Well it would figure that as soon as I get my shop just like I like it, the division of my company I work for was sold. So, now I’m faced with moving. Fortunately I managed to get another position but it’s 700 miles away. I will be getting a relocation package, but I was wondering if you guys pack your selves i.e. crating, or do you let the movers pack and haul it. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I’m moving from Roanoke VA to St Louis MO. Thanks for any suggestions.
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Replies
If the relo covers it, let them do everything, they have insurance as well. Some do it real well and pack carefully, do some referencing.
Bones, you will miss VA, but good luck, hope it goes well.
Willie
Thanks for the comments. The move is not by choice for sure. I will miss my mountains. Unfortunately the decision was made for me. I must follow the paycheck. I will treat it as an opportunity. No sense looking back.
I grew up near St Louis and - after over 30 yrs in California - think of it as a great place to be from!! I don't miss that humidity at all - lol. The Ozarks Mountains are pretty nice, though.
You'll need to become a Cardinals fan - or take a real low profile during baseball season. Whatever you do, don't wear a Boston baseball cap around town. St Louis fans are nice folks, but some of them carry grudges (and pistols).
When you look at the arch, think of me..............I got a few days work on it in '65 before I left for the service.
As to the move, I would talk to the mover about possibly disassembling some of your stuff (e.g. a Bessie fench, etc) before they get there.
Good luck in your new job.
I grew up near St Louis We still love a just the same....
Where did you live, Will? I come from Wentzville - about 40 miles west of St Louis on I-70.
When I lived there, the population was 3500 and it never changed...........every time some girl got pregnant, some guy left town.
No one ever used turn signals in Wentzville..............everyone knew where you were going. If you ever went anywhere else, you got talked about in church.
Bones,
I did loose some of my best handtools during a move. As you may be aware, movers have you sign off on the number of pieces, not the contents and swapping out boxes ain't that difficult. My particular situation may have been facilitated because we had to store our stuff for a few months. At any rate, the last move I took the good stuff and stuck them in the car.
I recently moved across town and packed most everything myself. The movers put everything in the truck. I "supervised" as they loaded the table saw and other key equipment. Definitely buy the insurance & make sure the guys are well fed.
I grew up in Missouri. Walnut and oak galore. Similar weather to Virginia; I expect you'll be OK. Hope so. Good luck,
Charlie
movers pack and haul it.. YA BET! If it breaks... THEY PAY!
Check for bending, not just breaking. A track for your table saw fence can look fine, but if it is bent 1/32" it might as well be broken.
I recently moved from Idaho to New Mexico. Movers were okay, smashed a few casters.
Welcome to the midwest, bones! Just don't become a dam Cardinals fan. Go cubbies!
Jeff
As of this morning, the Cards were 8-1/2 games ahead of the cubbies. - lol
You can take the boy out of Cardinal country, but you can't take the Cards out of the boy!!
It's good to know you can read. We're still gonna kick your butt. LOL
Go Cubbies!!
Don't count on it yet, Dave. We have 14 games to play between us! Whatever lead you guys have now will soon disappear...can you say SWEEEEEEP!!!GO CUBS!!!
Wonder what the boys in Vegas have for odds on the cubbies sweeping 14 games from the Cards. You're lucky I'm not a betting man..............well, there was that time in the Navy where I drew a card to four sixes. - lmao
P.S. 9-1/2 games as of this morning
Edited 7/2/2005 2:06 pm ET by Dave
I have moved 5 times for my company now, each time they bitch when they find out I have over 20,000 lbs worth of tools (lots of metal working and welding plus raw steel). I had to use two semis one for household and one for tools, Here is my $0.02:
If your have delicate tools (micrometers, fine measuring instruments) absolutely pack these yourself
Anything with a carbide edge pack yourself
Anything on casters make sure they understand that either can pile on top of it or not at all.
If they or you, have to take equipment apart, make sure you bag and lable the parts
Make sure you clearly mark the boxes if they or you pack them with as much detail as needed and let youself know if you need to open first and get off the truck first
If you have a prized piece of work (I had a machinist chest that I built) that you want special care and packing, tell them.
Buy these guys lunch and prepare to tip, they will work twice as hard.
Be preapred to take any gas cylinders yourself they will not handle as well as chemicals, you need to haul these yourself.
