How To: Move A Safe & Remove From A Pallet

Moving a safe can be difficult, especially one that weights over a ton. If you don't want to spend the extra money to have a professional White Glove, Inside Delivery, or Safe Moving company move the safe for you and remove it from the pallet, here are some suggestions that might help you do it yourself.

If you order a safe with curbside delivery, the driver will leave the safe out in the street or in front of your driveway. This leaves you to move the safe yourself inside your garage or home.

Moving a Safe Into Your Garage

The easiest way to move the safe into your garage is with a pallet jack. You can rent one of these from a local company such as Home Depot or any other company that rents heavy equipment. Make sure that you get one that is rated to handle the weight of your safe.
You can also use a standard refrigerator dolly. If you don't have one yourself, check with your neighbor or you can rent one from a place like Home Depot or any other company that rents heavy equipment. A four wheel dolly is typically best, but a two wheel dolly will work if the safe isn't heavy.

To move the safe with a two wheel refrigerator dolly, line it up with the side of the pallet.
Push the safe away from you at the very top of the safe with both hands and push the dolly in at the bottom at the same time with your foot.
The next step is to go around to the other side of the safe. NEVER PUSH FROM THE CENTER. Push the safe from the top and roll the safe right into your garage. If you have a sloped driveway, you may need to get some help pushing the safe.
Now to get the refrigerator dolly out from underneath the pallet. Just push at the top with your hand and pull it out at the bottom. You should be clear of the safe at that point.

Unbolting your Safe From The Pallet

Many manufacturers bolt the safe to the pallet so that it does not tip over in transit. Before removing your safe from the pallet and installing it, you will need to unbolt it.

To unbolt from the pallet, make sure you have the following tools:

Vice grips.
Phillps head screwdriver.
Regular screwdriver.
A socket set and a rachet.

The first step would be to remove the interior of your safe including any gun racking and shelves. This will get in the way when trying to unbolt the safe from the pallet. When everything is removed, this will give you room to get inside. Everything can be installed later once the safe is in the final resting spot.

Inside the safe, you will need to check to see if you have 1, 2 or 4 anchor holes. You will find little black covers where the safe is bolted to the pallet. Just remove each black cover exposing the bolts. On the back holes, you typically cannot reach around the safe, so that is what your vice grips will be used for.

Loosen up your screw, go to the back and grab the nut underneath with your vice grips. Come back to the inside and start unscrewing. When you hear the vice grips hit the floor, you are done.

Removing your Safe From The Pallet

To remove your safe from the pallet, you will need the following:

Crowbar or pry bar.
Roller bar (3/4" PVC schedule 40 will work just fine - no need to get fancy)

You can find this equipment at any hardware store. We recommend that you have at least 2 people to remove the safe from the pallet for safety reasons.

The easiest way to remove the safe from the pallet is from the side. Almost all safes will have a gap between the pallet and your safe. Just insert a crowbar or pry bar in that gap, pull back and insert your roller bar.

Drop it back about 5-6" and slowly bring the safe back down.

Go to the other side of the safe and push slowly. It should now be rolling on your roller bar.

As soon as your roller bar drops to the floor, simply pull down on the edge of the safe until it hits the ground. Go to the other side and push up a little bit so it is no longer sitting on the pallet.

Remove the pallet with your foot and it should now sit flat on the floor.

If you have any questions on moving your safe into your garage, unbolting your safe from the pallet or removing your safe from the pallet, please give us a call at 877-403-7622 and we would be happy to answer any questions you may have.