Tips on moving a garage full of tools

Slander

Slander

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What's the IBB tips on moving a garage full of tools and spare parts? I'll have movers supplied by the company I'll be working for and moving a few states away, should I be looking at just packing my hand/power tools and parts into action packers or plastic crates? I'm leaving my tacoma/wheeler in IL st my parents house until I get a house down there, so I figured tossing the welder and the totes in the bed and driving it all down when the time comes? I was thinking of stuffing my tool box full of tools and plastic wrapping it? What are the IBB tips for this?
 
When I moved cross country I put all of my heavy tools in the bottom of my tool box and used rubber maid totes for loose items. I put my tool box on the front of my car trailer and used a big roll of saran wrap type shit. My car trailer also had a salt shield made out of plywood , 4x4's and 2x4's witch helped keep things dry it was about 4k one way trip and everything was fine.
 
KrustyTJ said:
When I moved cross country I put all of my heavy tools in the bottom of my tool box and used rubber maid totes for loose items. I put my tool box on the front of my car trailer and used a big roll of saran wrap type shit. My car trailer also had a salt shield made out of plywood , 4x4's and 2x4's witch helped keep things dry it was about 4k one way trip and everything was fine.
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Did you move to or from Alaska? :laughing:
 
I moved my garage full of tools machines and parts 3 years ago. I used lots of plastic totes of various sizes for most of the smaller stuff, as well as 5 gallon buckets. I had a lot of empty metal ammo cans, I use those for my smaller metal pieces.

First trip was with a Uhaul, with all of the larger tools and machines. Then I made 2 more trips with my F250, filling the bed with everything else both trips, and flat-towed a jeep each trip as well. I was able to get almost everything in 3 trips.

Get a good folding dolly and ratchet straps, a dolly that can lock at 45 degrees turned out to be quite handy. That really helped me move around bulkier things, like air compressor, engine hoist, and so on.

Just go ahead and buy a bunch of bungees of various sizes, and ratchet straps. you'll need them. And for toolboxes with drawers, I put a ratchet strap around them, JUUST in case the chintzy little tabs didn't hold the load of the drawers shut.
 
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What sort of tool box? I wouldn't trust the weight of the tools bouncing around in the drawers on anything but the sturdiest of boxes.

Last time I moved, I emptied all of my tool boxes into rubbermaid totes and moved the box empty. No damage this way.
 
Will the movers have a pallet jack? If so than you can find these giant cardboard boxes used pretty cheap. I know where to find them in the South loop area. that are approx 4ft x 4ft x 4ft If you are googling use "gaylord cardboard" or "speedpack cardboard" as search terms. Without using cardboard you may not like the search results. Otherwise I would buy the cheapest decent sized casters you can find and make wheeled crates out of OSB
 
ChiScouter said:
Will the movers have a pallet jack? If so than you can find these giant cardboard boxes used pretty cheap. I know where to find them in the South loop area. that are approx 4ft x 4ft x 4ft If you are googling use "gaylord cardboard" or "speedpack cardboard" as search terms. Without using cardboard you may not like the search results. Otherwise I would buy the cheapest decent sized casters you can find and make wheeled crates out of OSB
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Those look sweet!
The relocation company is supposed to call me this week, so I'm making a note to ask them.

Thanks everyone else for the tips so far. Apparently they will pack, move and store and upack all my shit, but like a typical gear head I dont want them touching my tools LOL!! Dont care about the rest of my house (hope my wife doesnt read that).
 
SomeGuy said:
What sort of tool box? I wouldn't trust the weight of the tools bouncing around in the drawers on anything but the sturdiest of boxes.

Last time I moved, I emptied all of my tool boxes into rubbermaid totes and moved the box empty. No damage this way.
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It's a home grade craftsman, nothing special. Good tip I'll prolly just do the bin thing.
 
Slander said:
Those look sweet!
The relocation company is supposed to call me this week, so I'm making a note to ask them.

Thanks everyone else for the tips so far. Apparently they will pack, move and store and upack all my shit, but like a typical gear head I dont want them touching my tools LOL!! Dont care about the rest of my house (hope my wife doesnt read that).
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Hahah I had the same concerns...don't really want people touching my shit. We were just moving across town, so I packed everything myself (clothes, dishes, belongings, etc.) and just had the movers do the large items (couches, beds, tables, etc.) and we transported the smaller boxes of stuff in the vehicles. You could/should do the same but have them move the boxes of stuff too.

