...

[Wiljo05]

No worries. My thought was lower the plow blade down to the bottom on the skid and push the actual skid so as not to touch the actual contents. If not, call a few local landscapers (not bigger nurseries) and ask if they wanna make a little cash to move the skids with their bobcat. If you need names/numbers of some folks like that I can get them to you. Probably cheaper than even thinking of renting a skid steer Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Hershmeister]

Hmmm ...1400 pounds but also fragile.... You're smuggling 100 watt light bulbs !

[Rightwinger]

How long can they sit in the rain?

 

 

 

Just thinking about the next Murphy that's going to pop into your life.

[Dane]

I move pallets heavier than that on a daily basis with a pallet jack. You won't have a problem moving them on new 3/4 plywood on the terrain that you show in your pictures. The problem arises with getting up that lip into the storage unit, but even that should be easily overcome. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[wileecoyote]

Ok, I think we are getting closer to a solution, but I have a few more questions:

Current plan is to buy some plywood and rent a pallet jack, and see if I can move the pallets myself. If I can get the truck to drop them in the main gravel driveway area next to my unit, I should only need about 3-4 sheets of plywood to move them sideways from the rear of the truck to the entrance of the unit. For the lip I am thinking we can set the first part of the pallet on the slab and then set some 4x4 blocks under the outside end of the pallet, so I can drop the jack a bit and back it out about 6-12 inches, then lift up again and push the pallet in some more. If this works then with only 1-2 pushes the pallet should have enough inside the unit to take the jack inside and pull it the rest of the way in.

But now the cost issue: I did some checking on Lowes.com and it seems that 3/4" plywood runs anywhere from $30-$50 per sheet, so the total cost of the wood plus the pallet jack rental fee would nearly equal the cost of hiring a commercial place to move the pallets with their skid loader (they quoted $200). So unless I can find a cheaper source of plywood that is strong enough to do the job, it seems I may have no choice but to hire the skid loader, which is looking more tempting by the minute. I would assume that $200 is a pretty reasonable fee for this service, and it would remove a lot of stress, but our group didn't budget for this expense so the extra money is basically coming out of my pocket. I don't feel right about asking them to pay extra, but I was hoping to avoid dropping so much for what seems like a pretty simple job that should take less than 30 minutes.

As far as rain, that would suck. I would expect it to make the moving more difficult if we go the plywood route. The contents are shrink wrapped pretty well but I don't think they wrapped the entire top of the pallets, so the contents would likely get wet unless we had 7 tarps to cover them all, which would also add to the expense. The contents could survive a few light sprinkles but would not fair well with a good soaking. So I am hoping God will give the ole' coyote a break on this one. :)

[hipower]

Sounds like with all the issues and headaches...hiring someone to move it quickly might be the best way to go. And maybe once the situation is resolved, and your partners understand how things went; they probably would be willing to help out with the extra costs. I know I would if in yours/their shoes.

[Dane]

2 sheets of this: http://www.lowes.com/pd_12218-99899-NA_4294816001__?productId=3602846&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%3FgoToProdList%3Dtrue%26Ns%3Dp_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&facetInfo= And a pallet jack. That's approximately $70 cost. You only need two sheets. You will have to leap frog them but that's all it takes to go anywhere you want. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[alingo2001]

Yeah. Home Depot has 23/32 osb for under $16 a sheet

[wileecoyote]

Great tips on using subflooring instead of the more expensive plywood to save money, thanks!

Even with 3 sheets and a pallet jack rental we should be around $80 total, and I am hoping that 3 sheets would be enough to reach from the rear of the truck to the entrance of the unit. This is pretty critical, though, as I don't think the truck driver would be pleased if he had to wait for us to leap-frog the sheets and move each pallet. I was told that a lot of the LTL drivers will look for any chance they get to tack on extra charges, including wait time or driver assistance if they have to step out of the truck. So what worries me now is that we won't be able to move the pallets fast enough (especially if the driver is not able to back in close enough to the unit), so I am still uncertain about this approach.

