Question about moving a shop

[Mark Lawrence]

Seriously considering moving from NY to Florida. I'm looking for advise on the best means to move my home shop . I have a lot of heavy equipment eg 8' woodworking bench with 2 vices, table saw, drill press, stationary DJ 20 jointer, several hand planes, etc.- enough to fill a 2 car garage.

I was thinking of possibly using PODS. Other options and suggestions welcomed.

[Matt Day]

Mark,
Have you searched the forum for shop moves? There are A LOT of threads about it with all types of options. There are a few really good ones on OWWM too, and some of those guys have a lot more and much bigger equipment.

Good luck with your move.

[Rich Riddle]

PODS are extremely expensive to rent, extremely. ABF used to drop off tractor trailers at your home and then deliver them to your next place. They're much cheaper. They also limit their drivers to ten miles under the posted speed limit much to the chagrin of all the drivers on two-lane highways in Kansas. We spent tons of time trapped behind the slow movers, but they're cautious.

[Bill Bukovec]

We moved from Minnesota to Tennessee using UPack. They drop off a 28 foot trailer for you to load , you have three or four days to load it. Ours had a very nice ramp but no lift gate. I bought about 50 ratchet straps to hold my equipment securely to the walls.

The only thing I couldn't get on the truck was my riding mower, which was too wide for the ramp.

They drive the trailer to your new home. You have thrre days ( more if you ask) to unload.

Cost was less than $3000.00. All of the drivers were nice as could be. You may need to trim any low hanging branches to provide clearance for the trailer.
UPack is part of ABF.

[Thomas Canfield]

I used a POD when I moved 5+years back when I had to store my shop items about 2 months while having one built. I make a spread sheet of all major items with basic dimensions and estimated weight. I used a 60% of available volume in POD to help determine if material would fit. Some bulkier items could be shipped on moving van, but wanted to maximize weight in POD over van. There was a cost, but it was offset by taking time to load and not having to unload/reload and pay for storage unit. You can pack a lot of material in the void spaces of benches or lumber under wheel units. Just be sure to get everything secured or tightly packed to avoid shifting in shipment.

[Lee Schierer]

I would suggest crating all your equipment to prevent tipping during transit and to improve handling. At times gravity ceases to exist in the back of trucks and equipment tends to sift positions.