Seems like a nightmare to pack up an entire garage. When is the last time you moved (your entire tools & garage) ?

[Meames01]

We moved last year after being in the same house / garage for 30 years. It's been just over a year and I still do not know where anything is. My compressor, welders, milling machine, and bandsaw are yet to be hooked up as even though I got a much larger space, the electric desperately needs upgrading. I still have a bunch of garage stuff in a storage garage that I use for winter storage of our RV and such. I never want this undertaking again.........

 

[phred]

It *****! No two ways about it. We moved 5 years ago. My shop was just under 1100 sf with another 500 of unconditioned storage. I filled a 53’ moving van with tools, parts, equipment, engines, transmissions etc. it took a year to get the new shop built almost double in size but I dread if I ever have to move again.

 

[WisJim]

We moved less than five miles, from a farm with lots of buildings that I had filled with future projects over more than 30 years, to a old house on a city lot with a new 24x40 shop and garage. We spent a couple of years before the move having garage sales, hauling stuff to recycling, selling on FBM or CL or eBay, then got the new shop built just as Covid started, and I'm still sorting and organizing stuff so that I can do things in the shop building. I bought cases of Rubbermaid type of small bins to organize and move tools and parts, and put in shelving in the new building to hold all the bins. I should have done that decades ago. I paid for help to move the lathes and milling machines and other big stuff.

 

[Punkinhead]

I paid for help to move the lathes and milling machines and other big stuff.

Where did you find the help? Pro riggers seem like overkill but I wonder if regular movers understand how to safely move heavy equipment.

 

[Cruzan80]

There seem to be people in-between. There is a guy here on CL that advertises moving Bridgeports/Haas/etc. I have not personally used him, but others have found him reasonable (both good quality and decently priced). Machines are one of those things that can be damaged or cause lots of damage if you dont know what you are doing (when you get over the 1k# range).

 

[LeeG]

I have a move planned for a year or two from now. House and garage. No big projects parts or anything just tools. Biggest will be my mill. I am thinking about using Upack, and putting the equipment on pallets, then building a "roof" on each pallet to stack the moving boxes from the house. That will allow me to use the entire height of the truck. I'll rent a fork lift for loading. I'd be interested in any feedback on that idea.

Lee

 

[70runner]

About a year ago finished 24x36, side hill, detached steel kit workshop. Moved all tools, bench mill, compressor, storage cabinets, welding table, and 2 post lift from 2 garages to workshop. Only thing left behind was radial arm and table saws as they have plumbed in sawdust collectors. Without my Kubota with fork lift attachment, I'd still be moving stuff.

 

[fourjeepin]

If you have a roller cabinet with a top box, do not send it down the truck ramp. I didn‘t want to wait for help with my first move and went flying down the ramp. I thought it might be ok until we hit the end of the ramp. Box went over and launched me with it. I was bruised and cut, box was bruised and scratched (but just the back and not too bad). Tools were everywhere inside the box and the drawers came off the slides, but it could have been much worse.

 

[Robinson1]

Don’t get rid of anything that you actually use and will want to replace. I’m still looking for things I no longer own 10 years after the move

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

3 years ago. I work for a company that has reefer trucks with liftgates, so take one out for 'maintenance', grab a pile of pallets and a pallet jack. It was actually harder to get rid of what I didn't want to move.
And we had a flood while i was moving so i got a 26,000lb truck stuck in the yard once, and I pretty much switched to plastic boxes.

 

[CV428]

I built everything up on casters. Workbenches, toolboxes, work carts, storage racks, you name it. If it's heavier than 100lbs, it's on casters. I also fabricated some bucket forks for my FEL. Harbor Freight has occasional sales on heavy duty casters, or I raid the dumpsters in the nearby industrial park (they throw away a lot of stuff with casters, not sure why).

1-2x a year, I roll everything out in the driveway from all 3 bays, wash the garage floors and spray the foundation for bugs/spiders.