Also, anything of real value that's not replaceable, do it yourself including moving it...writing fragile on a box isn't going to help.

The craftsman box won't survive with tools in it, definitely empty it.
 
Harvest bins that stack.
 
My old job relocated to another place, we loaded up the trailer & stacked the heavy stuff on sides (along wooden section walls), used baling wire & drywall screws to hold stuff (toolboxes, machinery, parts, etc) in place. The "shit will move" if not secured-​
 
In the past 10 years I've moved from WA to NY to AK to VA.

The trip from WA to NY. I had an open gooseneck with wooden crates, plastic wrap and tarps.

It sucked. Everything got wet, mildewy, and surface rusty. And I only had like 2 rainy days.

Was the reason I ordered a 14k enclosed for the other moves.


As far as In the enclosed goes, I made sure the tool boxes weren't top heavy. And I used some 4x4s for cribbing underneath them. Made them much more stable.

As far as parts, and other random garage shit go, I got those black totes with the yellow lids you can get at home Depot or other hardware stores. They pack well, are rugged, and stack great

Also, purge your shit. Getting rid of the stuff you have been hoarding makes life easier.
 
X2 on purging,I moved all my crap and then purged :homer:

Take everything out of the tool chests and put them in rubermaid totes or whatever
I found a deal on mine and sold them for more then what I paid after the move,not much but enough for a case of beer
 
Purge and rent a Penske truck. Floors are wood, I packed toolboxes bottom heavy and screwed shoring to the floor under them. Last truck was over by 2000lbs gross and went from Washington to Florida.

Oh, purge. Scrap steel and non-specialiazed parts aren't worth loading, hauling, unloading. Purge and replace later if needed.
 
Ted_Kaczynski said:
Purge and rent a Penske truck. Floors are wood, I packed toolboxes bottom heavy and screwed shoring to the floor under them. Last truck was over by 2000lbs gross and went from Washington to Florida.

Oh, purge. Scrap steel and non-specialiazed parts aren't worth loading, hauling, unloading. Purge and replace later if needed.
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That's my plan minus the Penske truck, the movers can worry about that. Scrap and spare parts are going bye bye. As a toyota owner I have a borderline scrap yard of worthless to evreyone else shit!
 
PAE said:
Harvest bins that stack.
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Those are a decent way to move parts and shit. My old work used to get as many as they wanted because the local places are going from wood to plastic.

I'm planning on moving ~1000 miles, maybe more some what soon. I've thought about buying a 20' Conex box for all my garage stuff, spare parts, appliances and maybe even my samurai if I can fit it.

Then either buy, borrow or rent a ~20' goose neck trailer Or.... Weld a pair of axles and a gooseneck tounge to the box itself. The idea is to have a place to store it incase we can't move everything into a garage right away.
 
If guy you have a secure place to store it get a 30-48 ft semi trailer.

Compartmentalize get two 28 ft with pintle hitches on the back.

Keep your stuff mobile.


Yo said:
Those are a decent way to move parts and shit. My old work used to get as many as they wanted because the local places are going from wood to plastic.

I'm planning on moving ~1000 miles, maybe more some what soon. I've thought about buying a 20' Conex box for all my garage stuff, spare parts, appliances and maybe even my samurai if I can fit it.

Then either buy, borrow or rent a ~20' goose neck trailer Or.... Weld a pair of axles and a gooseneck tounge to the box itself. The idea is to have a place to store it incase we can't move everything into a garage right away.
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I used Old Dominion trucking company. Dito on unloading tool boxes. Tools are like gold bullion; they will grow feet and walk away leaving you with pennies on the $100. I moved a bunch of tools from New Jersey to Utah via Old Dominion; sealed the front of the trailer. Broke seal in Utah and everything was just as I packed it. It was a boat load cheaper than renting a truck or hiring movers.
IMHO: It was almost half the price of renting a truck and hauling it myself. i.e fuel, lodging and travel expenses. :smokin:
 
billdacat said:
I used Old Dominion trucking company. Dito on unloading tool boxes. Tools are like gold bullion; they will grow feet and walk away leaving you with pennies on the $100. I moved a bunch of tools from New Jersey to Utah via Old Dominion; sealed the front of the trailer. Broke seal in Utah and everything was just as I packed it. It was a boat load cheaper than renting a truck or hiring movers.
IMHO: It was almost half the price of renting a truck and hauling it myself. i.e fuel, lodging and travel expenses. :smokin:
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I am paying zero dollars to move, but yea I would use something like OD to move if I was paying for it. Seems like a sweet deal.
 
