the pallet truck, and tip it back upright once inside the garage.
We winched the whole shebang back up the slope to the truck.
To tip the safe, they strapped a pallet to its back, then used the pallet truck to lift the front of the safe, tipping it backwards against the hoist on the back of their delivery vehicle. The hoist took the weight, and lowered the safe into a lying position on top of the pallet.
Once more, strops went around the safe, and the pallet truck and come-along were used to lower the cargo down the slope.
This time, it went in with no trouble (other than a hefty heave to clear the small kerb at the threshold).
Getting the safe back upright was the trickiest part of the whole operation. Again, I was kept busy helping the riggers, so I didn't get photos... They used the pallet truck to lift the top end of the safe from the floor. As it was raised, they put progressively larger wooden blocks under it, just shy of the mid-point, such that gravity was keeping the foot on the floor, but the top was hanging in the air. (Imagine an extremely heavy see-saw or teeter/toter).
Once the pallet truck was as high as it would go, the three of us got under the top end, and did a brute force "snatch and jerk" to get the safe off the fulcrum and standing upright.
One it was standing again, it was reasonably simple, using a roller pry-bar (stevedore, cargo lever) to get the safe back onto the forks of the pallet truck, and to roll it into its final position along the wall.
Those gentleman are the riggers. The elder (whose muscles look like he lifts safes in his free time for fun) was in charge, and he approached the task like a mountain of calm. Everything happened slowly, carefully, and without fuss. They had all the gear they needed on the truck, and they obviously knew their business. The whole procedure took two hours, including a short coffee and smoke break. I gave the guys a tip, and they certainly earned it. It is well worth letting the professionals do this heavy moving stuff.
Here's one more of the safe in its new home.
I quickly threw in a few guns to try it for size.
The big ones at the left are Swiss Model 1889 and 1911 rifles - by far the longest arms I have. Even they have plenty of headroom.
Here's the manufacturer's nameplate. Made in Germany in 1957. The manufacturer serviced it for me, and they say it's mechanically as good as new. It needs a good cleaning, in and out, and the paintwork is a bit scruffy, so I bought some dark-green "Hammerite" paint to give it a sprucing-up.
I didn't waste any time, and called the police yesterday. The friendly firearms officer visited this morning before work, and pronounced my firearms storeage arrangments "secure", so I should have no further hassle on that front for a while! I might ask the alarm guy to hook up a door sensor to the safe when he next visits, just for good measure.
Now, once I get it cleaned and painted, how am I going to set up the inside of the safe for optimal storage and easy access?
The upper compartment is the obvious choice for handguns, but what about racks for rifles and ammunition below? Any suggestions?
You should have made a video of it, complete with sound! I can imagine their reaction when they came to the door and realized their error in calculation.