 

[Milton Shaw]

When we got married 55 years ago we moved into a apartment with two station wagon loads. A year later we moved into a house with a detached garage, two station wagon loads and two pickup truck loads. Two years later, same two station wagon and pickup truck loads plus 13,000 lbs on a moving van. I have been in the same house for 51 years now, at least 200,000 lbs in shop and probably that much in the house too. Dread even thinking of moving. I am starting to consider liquating some of my shop tools but it's still going to be a long time. Like most men, I hope my wife doesn't sell tools for what I told her I paid for them.

 

[Diesel Dan]

Beaver lake in Arkansas is leading the race right now. But we want to spend some time checking out Tennessee and Bama too.

I luv where im at now. But I want a boat dock more.

Know of a few people who moved to 'bama, TN and then left because of the extreme humidity.
Have some friends who worked at GMs Shreveport LA plant. They had to offer super enhanced relocation packages to get people to move there. Heard it was a constant battle to keep it staffed.

 

[LXCam]

Know of a few people who moved to 'bama, TN and then left because of the extreme humidity.
Have some friends who worked at GMs Shreveport LA plant. They had to offer super enhanced relocation packages to get people to move there. Heard it was a constant battle to keep it staffed.

Oklahoma boy here. I got no desire to live in it again but I can if it means having my own boat dock

 

[Old Man Roger]

Know of a few people who moved to 'bama, TN and then left because of the extreme humidity.
Have some friends who worked at GMs Shreveport LA plant. They had to offer super enhanced relocation packages to get people to move there. Heard it was a constant battle to keep it staffed.

How much? lol

 

[Bill T]

Will be in this predicament soon. I am moving from Greenville,S.C. to Mt. Holly, N.C. (near Charlotte). While the move is only two hours away, it is going to be a major (correction: MAJOR) job. Currently in S.C. I have a 2400 sq ft shop, 480 garage attached to house and a 400 sq ft storage unit. All are packed to the gills. I built and crewed vintage road racing cars for 25-30 years. I also restore vintage sports cars as a hobby. There is a full machine shop ( two lathes, Bridgeport, big drill press, surface grinder, etc...) along with all of the associated tooling. I have full sheet metal fab equipment from racing days ( pneumatic shears, brakes, English wheel, beas rollers,etc...). I am also a tool junkie and I am a hammer hoarder (crazy I know but for some reason I have what borders on perversion when it comes to hammers). This has also led to having a full blacksmith shop (gas and coal forges, heat treating ovens, anvils etc...)
Seven 54' Vidmar tool boxes, five Snap-on cabinets.
I say all that to say this: HELP!!
I am currently living between both houses. I am blessed that my full time job allows me to work from home (half-time). I work in the nuclear industry and have been with the same company for 51 years. This week will be my last and I will retire. Whoopee!!
My new house does not have a shop. After retirement I will begin the process of building a shop. as the new house is in the city limits, I will be forced to comply with restrictions on the new shop. I will be forced to apply for an exception on the new shop. The zoning restrictions state that an out building may only be 1/2 the sq. footage of the ground floor of your residence. Without getting an exception, I will be limited to ~1800sq feet. If this restriction stands, I will have to have a major thinning of the herd. I already plan on selling all of the blacksmith stuff with the exception of 1 or 2 anvils. Since I no longer race, I will also have to sell most of the sheetmetal fab stuff. I will save some of the equipment as I plan on continuing to restore sports cars.
I have four cars in the shop undergoing restoration currently. They are: 1968 Triumph TR-250, 1964 Triumph TR-4, a 1959 Triumph TR-3 and a 1982 Porsche 911. I hope to finish the Porsche and the TR-3 before the move. I also have another 1959 TR-3, (2) TR-4s, a TR-4 Hillclimb car and a BMW-325is. All cars are still at the old residence in S.C. .
There is going to be a major thinning of the herd before I move (both in tools/equipment and cars. When I get to this point I will post on this website tools I will be selling. Up to this point I have been a lurker on this site, but I have really enjoyed reading about other folks' journey with similar obsessions.

 

[Mike65]

We moved 4 years ago & we only had a 1 car attached garage, & since that house had no basement all my tools (automotive, home repair & woodworking) was in there. It was a royal pita to pack it up, not to mention having to move my non-running 69 Mustang also.

