Moving...any tips on having professional movers handle shop equipment?

[crybdr]

My entire home, including the shop, is going to be moved soon, by hired professional movers. This will be a full service 'pack & move' arrangement.

I'm comfortable with the rest of the household stuff. But, what, if anything, should I do ahead of time to help make sure my shop stuff gets moved safely?

There's a lot of big and little stuff in there - and I will be doing some pre-packing of the smaller stuff and breakdown of the larger stuff. I'm also going to take photographs of the stuff in the shop (whole house for that matter).

The big stuff is an open stand 6" jointer, BT3000 with out feed table, 14" bandsaw, dual bag dust collector, 12" chop saw, 13" planer, scroll saw, air compressor, grinder on stand......

Any thoughts or horror-stories will be considered........

Thanks.

[mpc]

I'd probably get some of those bright red warning tags and string 'em on fragile spots of tools like the tabletop of a bandsaw... grabbing it wrong or smacking into it will probably bust the trunnion for example. Identify the fragile stuff in advance! I'd also put "do not stack" warnings on some tool tabletops.

Put warnings on the tools "do not lift here" and "do not use hand truck here" and add tags that say where they CAN safely grab/hand-truck.

Blades... I'd pack those myself. Too easy to chip carbon teeth if the movers don't treat them properly. It's just "more stuff" to them generally... Precision items, like measuring tools, squares, etc that should not be "tossed around" need to be individually wrapped and protected... either make sure they understand what tools/items fit this category or wrap those items yourself. Anything heavy & loose inside tools that can be fixed into position for moving? (like many PC photo scanners - they have a big knob that locks the guts for shipment)

Be careful about packing stuff yourself though. Wrapping it is one thing, packing in boxes yourself is something totally different. Many moving companies won't insure "packed by customer" items, they usually apply little "PBC" stickers for boxes you've packed.

Will your belongings end up in a storage area or sit in the trunk for a while? If so, consider potential water/humidity/condensation exposure. You might want to wax stuff down and/or do your own plastic & tape wrap job on rust-able stuff.

mpc

[jdon]

Can't add much, other than to endorse your plan, esp. breaking down larger tools. Remove table saw, bandsaw, and jointer from their stands. By all means, remove the BT3000 rails! Think about bolting the jointer to a 3/4" plywood base, sized to be slightly longer and wider than the jointer, and maybe even making a crate to surround it. good luck.

[crybdr]

Thanks for the input! Taking the tools off of stands and bundling and labeling the associated hardware makes good sense. I plan to give all of the cast iron a good coat of Boe-shield.....it may sit in a truck for a week or two.

I'm comfortable packing the 'nuts & bolts' and smaller cased items without a guarantee. But I will take your Packed By Client warning into consideration for the mid-sized stuff.

I have heard of stuff 'walking off' during moves that have shop equipment. Not sure how real that concern is. I'll be diligent in documenting what's there ahead of time.

I've been accumulating shop equipment and carving out places for it here for 10 years....it's a lot to move. But it's all for the better.......

[leehljp]

When I moved from Osaka to Toyota City (Nagoya) I broke down most of my tools as much as possible and packed hand tools into boxes supplied by the mover. But I moved the BT3000 myself.

Some companies may not insure it if you pack it, but for me, I KNOW how well I pack my tools and I KNOW what is in which box. I was not concerned about the boxes breaking or tools breaking because they WERE protected. But mostly I was concerned about ME knowing where each and every tool was and in which box!

IF you do some of your own boxes, NUMBER each Box and make a detailed list of every item in it. In 2010, We had 240 boxes shipped back from Japan to here (MS). MOST of the boxes were packed my LOML and myself. We started packing in August, doing 2 to 4 per day. Pickup of furniture and boxes was late November. Breakables, Crystal, Fine China, silver were all packed by us. NONE were broken. The company was paid for them to do it but we did not want to fool with insurance paying for potential broken cherished items. We did not want replacements! And we wanted to know WHAT box was missing if one was missing.

We told the movers ahead of time what we planned and we cross-referenced each box. (And each box was detailed in the contents.) We used quite a bit of bubble wrap. Nothing broke and nothing missing!

