Replies

1. 
   Pete99353 | Jul 23, 2010 03:59pm | #1

   If your wife is anything like mine, she is always right. Moving companies charge by weight. You might have a golden opportunity to buy some new tools. I suggest that before you decide that you get several bids from movers and see how much it would cost to move your workshop. I would insist they itemize the cost for each "big/heavy" tool. Then you have a number to work with. The "small" tools should be more manageable.

   Another thing about movers is they have a low compensation rate for damage caused by them during the move. I think they reimburse based on weight. My wife had a cow when she heard that one. The standard reimbursement for her 900 pound piano was about one percent of it's replacement value. You should check with the mover on their reimbursement rate and also whether your homeowners will cover anything. I would add the cost of any extra insurance onto the cost of the move for each tool.

   Once you have a bid for each big tool the next task is to determine how much you could sell each tool for and how much you'll have to pay for it's replacement in Virginia. Subtract the amount received for selling the tool from the amount you'll have to pay for it's replacement and compare that result with the cost to move it. If It costs more to move it, then sell it and replace it after the move. If it costs less to move it than to sell and replace it you have one more decision. Do you really want to keep that particular tool or would you rather have a replacement? Of course, that is subjective and only you can decide. I have tuned/tweaked my tools so they are a pleasure to use and I would rather not have to that again.

   Will you be able to move the tools directly into your new shop when you arrive or will you have to put them in storage until you have the shop ready?  If they are not wrapped correctly or stored in a good environment (low humidity/moisture) you could have unanticipated damage.

   All that said, a moving company moved my small shop (50" Unisaw, 12" jointer/planer, bandsaw, workbench, air cleaner, dust collector, combination machine, drill press and small tools) into a storage facility where the tools sat for over a year while I built my new shop. I paid a local guy to move everything from storage to the new shop. Overall, no damage.

   Good luck with your move.

   Pete

2. 
   donbean46 | Jul 25, 2010 02:35pm | #2

   You can buy a retired uhaul truck from uhaul for less than the movers will charge you to move your tools,  you'll have a dry storage place to keep them till you get the shop ready and you can sell the truck and recoup most of your expense when you are done with it.

3. 
   sapwood | Jul 26, 2010 12:20am | #3

   Move by container

   For our recent move we chose a company that provided a 53 foot container. It was delivered to my shop, first, then to our home. We contracted with a local moving company for labor only. Those guys did all the heavy lifting and loaded our possessions into the container. We could put anything into the container as long as it wasn't flammable so that left out my solvent finishes. However we could also put a car in that had gas in the tank. So go figure that one out. Anyway, the move was very affordable and weight was not a factor. 

    I don't know if this service is available in your area but you should do some through checking. New neighbors just move here (Washington) from San Diego and used the same system, although a different company. 

   You can really save money by doing all the grunt work yourself. In my younger days I would have. As it was, I still helped out by schlepping a lot of boxes myself. By the way... we did all the packing ahead of time. 

   As far as moving machinery. I think it will be easier and safer for you to strap heavy machines to pallets yourself. Do this ahead of the movers. Cover all your working surfaces. Caution the movers not to lift your jointer by the table ends. Our guys were great. They listened and seemed to really care. I don't think that would have been the case had we simply contracted with a company for a turn-key move. 

1. 
   swenson | Jul 26, 2010 12:45am | #4

   aghhhhh!

   "Caution the movers not to lift your jointer by the table ends."

   I think I have moved my jointer around the shop by the table ends. Wonder how much damage I have done.

4. 
   traveller2 | Jul 26, 2010 11:41am | #5

   I had a mover move my shop from NY to Ga. He seriously underestimated the weight, and lost his shirt on the move (to the tune of about $1200). he estimated the weight at 5000 lb and it turned out to be more than 8000 lb.

5. 
   jeffs | Jul 27, 2010 12:32pm | #6

   moving shop

   I moved my shop twice in the past 10 yrs- once from MD to CA and the second within CA about 20 miles.  Both times were done by a professional mover. Both times were done very efficiently and without any damage to any machines. I packed my own hand tools (I have a lot of them) and they moved the boxes. All the machines were moved by them.  The biggest issue was the many board feet of lumber and especially the "shorts".  The machines were relatively easy for them.  Probably easier than some furniture pieces. I have a fairly massive bench (7 feet long, 30 inches wide 4 inches thick of rock maple; with a detachable leg structure). After the vices were removed (by me) they moved that too.

   I agree with another poster about warning them not to lift the jointer by the tables (they put my DJ20 on dollys)- same goes for your table saw.

   It did not add that much to the price of the move considering the rest of the household goods being moved at the same time- probably a couple of hundred (a lot but not huge given the amount of work).

   given my experiences, I would have a professional do it again

   Jeff

6. 
   T2HnTMNRxT | Aug 09, 2010 11:14pm | #7

   I moved my complete shop 2 times in 6 months..here how

   I anticipated the first move of more than 200 miles to beautiful Flagstaff Arizona, but in my hunt for a moving company I too went into sticker shock.  I had thought before this move that if I ever had to move it I would put all machines on Skids and load them.  I had the first part right but getting a moving company to do this was indeed too expensive also.   Craigslist to the rescue, I posted an ad on Craigslist for a flatbed semi with a piggyback forklift.  I had two replies from my posting, as it turns out the two replies were from two brothers who worked for the same company.

   The two brothers worked for a masonry block company and they had few if any deliveries during the weekend.  I scheduled them to drop off skids on friday morning and spent the day with friends help getting all equipment on skids and strapped them down with commercial crate strapping, the kind with the crimped buckles.  After securing all the major eqipment, work benches, lumber, rolling carts, and boxes and boxes of wood turning blanks, I was ready for the loading.

   Two guys with the piggyback forklift arrived on Saturday morning, and in 5 hours had it all loaded and secured, a four hour trip up north and then three hours to unload and put all equipment in the new garage (soon to be my shop).  All total including buying them lunch and a bit of a tip, total cost was 500.00.  You see they did it as a haul, not based on weight, but based on how much time they had to spend in total.  So 2 men for 12 hours is 24 hours, and 500 divided by 24 is not quite 21.00 per hour.

   Sadly my stay up north was short lived, and I had to move back to Phoenix. so I again ran the ad and got another guy willing to do the move for 500.00, so I know that this method works,   One bit of advise, make sure that the forklift can get into or very close to where you want the eqipment, as it will take you a bit to place all your equipment, and inclimate weather will make life really hard,  RUST, the bain of woodworkers.

7. 
   Deleted | Jul 25, 2021 12:01pm | #9

   “[Deleted]”

8. 
   _mj_ | Jul 25, 2021 12:05pm | #10

   Or maybe a nuclear powered Delorean!! The post before Gulfstar's was spam links to a moving company

9. 
   gulfstar | Jul 25, 2021 11:21am | #8

   He may have moved again since 2010 …