For Those Who Have Moved Your Workshop...

[Jim Andrew]

I don't plan to move, but if I were, would look at mobile bases for every machine not already equipped, and a flat bed trailer with a ramp, or tilt bed. And maybe use some plywood to make the slope a little more even. My shop is detached from the house, so would not have to worry about getting machines out of the basement, so don't have that concern, but think I would take the advice of others to take off the fence, extension wings, etc so I could fit as many machines as possible on the trailer, buy a good tarp and cover it well as getting ci wet would not be good.

[William C Rogers]

Julie
I move a year ago. I planned to move my shop myself, however I sold my house in 5 days and closed 10 days later with possession at closing. I didn't have time to cull anything and moved a 30 X 56 shop. What the picture doesn't show is my PM 90 lathe @700#, MinMax FS 35 @700#, cabinet saw, drum sander, and over 1200 bf of lumber. I moved 200 miles.
Advice
Get multiple quotes. My quotes were all over the map with as much as $8000 difference. Since my new shop and house were not even started I made sure their storage was conditioned. I ended up choosing Leaders Moving and Storage. There were several reasons including storage and price, but they will hold their quote and no up charges. I had a friend who used a different company and they ended up charging about 20% more than their quote for this and that. I didn't remove any tool tables, but I did spray them with lithium grease. About the only thing I did was remove all my saw blades. I packed my shop myself. I can tell you stretch wrap is your best friend. I stretch wrapped the power cords using the 6" wrap and then stretch wrapped the machine using the 22" wrap. The only thing I lost was a couple of rubber feet on some stands and one box with some odd and ends they gave me value for. I can only guess, but I think the shop added about $3,000 to my moving cost. None of my equipment was damaged. If you were to move yourself I would suggest a truck with a lift gate. That was what I was going to do as I thought the 700# machines were too heavy to be putting on my trailer. Most of my machines were mobile. I did use two HF moving dollies for my lathe.

Bill

[Matt Meiser]

If you use a container, look at the options first hand. PODS themselves are junk with no good system for tying anything down unless they've improved their fleet in the last couple years. We used a Mobile Attic brand unit to move most smaller stuff and its a MUCH sturdier unit with numerous tiedown points. I used a whole fleet of ratchet straps and it appears NOTHING moved in that thing. The one disadvantage to their system is that it gets winched up on a modified flatbed wrecker so it does get tipped to maybe a 15 degree angle. That and they are a smaller company with fewer franchisees.

Movers, we got two quotes for the rest and they were about the same. We did all the packing, they just had to wrap furniture and carry stuff. The actual amount was $400 lower than their quote. These places don't hire rocket scientists, so don't expect that.

[Jon McElwain]

There was a Wood Whisperer episode a while back about moving his shop. Might be worth a look - as usual, he was good about talking about the good, the bad, and the ugly!

[John Huds0n]

How are you going to get there - drive a car?

If so, I would consider renting a truck from Penske (they usually have lift gates as standard) along with one of their car trailers. With pallets and a pallet jack, it would be fairly simple to load up your heavier/larger items from your shop into the truck with the lift gate for the trip. Load your car onto the trailer and your all set

[Brian Backner]

I would agree that PODS are junk. If I were going to move 1,000+ miles I would buy as many 20 foot shipping containers as needed. One thing is to make sure you get containers with NSD - nailable steel decking. Then load the big machines and either nail them to the deck, or drill and tap holes for 1/2" diameter bolts. If you have really big and heavy tools (I have a Crescent P24 that is over 3,000# and a metal lathe that's over four tons), you can weld 1/4" walled tubing from wall to wall and floor to ceiling to lock them into "cages."

Well padded boxes of small stuff can be loaded in around the big stuff and can be packed to the roof if you use sturdy enough boxes (200# or even 400# cardboard). Any space that is left, can be filled with inflatable tubes - you can get them from U-Line and similar companies. They are heavy walled plastic tubes that get threaded in between stuff, then they are inflated to take up space and lock everything into position.

Once you get everything loaded, use your welder to tack the doors shut for security! Of course if you cross state lines and the Feds want to have a look see, all bets are off.

A lot of work and not cheap, but it will be worth it. I've been collecting both wood and metal working machinery for over forty years and am too old to start over if I ever were to move.

[Tom Clark FL]

3/2012 Moved this shop from FL to NM. 1700 miles. Included about 15 large machines including a full size Bridgeport milling machine and a 14" lathe, 24 custom shop cabinets, and hundreds of boxes. Cost was $7000. Mover was Mayflower. I packed boxes - they loaded semi trailer and drove cross country. They unloaded.