 

[gmcgeo]

I'm almost at this point. I have 2 tool boxes to move. Of course they are full.

I have a trailer that ill prob winch them onto and strap down. I am dreading this move

 

[Jazz1]

not happening,,when I move it‘ll be feet first out the door.

 

[Old Man Roger]

Will be in this predicament soon. I am moving from Greenville,S.C. to Mt. Holly, N.C. (near Charlotte). While the move is only two hours away, it is going to be a major (correction: MAJOR) job. Currently in S.C. I have a 2400 sq ft shop, 480 garage attached to house and a 400 sq ft storage unit. All are packed to the gills. I built and crewed vintage road racing cars for 25-30 years. I also restore vintage sports cars as a hobby. There is a full machine shop ( two lathes, Bridgeport, big drill press, surface grinder, etc...) along with all of the associated tooling. I have full sheet metal fab equipment from racing days ( pneumatic shears, brakes, English wheel, beas rollers,etc...). I am also a tool junkie and I am a hammer hoarder (crazy I know but for some reason I have what borders on perversion when it comes to hammers). This has also led to having a full blacksmith shop (gas and coal forges, heat treating ovens, anvils etc...)
Seven 54' Vidmar tool boxes, five Snap-on cabinets.
I say all that to say this: HELP!!
I am currently living between both houses. I am blessed that my full time job allows me to work from home (half-time). I work in the nuclear industry and have been with the same company for 51 years. This week will be my last and I will retire. Whoopee!!
My new house does not have a shop. After retirement I will begin the process of building a shop. as the new house is in the city limits, I will be forced to comply with restrictions on the new shop. I will be forced to apply for an exception on the new shop. The zoning restrictions state that an out building may only be 1/2 the sq. footage of the ground floor of your residence. Without getting an exception, I will be limited to ~1800sq feet. If this restriction stands, I will have to have a major thinning of the herd. I already plan on selling all of the blacksmith stuff with the exception of 1 or 2 anvils. Since I no longer race, I will also have to sell most of the sheetmetal fab stuff. I will save some of the equipment as I plan on continuing to restore sports cars.
I have four cars in the shop undergoing restoration currently. They are: 1968 Triumph TR-250, 1964 Triumph TR-4, a 1959 Triumph TR-3 and a 1982 Porsche 911. I hope to finish the Porsche and the TR-3 before the move. I also have another 1959 TR-3, (2) TR-4s, a TR-4 Hillclimb car and a BMW-325is. All cars are still at the old residence in S.C. .
There is going to be a major thinning of the herd before I move (both in tools/equipment and cars. When I get to this point I will post on this website tools I will be selling. Up to this point I have been a lurker on this site, but I have really enjoyed reading about other folks' journey with similar obsessions.

Sounds to me like you just aren't ready to move.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

I've moved shops several times over the years. Tool boxes get the drawers and doors strapped shut and loaded full, then all of the equipment and other sundries get packed and moved accordingly.

I agree. Unloading a tool box on wheels seems ridiculous. Mine was loaded onto a hydraulic lift gate. Now my dresser was another story. Supposedly I was supposed to empty the drawers before they could move it. Never bothered and figured they could remove however many they needed to make it easier to pickup. Apprantly they aren't allowed to open the drawers and moved it when it was full. The guys were like why is it so heavy?

 

[Hobby_Man22]

Sounds to me like you just aren't ready to move.

Nobody ever is

 

[Kiwi 007]

I moved my business this time last year, with the help of my wife and a couple of others.
Managed to move everything in the space of 2 weeks and 1 day, that's 15 days.

I spent 3 weeks prior to that sorting parts and throwing out some scrap metal, that reduced what i had to move.
But I still had 3 x 2 post hoists, plus the 4 post, 5 x benches, 3 x screen walls, 5 x roll cabs, workshop manuals, workshop tools, compressor + piping, plus a whole lot of other stuff. I had 650sq m and have downsized to 320sq m, 12 months later I still haven't sorted everything out or found a place for everything.