I recruited a friend to help me with the delivery and we are going to look at it together later today. I am also going to call the LTL terminal later today to see if they can tell me for sure what kind of truck is dropping the load. If it is smaller than a full tractor trailer then it should be able to pull right in front of the storage unit and we could move the pallets in easily, perhaps not even needing any plywood or a jack. If it is a full tractor trailer then I am going to ask if they can have the driver call me a few hours before he arrives, which will allow me to gauge what he is willing/able to do and possibly offer him a tip to assist us. If any info makes it look risky then I will just pay the extra money to have the commercial place come do it with their skid loader, and chalk the extra cost up to friendship / goodwill. Wile E can always use a little extra good karma...

[vontar]

If I was local I would give you a hand but I am not.

[wileecoyote]

If I was local I would give you a hand but I am not.

Nice of you to offer, and thanks for all the others who have chimed in to help as well.

The truck has arrived at the Estes terminal in Smyrna. They are going to unload it tonight and re-load pallets for delivery. The terminal rep said I can call them around 5am to find out more about what size truck they plan to deliver with, and ETA for delivery.

My friend and I visited the storage lot earlier today and we both felt that it should be easy for a full tractor trailer to backup beside the unit, and if they send anything smaller than a full tractor trailer there is a good chance they could drop the lift gate right into the entrance of the unit, which would be awesome! So we still don't have a confirmed solution but we should know more early in the morning, at which point I will either be running to Lowes to get some OSB subfloor boards or I will be calling the local commercial place to schedule their skid loader service.

Sure will be glad when this is over with. So if you have any further guesses re: the contents to win the prize, you have about 15 hours left to submit them here otherwise I will post pics when I report the outcome. Hopefully this doesn't end with the usual Acme explosion... :)

[RED333]

SEX LUBE?

[Dane]

Careful what you ask of the driver. It is better to presume he is going to do something for you and let him tell you no then ask if he is going to do it. Remember you are his customer not the other way around. Usually you will have up to two hours to unload before the start getting wound up. My guess is some high end vodka Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD Edited May 28, 2014 by Dane

[Hershmeister]

I'm going with tannerite or a similar product

[Hershmeister]

[quote name="RED333" post="1152702" timestamp="1401242422"]SEX LUBE?[/quote] Hilarious - that would be a lot of Sex!

[vontar]

 Imported some Johnnie Walker Blue, Duty free.

[Woody]

I'm going with tannerite or a similar product

 

 

Nope.

[TNMTBik3r]

Imported, what about leather? Not sure how heavy a pallet of leather stacked to the listed dimensions would be though...

I would also guess some type of wood (knife handles, etc) but I believe the weight is way off for that.

[div]

Too bad you're not in Memphis. I've almost 300k sqft of air-conditioned empty warehouse with 20+ available dock doors, pallet jacks, and forklifts... And I could cut you a deal for short term storage and access. I'm guessing laundry or dishwashing detergent containing phosphates. ;) that stuff is near worth it's weight in gold now days to people who know what it is and is almost impossible to find. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk Edited May 28, 2014 by div

[wileecoyote]

Update: Wile E Coyote continues to experience the usual trials...

After visiting the storage facility several times, we had settled on a plan to use 3/4" OSB subflooring and a pallet jack to roll the pallets into the unit, as suggested by members of this board. I then called the trucking terminal Tuesday night to confirm arrival of our pallets in Nashville, and to schedule their delivery for Wednesday morning. The night shift confirmed arrival but said I had to call back at 5:00am to speak with the morning dispatcher to schedule delivery, so I ended up staying up all night. Spoke with dispatch at 5:00am and they offered to deliver it in a 28' lift gate truck instead of a tractor trailer, which was good news for us, but they said we had to wait and take delivery on Thursday morning instead, which I readily agreed to. I lined up two friends to meet me Thursday morning at the unit just in case.

So this morning I got up nice and early, confirmed with the dispatch site that the load was out for delivery as scheduled, then went to Lowes to purchase the OSB panels. While waiting at the storage unit I found one of my helpers was going to be unavailable, so was happy I had at least one still coming.