[Robert Parent]

This is a great thread...... I am planning to move as well within the next year so appreciate the varied ideas. I have been culling anything that has little value or has not been used in the past year or two. Just where does all the stuff come from?????

The plan is to buy a place before selling the current one so that should help with the logistics.

Robert

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I moved overseas years back, but it was all paid by the company I work for. The movers were instructed to pack anything and everything. When my stuff arrived the trash and the leftover pizza were neatly packed with everything else!

If you hire a container where you pay for the container, then pack it first with what you love, and with the room that is left you can put the stuff you are less attached to.

I recently moved just across town but decided to go ahead and get all new storage. I bought three of the biggest toolboxes HD sold, and am so happy I did. I really wanted to build my own out of mahogany, but needed to get organized fast, and ready-made was the best way to go for me. Setting up the new shop right the first time is the advise I use this point to make. So glad I did that. Unpacking the tools into their new proper storage bins was a treat.

[Thomas Canfield]

I moved my shop 3 years back about 300 miles using a POD. I made a detail list of items and estimated weight to avoid overloading the POD. It took 2 weeks at my leisure to load and secure the load packing it very tight, fastening it down with straps, and adding blocking blocks. I had to have the POD stored for about 2 months while my new shop was built, but was able to unload the POD in a day to shop and garage at house. The POD was a lot better method than using the moving van, renting a storage unit, unpacking at storage, reloading and moving from storage, etc. I would do it that way again. I did additionally move 3 pickup loads of miscellaneous material, paint, turning wood, and other heavy items that movers would not move or were concentrated weight and could be stored in garage while shop being built, and I was making trips to check on remodeling progress on house.

[Clint Schlosser]

Consider that you will only get about 50% of your original cost or less if you sell the large equipment. I would also count on the cost to move of about 50 Cents per pound.

You will certainly lose money on the deal by selling and re-buying. But think about this as an opportunity upgrade!

[Jason White]

I struggled with this question before I moved from Boston to LA about 3 years ago. Professional movers charge by weight, so after getting an estimate I opted to sell all of my heavy cast-iron machines and transport everything else. In my case, it would've cost more to move the machines than what I paid for them. If your machines are all newer and you paid a lot of money for them, it might be worth the cost to transport them. That said, I'd be worried about movers lifting them incorrectly and damaging them. With some machines (bandsaws, jointers, etc.), you can't just grab onto whatever part is convenient and start lifting.

We'll be moving from the Chicago area to the West Palm Beach, FL area. I've been considering selling whatever the new owners of our house might want in the workshop. I have no idea how many homeowners would even be interested in having a workshop.

Anyway, I'm looking at the cost of moving vs. the cost of purchasing something new when we get to the new place. Things like the table saw, band saw, and roll-around cabinets are heavy and/or bulky. But I don't know how much it would cost for movers to move them.

If you've moved, how did you go about deciding what gets sold and what you took with you?

[Julie Moriarty]

The one thing I'd really like to replace is the table saw. It's a 20+ year old Delta contractor's saw. Dust collection is poor, no riving knife, 1-1/2 HP motor. It would sure be nice to have a cabinet saw. Some other tools would be nice to update but aren't screaming at me to do so.

Yesterday my son and I were in the workshop working on a project and I just blurted out, "Most homeowners would turn this workshop into a kid's play room or something. They wouldn't know what to do with all these tools." I had to think about where that came from and then I remembered when we had realtors come through about ten years ago when we were thinking about downsizing. There were two women realtors who came to look at the house and as soon as they walked into the workshop they agreed it would make a great kid's playroom.

It made me wonder how many homeowners would see the workshop the same way. And that brings up the question, how many homeowners would even want a workshop? Maybe the idea of selling the workshop as a package may not be as universally appealing as I thought.

[Rick Potter]

My daughter, who lives with us, says she will turn my shop into a skating rink when I kick off. My 40 year old son is very mechanically oriented, but has zero interest in wood. He would put motorcycles in there.

Go figure.

[Larry Matchett]

When I moved from MT to MS 10 years ago I struggled with same thing. Decided to take it all along. Movers packed and loaded everything on the moving van. When the driver put locks on the doors he handed me the keys. The other set went in a sealed envelope that he carried with him. He said he needed a key in case the load needed to be inspected. When the truck arrived the envelope was still sealed. They unloaded and reassembled all the shop equipment. No breakage and no damage. I have since replaced and upgraded some stuff. Never regretted bringing everything along. Good luck.