Clean the dust and grime off your tools otherwise you will have it over everything else.
Plan out your shop on the other end and specifically where your tools will go, this is especially important if you have equipment over 1000 lbs.
At the other end open boxes and unpack as quick as you can so they haul off all the empty boxes.
Buy lunches and tip during the unloading.
Treat your wife afterward to a ncie dinner or something, this moving is a cast iron bitch and hard work even if someone else is doing it.
Best wishes for success in your new location and job!
Bones, let them do the packing and all, assuming your company is paying for it. If you pack it they label it "PBO", which means Packed By Owner, and you are responsible for all breakage. If they pack it they are responsible.
Woody
The same thing happened to me 3 years after I built my 20' x 30' dream workshop.
Movers will only insure what they pack. Lots of stuff is heavy and you are better off letting them move it.
When the packers and loaders arrive it is a good idea to walk them through the house and emphasize the few things you want them to take special care with, and they'll be more careful with it. They will want to dismantle items so they fit in the truck better. Partly that's due to being able to fit everything, partly because if stuff is packed tighter there is less shifting and tipping. Examples of things they'll want to dismantle are the wings of the table saw table. Anything you can dismantle yourself will save you trouble in putting it back together. Pay particular attention to what you do with the small parts and fasteners. Box them up in a small box and label them so you can find them again.
They won't pay any attention to what goes with what, so you'll have trouble figuring out what they packed in what box until you unpack all of it.
They tend to treat tools as being rugged, so they'll just pile them in a box, risking getting some stuff bent, so you have to keep an eye on them. For example, you may want to stack your table saw blades together and ask they be packed without a heavy tool on top of them.
The often won't take bulk lumber and plywood, so it will take some convincing to get them to. It can be helpful when the planning lady comes around to estimate your load to get her agreement to put in writing to the crew that your lumber will go.
They will not take flammable or dangerous cargo, so your oil based finishes and spray cans will have to stay, or you'll have to drive them yourself in your car. You might be able to talk them into taking latex paints if the cans are fairly clean and the tops are solid and secure. Absolutely don't let them take drying type oils subject to spontaneous combustion, like tung oil, because a leak can set the whole truck on fire. They may not take your batteries, either.
Be mentally prepared for some damage, scratched veneer plywood, warped lumber, bent bar clamps, mashed dust collector duct, and so forth. It is all part of the bummer of a forced job move -- part of life. If you come through the move with no major equipment broken you'll have done ok.
Keep your regular toolbox and wrenches with you in your car, because you'll need the tools for dismantling and reassembling stuff, and if you let them pack it you'll have to go through all your boxes to find it.
Take pictures of your old shop, with close ups of the pegboards. That will speed your setting up the new shop.
Last year I moved my shop from outside NYC to North Carolina. I packed all the stuff I had in drawers, on shelves and hanging on the wall. I even moved a few hundred pounds of wood.
The heavy equipment was mostly on mobile bases and all I did was take off things like fences, reversed the motor on my contractor saw, routers out of the router table, etc. In other words, anything that could get seriously banged or damaged. The mover supplied a couple of 3x4x5 foot cartons that I packed all the removed stuff from. Pipes clamp heads were removed and put into large plastlic storage boxes. The pipes themselves were wrapped with box sealing tape.
The movers just rolled my stuff up the driveway and up the ramp into their van. I was there and they moved all my shop stuff and boxes within about an hour and a half. No problem and everything survived the trip and unloading.
Thanks for all the comments. No problem on the cardinals, I'm not a baseball fan. I'll do as suggested and let them pack most of it. I'm still kind of in shock about the whole thing. Have not been in the shop in two weeks. I'd better get out there and use up some of the lumber I have. I guess if it's assembeled I can get it in the move. It's going to be a busy couple of months for sure. I tell ya the thought of no job is the most disturbing thing, I have ever been through. I've been working since I was a kid. Thanks again.
I was 45 years old, having worked for the same company for 18½ years, when for the first time I lost a job. To this day I'm still surprised at how deeply the experience hurt. They say it is #3 after death of a loved one and divorce in the level of grief it can arouse. Now I believe it.
It is not even rational. You think you shouldn't even feel that bad, after all, it is "just a job". But your body just reacts, and you can't not go through the emotions. But, believe me, you will recover fully and be excited and your old self again after time.