 

[Wes Tex]

I moved about 5 blocks from one home to another. I worked for weeks moving my shop equipment using an enclosed trailer. The last thing I moved was my large Craftsman Industrial tool box. I couldn't figure out a way to move it without unloading everything, so I pushed it to my new house/shop. The streets are smooth so it wasn't too bad. I did have to push it down one 4-lane major road for two blocks. My wife followed in her car with the emergency flashers going. It was an interesting experience getting honked at and yelled at. Most drivers seemed to think it was funny. One friend saw me and has never let me forget about it. I made it without any major incidents.

 

[gtae07]

I'm in the process right now, going from the Savannah area to south of Atlanta. Picking up the truck Friday and we're moving into a rental for a bit so we can sell the house here and then watch the market for the right opportunity. Hopefully everything at the house fits in the truck but it might take a second load

A fair chunk of my tools are now at my hangar with the airplane, so that's going to have to be a separate move (probably with a big Uhaul trailer) once I'm able to move the plane itself. Hopefully the FAA lets me do it early...

Wherever we wind up buying probably won't have a big separate shop unless I get really lucky, but either a 2+ car garage or a basement is on the must have list. But I don't intend to tackle as big a project as the airplane again, just furniture, some welding, and maybe a small sailboat.

 

[zimman]

My last move is happening now. Box by box, tote by tote. Should be totally done by September.
Zim

 

[slowtwitch73]

Yup it *****. Did it 3 years ago.. took the opportunity to get rid of a bunch of **** and sell a couple machines out of the empty garage.. I replaced one (bigger lathe) direct to the new place, so saved some screwing around there.

 

[sansbury]

This past year I had to move twice - once to clear out my 1000sqft rental space when the lease was up, and the second time to pack everything into a storage container so they could epoxy the floor.

The new building was supposed to be finished by Thanksgiving last year but the concrete contractor $#@!ed up and we couldn't finish things before winter set in. Since my GC hired the concrete guy, he helped me load and unload the storage container. I never really unpacked from the first move, so it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. Still a PITA, and I'm still finishing things that would have been far easier if I could have completed them in the order I originally planned. So it goes.

 

[drokihazan]

This thread has been inspiring to me. I found out I have to move today, and have two months to make it happen. I think I may palletize a lot of my shop and hire movers who come with a pallet jack and a liftgate, the idea of that is making me feel so much less nervous.

 

[Steve from Socal]

I moved the stuff out of my 2 car garage 1400 miles, not shown here is a 12K lathe and two project cars. Rented a forklift and loaded a 48' drop deck.

 

[gtae07]

I'm in the process right now, going from the Savannah area to south of Atlanta.

Well, it's done. The move ended up taking a 26ft Uhaul and a 5x8 Uhaul trailer to the rental house, and another 5x8 Uhaul trailer for everything in the hangar. Pretty much everything from the garage just stayed packed up at the rental (we were fortunate it had an almost 2 car garage and a storage shed).

Bought a house in January with a gigantic 3 car garage (2 bays are extra deep and there's a lot of space between bays and on the sides). That move was almost easier since it was just three miles away.

We're still unpacking and there's still stuff stacked in places, but we can park both cars and the golf cart under cover. I'm working on setting up one bay to be my shop area with the golf cart parked at one end. However the space was just 1990s basic, one 15A circuit and three incandescent bulbs for the whole garage. Setup has involved putting in a subpanel so I could add a car charger, extra outlets, lots of LED lighting, and a welding outlet. Still got a couple outlets to run for the golf cart, fridge, etc so that running my miter saw doesn't trip the breaker like it did yesterday, when I finally got started on a workbench.

Still need to figure out organization though (and I **** at it). The ceiling is taller so we'll probably put in some overhead system of some kind.

My son asked if I was planning to build another shop like I did at the old house. He wasn't born yet when I did that, so he has no idea how much work it was . But given the property there's not really enough room to do it easily. I'll probably just settle for a storage shed. But before that, I need to replace the fence...

Unpacking tools has been fun though. Lots of "oh cool, I forgot I had one of these!"

 

[NORTON'S SHOP]

I'll be retiring in two years and if all goes right I'll be building shortly after that. I own 3-1/2 acres about 750' from where I now live, so the move shouldn't be that bad. Still not looking forward to it.

