Heavy move??

Looking at possibly acquiring a heavy safe.(2500# give or take)
I have a dump trailer capable of hauling, but I'm brainstorming ideas for loading.
Safe is 1900's era ruffly 2'x2' 3.5' tall, sitting on metal wheels.

Ideally I could set the ramps and use a chain hoist to pull it up and in likely by myself or with only 1 other guy. My concern is my ramps are only 4' and I don't know what kind of angle I will get if I would go this route. I'm guessing the trailer is about 16" high, it will probably squat 4" as the weight loads up.

I will be going to inspect it this week, and to scope out the location and formulate a plan if I were to buy it.
It is on concrete in a garage, so as far as I know now getting it up into the trailer is the only vertical challenge

In the mean time anyone got any "redneck" techniques I could consider.
Any rental gear anyone might know of that is more portable than a forklift.

IM WELL AWARE OF THE SAFETY FACTOR, HUMAN SAFETY WILL NOT BE IGNORED TO ACOMPLISH THIS.
I KNOW THERE ARE PROFESSIONALS THAT CAN BE HIRED TO DO THIS.

We used a car wrecker to move ours.

You can raise the bed to improve your angle until you get it started in the trailer.

You can roll the safe to the edge of the trailer and lift it with a floor jack and push the safe on it's side. Run a strap from the tongue of the trailer back to the safe to help tip/control it. I would use cardboard or something to keep from scratching it.

Warning - the Red Green show get there ideas from me

Have a friend with a rollback car hauler???

Assuming there is somewhere to put a comalong on the front of the dump trailer, preferably high but the D rings in front will work, just run a chain through them and put the comalong in the middle of them. Put the ramps down, tilt the trailer up, lay plywood (or whatever wood you have) over the ramps, put a stout rope or strap around the safe and just winch it in. You may need a pry bar to get the lip of the safe over the edge of the plywood but it should ride up pretty smoothly. We used to load alot of logs this way.

A tractor with a boom and bucket is my go to for heavy items. Works good for butcherin too

Skid steer

See if you can rent a drop deck trailer from the local rental place. Kind of trailer they usually haul those scissor/man lifts with.

Deck will drop flat on the ground and make moving the safe a whole lot easier.

I know you have a dump trailer but I think renting a drop deck would be money well spent

Skidsteer with trailer, quick fast and in a hurry plus its safe.

Tow truck services will move heavy items, that they can easily access, like the safe, for the same price as a normal tow usually.

Keith

Thanks guys,
Doners plan is pretty much the same idea I was picturing.
Dad only has a 25hp tractor, so that ain't gonna lift it. I don't think any skidsteer I could rent around here is gonna have the lift capacity either.
There is a family tow company in town im gonna talk to see if they would as a back up. I'm sure the rollback with a winch would work pretty slick.

Just get enough men to help you pick it up to set it up there

Number of strong backs = numbers of of cases of cold beer always works.


Been there , done that. Cold beer is a good motivator.

After reading others post count me as a skid steer vote. They can be rented for small amounts, are easy to run, and do the work of 25 to 3i men each day.

All of the fencing crews that used to have a JD 4020 show up with a bobcat anymore.

Make some rollers out of 4 inch pvc pipe and lay it on the side, with a helper, you should e good to go.

I've been in on several safe moving jobs. One we had in a 2 story 120 year old building. No way was we going to take down those rickety steps. We cribbed up and got it up to the window sill and had a crane take it out the upstairs window. How they ever got it up there without someone getting killed in the process is beyond me. But they built the pyramids without any cranes, lol.

Another time we bought a 100 ton press. We went to get it on a holiday and no one was was available with any kind of loader. It was a long way from home and didn't want to make the drive again. The guy did have a set of rollers and we come a longed it to the door.He also had bunch of 4x4's and we cribbed it up even with the trailer and flipped it over on a bunch of old tires.

see if you can dig a hole for your tires on the trailer to go into so you have less of a angle

Not Fun! Been there did that! We took a old safe out of a jewelry story when it closed. My guess was 3ft x 6ftx16" on wheels. We borrowed a skidloader and a flatbed from a friend to haul it. We got it out of the story and on to the sidewalk when we discovered the skid wouldn't lift it. I guess those old ones are filled with concrete for fire proofing. We had to go and rent the biggest skid from a farm supply implement. Went back loaded it up and then hauled it through town to the final resting place. It was only later on we discovered that the door of the safe had a container of tear gas in behind the lock in case anyone tried messing with it. FYI be careful those old ones suck and are full of surprises!

Pulleys are your friend and they are cheaper than tow trucks and skid steers.

Heavy beam tri-pod, hoist safe, back trailer under it, set it down. Easy Peasy.

If you only need to lift it a couple (or maybe 3) feet vertically: Just use cribbing. 4x4's, 2x4's and some 1" boards and a jack. Jack one side an inch or two and slide a board under and then the other side. It doesn't take long to walk it up to the height you need.

Once it's at trailer height, back right up to the cribbing and you can drag it off of the cribbing and onto the trailer with a come-along. Just make sure your top course of cribbing is perpendicular to the trailer to allow it to slide off without the stack coming apart.

Of course, with the price of 2x4s and 4x4's it might be cheaper to purchase a forklift.

When the weight of the safe hits the bed, those springs will sag, and you could dump the load.

This-shade tree mechanics change out car engines like this.

The perfect stress free way....Plant an acorn beside the safe. Wait fifty or sixty years, attach a hoist to a stout limb and load it. Patience is a virtue

Tripod lift is my 1st try also.