Then I set the OSB panels in the unit so they would be ready to go, at which time I realize the height of the rolling door seemed a bit lower than normal. Turns out the door opening height is just a bit under 7' tall, so I call the shipper and they confirm the pallet height to be 6'6" including the skid. So when you allow for the height of the lift gate and pallet jack it is now uncertain if the pallets will even fit through the door vertically.

Then while my helper and I are surveying the scene to ponder our options, we start worrying about the width of the lift gate as well because the door is only 8' wide, so if the lift gate is any wider than 8' it won't be able to set the pallets inside the unit. And our backup plan of hiring a local skid loader service to move the pallets inside might not work either, as the skid loader would need to be under 7' tall while carrying the pallets which seemed doubtful.

Then as we set to measuring everything inside this 10'x15' unit, we discover that there is really only 9'x14' of interior floor space when you subtract the width of the steel building framing, thus we determine that only 6 of the pallets will fit inside even if we could roll them in, which is still doubtful.

But as my typical Acme luck would have it, the dimensions of the door and the unit turned out to be moot today because the truck driver called to say he was going to be late, as he was stuck offloading at another customer site. Now of course our 7 pallets should have nearly filled his 28' lift gate truck so I immediately ask what he is driving... and of course he is driving a 53' tractor trailer without a lift gate, and no equipment to get the pallets on the ground. So despite my calling the terminal at least 3 times to confirm the truck size and checking their website repeatedly to confirm status, they still sent it out on the wrong type of truck.

Now the only option they could offer us was to return the pallets to the terminal this afternoon, reload them tonight, and deliver tomorrow morning on a 28' lift gate truck as originally agreed. The delay is irritating but at least it gave us some more time to plan for the unload process. After some typical Wile E Coyote brainstorming complete with several hand-drawn blueprints on the back of Shoney's napkins at lunch, we came up with a plan to use a single sheet of the 3/4" OSB subfloor and a bunch of 2x4 studs to build a 4" high 4x8 platform which will sit outside of the unit and be level with the interior cement pad. Thus the width or height of the loading gate on the truck won't matter, as he can set the lift gate down on the outside platform and we can roll the pallet jack right into the unit from the platform, keeping the pallets as low as possible. And if the pallets are still a little too high then we just remove a few of the individual items from the top of the load until it clears the door. And for the 7th pallet we just leave it sitting on the exterior platform, at which time we back up our pickup trucks and load our personal items from that pallet (we are getting more than half a pallet just for us) and we put the remaining loose items into the unit between the other pallets.

So like any good Wile E Coyote cartoon, we have now been blown up at least a half dozen times and are now on plan P or Q at this point, but this latest plan does seem like it has a high likelihood of success. So I will get up at 5:00am tomorrow morning and call dispatch to confirm the truck size, and if they tell me they sent it back out on a full tractor trailer or a truck without a lift gate, then I will just shut the phone off and stay in bed. Sometimes you have to know when to quit... :) Edited May 29, 2014 by wileecoyote

[Hershmeister]

[quote name="Woody" post="1152795" timestamp="1401281485"]Nope.[/quote] This is getting less interesting with each failed guess 😝

[wileecoyote]

This is getting less interesting with each failed guess

Ok, so considering we now have an extra day for more guesses before delivery occurs, I will reveal a few more hints.

No alcohol. No food. Not liquid. Is consumable, but not perishable if properly stored. Not related to firearms, but many of us (especially men) could use and enjoy it. And no, it's not Viagra.

That's all you get. Edited May 29, 2014 by wileecoyote

[MadMarx]

That height, and weight and size, I think I know what it is. Was it from Northern Maine?    Potatoes? Missed the no food. Feel stupid now.

Edited May 29, 2014 by madmarx

[Dane]

[quote name="wileecoyote" post="1153237" timestamp="1401392170"]Ok, so considering we now have an extra day for more guesses before delivery occurs, I will reveal a few more hints. No alcohol. No food. Not liquid. Is consumable, but not perishable if properly stored. Not related to firearms, but many of us (especially men) could use and enjoy it. And no, it's not Viagra. That's all you get.[/quote] You bought 7 pallets of "Just for Men" hair dye. How about cigars? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[wileecoyote]

Not cigars, and it's not exclusively for men, it's just something more often used by men, especially in the warmer months.