Be careful working around tools, driving, and so forth. My head was not all there for several months, even after moving to the new area and starting the new job. I'd lose concentration, once driving right through a stop sign, once turning the wrong way down a divided street, once missing the exit to my new job after taking it for weeks, and a couple of other things. Try to keep your focus on the task so you don't get injured.
An interesting observation is that when I told younger friends I lost my job they were polite, sorry, and sympathetic. But when I told older people, I could see in their eyes and their reaction and their hugs that they really shared my pain. I surmised that it takes the experience of living a life and going through periods like that to really understand.
The new job was a step down in pay and position. After 20 months in the new job I got promoted into a highly visible key role at a level higher than I would have been if I had stayed at the old place.
Most of us here on this site really do understand, and also know the great feelings will return, and you will enjoy the new experiences in your next job and place.
Bones,
I just wanted to add a thought to Waynel's comments. I too had to move from the Northeast to the Midwest for job reasons. It was very painful and yet many other good things happened especially for my children and family in general. There is one thing I've learned over the past 30 odd years that is important to remember; We're not in charge. Just do the best you can and put your loved ones first...all else will take care of itself...and try to enjoy the ride.
If I had to do my last move over, I would do some things different. I was already at my new location and could not oversee it. My wife tried, but between not knowing how and all the other hassles associated with packing belongings, there was not much else she could have done.
I would crate the stationary stuff myself, I know I will over-do it and not under-do it.
Regarding hand tools, definitely myself, the group that moved me across the country, did a horrible job. They did things like place 12 inches of padding in the bottom of a box, add in power and hand tools on on top of another, and then add in another 12 inches of padding to the top. They did a good job of protecting the box from my tools, which spent the entire trip out, bashing against each other.
Re-reimbursement from these guys is a PITA and you will typically loose money in the process.
St. Louis -- ugh. I lived--make that resided there for 8 years. I grew up in Chicago (GO CUBBIES) and found that St. Louis is not a Midwestern City. Prehistoric, maybe. I had a business colleague from Germany who, when visiting, was recognized by the taxi driver as a German. The taxi driver said to my colleague "those #### sure had the right idea about them there Jews." A bad thing to say regardless, though my colleague's great-grandfather did stand trial at Nuremberg (Alfried Krupp). I met a lot of people who grew up in St. Louis and never had been to another state, much less learned anything about other cultures.
This is also the state that gave us John Ashcroft. When I moved there, you couldn't buy booze on a Sunday. Ashcroft's reason for vetoing repeal of blue laws? "I don't want children to be able to buy liquor filled chocolate bon bons" (he prevented the over the counter sale of these chocolates). When he ran for Senate in 2000, Ashcroft lost TO A DEAD GUY! While his loss was heartening, there are still plenty more of them there Ashcrofts in Misery (I mean, Missouri).
Traffic is terrible; try to live close to work if you can, if it is in a good location. St. Louis has the classic donut-shape of a city that moved to the suburbs, with more and more sprawl spreading westward in the shape of McMansions. Unless your job is west of the Missouri river, I would avoid a commute that crosses the bridge, or a house near any river (they flood, and flooding will get worse as more wetlands disappear to developers).
Good luck. You have my sympathy. At least you are only 5 hours from Chicago.
Something to check out...Some movers policy is not to insure your things if you pack them.
pk
I am about to go through the same thing. My wife has taken a job in Washington, DC. A city I have avoided so far. I still have a job in Louisiana, but I am looking for one in Washington area. We can't stay separated that way. I have a Federal job now and you would think it would be easy to find one in Washington. It isn't. I need to stay with the Gov. until I can get full retirement - and I won't get all that much under the new retirement system. The gov. will pay for the move, but with my shop, we are estimated at 4,000 lbs. over the allowed shipping weight. They charge $1/lb for each lb over weight. I plan to rent a trailer and put as much of the heavy shop equipment into it I can. I am looking at several hundred dollars for that alone. Obviously, I am not happy about the move, but there should be more woodworking interest in the Washington area. I'll make the best of it.
you might want to check around to see if there is a better price for the additonal shipping weight. Get a quote on the whole move. Or maybe have them ship the heavy awkward stuff and you ship the easy boxes. Might be worth you while. I paid about $10,000 to ship an excess of 25,000 lbs from SoCal to Wash State(1250 miles) but we did our own packing. They miscalculated the weight and ate the additional 12,000 pounds(for a toatl of 37,000lbs) because of a binding contract.