 

[zmotorsports]

I moved the stuff out of my 2 car garage 1400 miles, not shown here is a 12K lathe and two project cars. Rented a forklift and loaded a 48' drop deck.

So did you just recently move from Southern CA to Hutchinson, KS?

That's a lot of heavy machinery to move that distance. I only moved mine about 8 miles and that was a big enough headache.

 

[Real_PhillBert]

I did it last fall. I had to move everything into storage while my wife and I moved to a temporary house while our house was being completed, then moved it again into the new house.

If we didn't have half a dozen family and friends come to help us, I'm not sure how we would have done it.

 

[ericm]

I did my move last fall too. We had a three car garage stuffed full of tools, bikes and motorcycles, plus a tractor and a bunch of attachments and more tools and gardening supplies from the barn. The move was 400 miles one way. I had the company moving our household move the shop part of the garage. They used a second truck. I had to unload and pack up all my tool boxes. The movers didn't think they'd survive if they were full of tools. Most of them were over stuffed. Just packing the tools and garage stuff took me most of a week of flat out work.

I had to take the RF30 mill off its stand and put it on a pallet I made for the move. One of my neighbors gave me an engine hoist that he wasn't going to use and that's what I used to lift the mill. We sold most of the motorcycle and the huge stash of motorcycle parts that had been in the large attic over the garage. (If you're into '60s Superhawks and Scramblers, Bill Silver has even more parts available now).

We sold a few bicycles but moved most of them ourselves, along with my stash of bike wheels. I trailered my Golf R up loaded with some of the bikes.

We did a couple car trips then I made four trips with a 3/4 ton pickup and a tilt deck flatbed for the Golf, tractor and implements, plus whatever I could get in the truck bed.

 

[dcopps3]

Not much more I can add that hasn’t already been said. I had to move out quicker than I wanted because I needed to refinish floors before I listed. I bought probable 25 of the ********* plastic crates to pack things in. I built temp shelves to hold the crates at the new place and have been slowly unpacking and organizing. I‘ve enjoyed unpacking slowly to make sure it‘s all in its final place. I sold & gave away a lot But didn’t have the time to declutter like I should have. I used a moving company so they moved all the heavy stuff that was left. I had a second phase that came later and I did it myself using a POD. PODs are great but expensive. The whole ordeal was such a PITA but I look back at it now and can’t believe I got it all done. Good luck (And declutter as much as you can)

 

[zimman]

One year ago and will move for the last time this year. ***** camel balls.
Zim

 

[abfish]

I moved my shop of 23 years. Pallets, boxes, shrink wrap and a small forklift were indispensable. And a flatbed trailer and a small enclosed trailer.

 

[ozyborn]

Oh dear god. I do not want to think about it. Been at my place in town, at an old farmhouse for 26 years. My "garage" is a story 26x35. Most of the stuff upstairs I put up there when I was younger. It would take me longer to move the contents of the garage than the house itself. When my dad passed away I got the contents of his garage. 3 car, took two trips with my car hauler(with sides on). Did not even make a dent in the amount I already have.

 

[ericm]

Oh dear god. I do not want to think about it. Been at my place in town, at an old farmhouse for 26 years. My "garage" is a story 26x35. Most of the stuff upstairs I put up there when I was younger. .

We had the same problem. My wife and I barely got the 100+ lb boxes of motorcycle parts up the folding ladder into the garage attic 28 years ago. We wern't about to try to get them down. Even though they weren't being moved, the movers hauled them and all the other motorcycle parts down for us so they could be sold. They were great, and we gave them big tips at the end.

Hiring movers and a move manager was totally worth it for us. I had it in my head that I was going to move a lot of the stuff in the 40x60 barn myself (I did move the tractor and attachments and a few other things). The move manager told me that we already had the movers and we should use them. That probably saved me two 800 mile round trips right there. The move manager had an online auction to sell off the stuff we were getting rid of. They did way better than we would have. I mean far better. They got much higher prices than I would have selling locally on craigslist. They were picking stuff out of my dump pile to sell! Even with their 50% commission on the sales we made more than we would have if we'd done it ourselves, and it took a lot less time.