YotaAtieToo said:
Those are a decent way to move parts and shit. My old work used to get as many as they wanted because the local places are going from wood to plastic.

I'm planning on moving ~1000 miles, maybe more some what soon. I've thought about buying a 20' Conex box for all my garage stuff, spare parts, appliances and maybe even my samurai if I can fit it.

Then either buy, borrow or rent a ~20' goose neck trailer Or.... Weld a pair of axles and a gooseneck tounge to the box itself. The idea is to have a place to store it incase we can't move everything into a garage right away.
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The good part is I only have a 2 car garage worth of shit and dont have a bunch if huge tools like lathes and milling machines and shit like that. Biggest item is a 30 gallon upright compressor on wheels. It's all the other crap, I'm leaning towards what chiscouter showed me or plastic crates.
 
Slander said:
It's a home grade craftsman, nothing special. Good tip I'll prolly just do the bin thing.
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Yes do that.

I wrecked my home grade craftsman toolbox hauling it loaded on the tail of a leaf sprung box truck in one trip, casters caved in and the sliders were all jacked.
 
Rubbermiad totes for everything. I moved god knows how many tons of shit in those before I bought my house.
 
Slander said:
The good part is I only have a 2 car garage worth of shit and dont have a bunch if huge tools like lathes and milling machines and shit like that. Biggest item is a 30 gallon upright compressor on wheels. It's all the other crap, I'm leaning towards what chiscouter showed me or plastic crates.
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Ya, I'm in an oversized 2 car (30x32 iirc) but I also have some parts ive hoarded stored outside. Then some stuff in a shed. It all adds up quick. Plus like I said, I could probably squeeze my sami in too. The biggest advantage to this is I don't need to unload it right away. The biggest downside is I have to have a place to put it.

I'm curious on the OD shipping though for house items. A uhaul adds up quick when you factor in the milage charge and the dismal fuel mileage. Plus I'd have to go back for my other vehicles :laughing:
 
YotaAtieToo said:
Ya, I'm in an oversized 2 car (30x32 iirc) but I also have some parts ive hoarded stored outside. Then some stuff in a shed. It all adds up quick. Plus like I said, I could probably squeeze my sami in too. The biggest advantage to this is I don't need to unload it right away. The biggest downside is I have to have a place to put it.

I'm curious on the OD shipping though for house items. A uhaul adds up quick when you factor in the milage charge and the dismal fuel mileage. Plus I'd have to go back for my other vehicles :laughing:
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OD seems like a sweet deal, they drop a pup trailer off and you call them when your done loading it and they ship it via their truck network. They also have some pod things I guess.
 
I purged scrap, upgrade take-off pile and sold off tool multiples. I kept toolboxes, welder, bender, and useful spares/parts. All of it packed like Tetris in a plywood box and in totes under the Toyota. All on a 20' trailer and in the truck bed, everything got stretch wrapped for transport. This particular move was 2500 miles.
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Slander said:
OD seems like a sweet deal, they drop a pup trailer off and you call them when your done loading it and they ship it via their truck network. They also have some pod things I guess.
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I wonder how/if those Tommy lift gates work without a truck hooked to them? Are they air over hydro?

​​​​​​....... Off to Google......

Edit: looks like they just give you a long narrow ramp, similar to the uhaul, except your going like 5' up instead of 2'. Not sure it would be ideal for certain heavy garage things.

Not that it matters, they don't offer their service to or from California :rolleyes::laughing: can't wait to get out of this place.
 
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YotaAtieToo said:
I wonder how/if those Tommy lift gates work without a truck hooked to them? Are they air over hydro?

​​​​​​....... Off to Google......

Edit: looks like they just give you a long narrow ramp, similar to the uhaul, except your going like 5' up instead of 2'. Not sure it would be ideal for certain heavy garage things.

Not that it matters, they don't offer their service to or from California :rolleyes::laughing: can't wait to get out of this place.
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Just build a loading dock or fire up the forklift lol!! I believe ABF has a similar service.
 
I've done the walls on a trailer thing - worked great. Laid down heavy guage plastic, built walls outta 2x and 3/8" plywood with the plastic between the studs and plywood, then covered in a tarp. Worked great for the almost 4K miles from Alaska to Las Vegas :eek:.

I used ABF for my move from NV to OK. Also worked great. I have a Vidmar toolbox though - moved it full of tools and no issues. No cribbing underneath and it was fine. Just take the time to tetris shit ALL the way to the roof. :smokin:
 
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