By the way, wake sure their contaract ahs a binding weight clause. This is one way that the can stick it to you and hold you hostage. If your weight is under, then the won't charge you as much.
Since this is a company move (actually my company is the US Gov.) I don't have any choice of who the mover is. They have a contract with movers and I get the one they send. I think $1/lb is outrageous. The way that works is that after the van is loaded, they weigh it and if you are over the allowed weight you are charged for it. You are not allowed to take anything off of the van at that time. I think the best solution is to rent a trailer and tow it myself. If I break anything it is my fault and my problem. Estimated cost for a U-Haul 6X12 is $400-$500 + additional fuel I'll use + I bought a Class III trailer hitch. I have a diesel pick-up truck and I need to get the hitch anyway. Thanks for your suggestions. The new SawStop weighed about 800# and shipping from the west coast on that was over $300. When I add in the Unisaw (I now have for sale), a wood lathe, workbench, tool boxes, shaper, 6" jointer, etc. I hope to get the rest of the house hold goods to below the allowed shipping weight. Also there are things the movers won't take: gun powder & primers, paint, plants, etc. I'll need some kind of trailer for all that.
Lucky you, the Gov't(military?) pays to have them pack it for you. I remeber this when I was a kid. I have been told that the moving companies are good on replacing/repair damaged goods for gov't moves. Not like the problems we had on our last move.
I am in the moving process too and this time I'll be doing myself. Last time we used a moving company because we would have needed to use 2-3) 24' Uhauls and the price was around $2500 per van, plus gas. This time going in the opposite direction, it is going to run around $600 per van plus gas. I guess more people are still moving out of California than into it.
Out of curiosity, maybe I should look into a moving company, my back would thank me.
My son comes home this friday from Naval "boot camp" and medical school training in Great Lakes. Too bad he won't be around at the end of this month. Good for him, bad for us
Edited 7/4/2005 12:24 pm ET by migraine
Pack it yourself. Move it yourself.
You dont know it yet but you are faced with a golden oppertunity. I may be facing a move in the not too distant future and I will sell all my power tools " to save on moving costs". Well thats what Ill tell my wife anyway. See I will tell her that if we move my shop will not be set up till way after the house is built which means storage of the power tools and rusting and storage costs............... So I sell the power tools but I move all my fine lumber ( 800 b/f cherry..walnut...antique pine etc). So when it comes tme to set up shop again.......we will be looking at a nice General table saw, a Rikon 18" band saw. a new jointer ( not sure which one) drill press, sliding compound miter saw, thickness planer. " Honey.what do you mean a lot of money?? Think of what I saved in not moving those heavy pieces." Unscrupulous huh
Wicked Decent Woodworks
(oldest woodworking shop in NH)
Rochester NH
" If the women dont find you handsome, they should at least find you handy........yessa!"
Hammerfest pretty much covered it! Consider buying a cargo trailer at one end, then selling it at the other. $2500 will get you a lot of space and you'll get most of it back. I recently moved 60,000# via two transports, a pickup-bed trailer (plants) and the cargo trailer* for my chests & hand tools + chemicals & finishes. Pack and carry all your hand tools yourself, and ready your machinery for transport yourself. Visit a local machinery distributor to see how the machines are packed when they get them for ideas. Remove or protect all knobs, fences, casters, blades, etc & stow cords where thay can't be damaged. Any cardboard storage boxes of your own should be boxed into their boxes, otherwise they'll end up on the bottom of a 10' high stack, likely crushing them! If in doubt, build a small crate for items using 1 x 4's and 1/4" plywood. With some planning, those crates can become cut-off storage bins or temporary cabinets at the other end.
* Now, I use the cargo trailer for hauling loads of air-dried walnut & cherry from back East to new home in E. Texas.
Good Luck .... be positive ..... look on the bright side.
John in Texas
Hey John- where are you in East Texas? I am in Shreveport, LA. I was near Carthage, TX last Saturday for a rifle match. Lot of storms. Last relay got rained out.
Madison
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