[jdon]

One more thought: This might be old tech now, but about 15 years ago we had some odd shaped large items (incl. a loom) packed and shipped by a professional company.

They used expanding foam to form-fit around odd shapes- and what could be more oddly shaped than tools?. I think it was urethane foam- like the stuff they spray for insulation, and "Great Stuff". If you don't want things to shift inside a box, it's much better than bubble wrap.

You might want to check to see if the moving company offers that service. Man, do I hate moving- my condolences

[cabinetman]

A lot of good info so far. I might suggest you keep with you some tools you might need that you don't want to pack, or ones you might need for an "emergency", such as a pliers, phillips/slotted screwdrivers, hammer, adjustable wrench...etc.

.

[twistsol]

We had professionals move us including our shop in 2004 with only two issues. They didn't realize how top heave my drill press is and dropped it on it's head.I''d pull the top off the drill press to make it easier to handle.

I took the blade out of the tablesaw and RAS and removed the rails and my extension table to make things easier to handle. I wish I'd thought about the drill press in advance. I also removed a lot of tools from their stands so they could box and pad the tools.

The other problem was that the drill press was dropped on an antique typewriter and smashed that to bits.

[woodturner]

My entire home, including the shop, is going to be moved soon, by hired professional movers. This will be a full service 'pack & move' arrangement.

...

Any thoughts or horror-stories will be considered........

Ask for a "master mover" - or whatever your moving company calls it.

Each company has movers that have achieved "master" status due to experience, good customer reports, low claims, etc. They are the "best" movers and it doesn't cost any more to get one of them vs the guy they just hired last week.

Have them delivery BEFORE you sign the delivery acceptance forms, and on each form, above your name, write "contents accepted subjet to inspection". They won't like it and will likely complain about it, but that allows you to make claims for hidden damage later. If you just sign the form, you are accepting the contents as-is.

The packers will likely ask you to sign a form absolving them of any and all liability. Don't sign it.

Do NOT let them pack jewelry, items with sentimental value, or any other small, easily concealed valuable item. They are likely to disappear.

Understand that packers are often "spot labor" - people they hired off the street corner for a day's work. Watch them constantly and understand they have essentially no loyalty to the company or you.

I learned these things through eight moves with large organizations. Each time I thought I had it figured out, they seemed to find a new "twist". The one I can't figure out, though, is why they would steal my Master's degree from Hopkins. I understood the class ring and jewelry, but why a diploma?

One move I had the shop equipment crated, but it cost more than the equipment was worth. Next move I convinced the company to just pay me half the crating cost and replaced what they damaged.

Be careful with the insurance - the standard mover's insurance is based on the weight of the item and is woefully inadequate. Most companies buy additional policies when they move their employees.

[leehljp]

We had professionals move us including our shop in 2004 with only two issues. They didn't realize how top heave my drill press is and dropped it on it's head.I''d pull the top off the drill press to make it easier to handle. . .

The other problem was that the drill press was dropped on an antique typewriter and smashed that to bits.

This is the very reason that I don't like professional packers. I had a co-worker that loved situations like this - to get something new or more money that it was actually worth. Me - I don't care about the insurance replacement, I want what I have to get to its destination intact FAR more than the replacement value in money or new item.

Even the best of packers do make a few minor mistakes and they are usually well insured for unusual situations. But for me, I will take my packing without their guarantees over their guarantees and insurance. So far, batting 1000 across the ocean going and coming.

[toolguy1000]

how far is the equipment being moved?

[sailor55330]

I wouldn't be to quick to judge on the professional packers. I've had nothing but excellent results in the couple of moves I've had. Granted, it was a corporate move, so there wasn't any real budget on packing supplies, but I've never had anything broken.

I think the bigger risk as mentioned is to the weak points on tools such as table tops, rails, etc. This is where I've seen the most damage occur.

As for quick and thorough---pro packers can't be beat. A team of 4 packed our entire house in 9 hours. They were even thorough enough that they actually packed full garbage cans. Luckily, it was only paper waste, but they were a freight train when it came to packing--no stopping it.