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Thread: Packing up shop, storing, and subsequently moving cross country

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Arizona
    Posts
    118

    Packing up shop, storing, and subsequently moving cross country

    Hey everyone,
    I'm facing a bit of a "situation". We're putting our house on the market this week in the Chicago suburbs. I have a two car garage shop that is full of tools/wood/you name it. We are purchasing a new construction home in Arizona so we will not be immediately moving from our house to the new house. I am going to have to pack away my tools, store them, and move them again when the time comes in six months or so. I was thinking about using a PODS-like service to put my tools into a container, store them at their facility, and then have them deliver it to the new home in Arizona when ready.

    What do you think of this approach? Can you think of a better one that I may not be thinking of? And what is the most economical yet still reliable PODS type of service available for such an undertaking?

  2. #2
    I would go with Pods, I'm not sure if pack rat offers the same warehouse storage option. The thing you should check with pods is are there any weight restrictions. The other option would be having movers move to a self storage facility near where you are moving. This would then require you moving once the house is built.

  3. #3
    Check out ABF, they will drop a semi trailer at your place for you to load. You put your lock on it. If they have a facility where you are moving, or close, they will store it for you at a reasonable price. They then deliver to your new place for you to unload.
    They worked very well for us and stored our stuff for several months. Everything went very well.

    Good luck.

  4. #4
    Matt,
    Just for grins, you should see if the storage and the transport can be insured against loss/damage/theft and if so, see if the cost is manageable for you. My neighbor was in the moving business until recently, and he said that it was amazing the difference a few hundred dollars worth of insurance made in how your goods were handled, stored and transported - because the shipper knew if there was a problem it would cost them money. Perhaps your POD, etc company has some kind of similar option.(My thinking is that someone who wants to can always find a way to cut off a lock, etc.)

    Just an idea. May or may not matter to you.
    Fred

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Arizona
    Posts
    118
    Thanks David, I'll look into ABF as well.

    Frederick, it definitely matters to me and thats great advice, thank you.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Virginia and Kentucky
    Posts
    3,364
    U-Haul has an equivalent/similar item to the PODS. It's called U-Box. Get quotes from both places. The PODS charge a very high monthly fee per pod to store things. Generally people say the U-Box is about 70% the cost of PODS. Also look at ABF. Are you planning to pack up your shop prior to selling your home? I would store them where they are until the closing date.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Arizona
    Posts
    118
    Quote Originally Posted by Rich Riddle View Post
    U-Haul has an equivalent/similar item to the PODS. It's called U-Box. Get quotes from both places. The PODS charge a very high monthly fee per pod to store things. Generally people say the U-Box is about 70% the cost of PODS. Also look at ABF. Are you planning to pack up your shop prior to selling your home? I would store them where they are until the closing date.
    I'm looking to keep them in my garage until we close. I did a scan of ABF's site but they offer many services. Which ones are you guys referring to for my purposes?

    I'll take a look at the U-Boxes, thanks. I know PODS is the "originator" of this type of service so its not necessarily the cheapest which is why I asked in the first place.

    I guess another question I have is how to get heavy machinery into these pod type storage containers? I have a 1 ton lift but the wheels on that will get stopped by the threshold of where the pod starts and the ground it sits on, I imagine. Unless they're propped up somehow and you can get the lift under them? I've never used one so I don't know but I imagine a bit of space is left under for when they put it down/pick it back up?

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Upstate NY
    Posts
    3,789
    I sold all my big tools when I moved. If you compare what your net cost will be to sell/buy, you might find it competitive with moving/storage/moving. I upgraded my TS and planer, and downgraded my BS.
    I moved my wood because it was relatively easy and it is surprisingly difficult to sell wood.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Mountain City, TN
    Posts
    573
    We moved from Minnesota to Tennessee with ABF/ Upack. I highly recommend them. Make sure to strap the heavy stuff securly to the walls of the truck. The drivers were friendly and competent. I wish I had used heavy duty boxes for my heavier stuff from the ship. The worst part is, not having a shop.

  10. #10
    Anybody ever look at using a steel ocean shipping container? You can buy them to avoid the rental and they would be sturdier. Some people use them for a shed. In a rustic/large lot situation there could even be a use for it on the other end.

  11. #11
    There was a thread a couple years ago on this topic which may contain useful information. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...highlight=move

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Arizona
    Posts
    118
    Wade, that's not really an option for me as I've already purchased some very good tools that I'm not looking to upgrade (SawStop, Hammer A3-31, bunch of Festool, etc). The only candidates for upgrades in my shop currently are probably my band saw (which I'll be buying a second for resawing eventually and keeping this one for curves anyway) and my drill press (which I probably won't buy for a while and can certainly do with my Lowes Porter Cable model for a long time still).

    Bill, when you did that was it just a container like a PODS type that was dropped off, packed, and picked up by them? What did you use to strap your items to the walls? And lastly, what kind of boxes did you use? I was planning on using mostly plastic storage totes for some of my loose items but then I also have a long miter saw storage system with drawers that I'll just keep stocked. Were there any weight problems for all your stuff?

    Sorry for all the questions, I really want to get this right and not cost an arm and a leg while retaining my tools and not ruining them along the way.

    And thanks for the link Lloyd, I'll have a look through the thread, appreciate it.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Haubstadt (Evansville), Indiana
    Posts
    1,294
    I looked at all the options of moving my shop myself. However I ended up having the moving company move and store my tools. I did all the packing myself. I had a 30 X 56 shop full and 1000' of rough sawn lumber. I had everything stored in conditioned storage. Nothing was damaged. Quotes were all over the map with $5000 difference between them. In the end I figured it cost me about $500-$1000 more than if I did it. It sure was nice not to have to move the heavy tools and over 100 boxes of tools.
    When working I had more money than time. In retirement I have more time than money. Love the time, miss the money.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Arizona
    Posts
    118
    Quote Originally Posted by William C Rogers View Post
    I looked at all the options of moving my shop myself. However I ended up having the moving company move and store my tools. I did all the packing myself. I had a 30 X 56 shop full and 1000' of rough sawn lumber. I had everything stored in conditioned storage. Nothing was damaged. Quotes were all over the map with $5000 difference between them. In the end I figured it cost me about $500-$1000 more than if I did it. It sure was nice not to have to move the heavy tools and over 100 boxes of tools.
    William, who did you use to move? and did you incur any damage to your tools? I'm assuming you broke them down as much as possible.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,685
    Regardless of the method you end up deciding on, the comments about insurance are spot on...the "default" insurance in the moving industry is based on a minuscule payment per pound, not on the value of the items. That clearly isn't in the consumer's best interest. You need to insure for value. I also suggest when you box up the smaller stuff that rather than writing on the boxes what's inside, use a color and letter/number code that you maintain a list/inventory of independently, especially for things going into storage. It's hard to hide what a table saw is, but boxes that say things like "Festool" or "Hand Tools" can be very tempting... Honestly, I did the same thing for household items when we last moved. The only thing on the boxes was the color/number/letter codes. The color codes were for the "drop point" in the destination (room, etc), so it was very easy to direct unloading traffic when the load arrived.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

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