December 9, 2020 7 Easy Ways to Transport Heavy Items When Moving

Tips on how to move heavy items in or out of a client’s storage unit, office or home.

It’s always a challenge to move large items without damaging them. It’s true whether you’re using a moving truck all the way or shipping client’s belongings to their new home. The key to preventing unnecessary damage to the belongings of your clients and staying safe is preparing yourself and the stuff to move.

The good news is that there are things you can do and several tools you can use to make the transport easier. Check them out below.

1. Remove All Attached Parts

Removing all attached parts can make bulky and heavy things easier to move.

It’s not a good idea to move a desk when drawers and contents are still inside. Empty drawers and shelves first. Then, if possible, remove the drawers and shelves. Tape them shut if removing them isn’t possible to make sure they don’t open while you’re carrying them.

Protruding handles, pulls, and knobs, as well as furniture legs should also be removed. Just don’t forget to label them so you won’t have a hard time putting everything back in its correct place.

Removing all attached parts of heavy objects, especially furniture, won’t only make things lighter during trucking; it also means less scratches to floors and walls.

2. Get A Trailer

A trailer is versatile and flexible enough to handle several pieces of heavy items at once. It shouldn’t have a problem carrying your client’s belongings from one place to another.

Note, however, that it’s important to choose the right trailer depending on what you’re loading into it. For instance, get heavy duty car trailers if it’s your client’s car you’re moving.

3. Use Sliders

Sliding heavy items across the floor is way easier than picking or carrying them up. Note, however, that the sliding process requires special sliders. You’ll need hard plastic if sliding objects over carpet. Look for sliders with soft pads if sliding over hardwood, laminate, or tile flooring.

Get the sliders into position by lifting one corner of the object at a time before moving your slider into place. Here are tips to ponder upon when using a slider to move heavy items to the transport truck or ship:

• Tie straps around the item and drag it rather than push it. The risk of tipping is reduced by dragging.
• If tying straps isn’t an option, you can still reduce the risk of tipping by pushing the object from the lower half. Pushing from the lower half works especially with armoires, bookshelves, hutches, and other taller pieces.

4. Try Using Moving Blankets Instead Of Sliders

Moving blankets can be a good alternative to sliders. They’re essential for protecting your client’s furniture against damage. If it’s safe to do, tilt the furniture and slide a blanket under two corners, then use a second blanket and repeat the process on the other side.

5. Use Lifting Straps

Another moving tool you can use is a lifting strap. It works like a pulley system.

To get an idea how it works, imagine a pulley system used for lowering a grand piano out of the third floor window of a building. However, instead of having an actual pulley system, you’ll be employing lifting straps or a strong rope, with your body parts functioning as the fixed pulley.

With a lifting strap, you can lift heavy stuff and unload them from the truck or ship with ease using your own strength and basic leverage.

The lifting strap lowers the center of gravity on whatever object you’re moving, thus, putting less strain on your body.

6. Get Dollies Or Hand Trucks

Dollies and hand trucks also help a lot when transporting heavy items.

Dollies are perfect for transporting bulky or heavy furniture, or stacks of boxes. These small, square platforms have four wheels.

On the other hand, hand trucks have a small bottom platform and two wheels. Since they stand upright, they’re ideal for dressers, bookcases, and other taller furniture. Hand trucks, however, aren’t recommended to be used for transporting, loading, or unloading items that are extremely heavy since it’s only one person’s strength that will be keeping the objects upright.

7. Use Stair Rollers

A stair roller makes heavy objects easy to roll down steps by attaching to it. However, keep in mind that employing this tool requires more than one person. If you don’t think you can guide the object down the stairs safely, then don’t use this tool alone.

Conclusion

When you’re moving or transporting heavy items out or into a client’s storage unit, office, apartment, or home, the last thing you’d want is to make the process more labor intensive than it has to be. The tips above should make the transport of these objects easier and safer.

Andy Steiner

Andy Steiner is a blogger who focuses on writing about business trends on his blog. Andy also submits guest posts to other websites to gain more readers and educate them on what’s happening in the business sector.

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