John's Arcade Forum - Classic Arcade and Pinball Collecting and Restoring Discussion Forum - RETRO MAME - Nintendo Vs Forum

Has anyone rented a vehicle specifically to move cabinets?  I'm thinking of going to an arcade auction and I'd like to be prepared if I find more than one game.  I know one would fit fine lying down in a rent-a-car truck or white van, but has anyone here moved more than one without damaging them?

you can fit two normal sized cabs laying down in a van.
you can fit 4 upright in the back of a pickup truck but loading can be difficult.
A small box truck can do i think 8.

I've moved 12 on the back of a 16 foot trailer upright. the key is to put cardboard between each game and tie the games together in one big group. A couple of straps over the top to stabilize and its fine.

Great advice, thanks a lot!  Definitely gives me some good options to consider.

(http://www.morgancorp.com/images/08_options/02_liftgates/options_large/04-optional-liftgates.jpg)

I always thought these would be best for transporting cabinets. With the EZ load ramp you could load it alone if you had a dolly, and would minimize risk of damaging the games. I don't think they cost much more to rent then a truck, if you were planning on renting a truck anyway this would be the way to go.

I rented a uhaul to move things around before but it's really expensive if it's not one way

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just a heads up - if you rent from Uhaul you get dicounted rates per mile during the week and on a Sunday (like half off the per mile rate).  I rented a 17' truck  for a day and took it to a warehouse back z(maybe 50 miles) for just under $100. 

I ended up grabbing the lot of cabs that he had (6 standup arcades, 3 megatouch, a slot machine and some nice beer mugs made out of thick glass and some cool beer pull handles (fellow was into restaurant stuff and got the cabs as a deal).  The truck had a ramp but was easy enough for me to load and unload with a dolly and a buddy.

so far the old Station Wagon has done the trick. Want to add a small trailer
(http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n604/darkcat12/th_P2150001_zpsvahlgygg.jpg) (http://s1142.photobucket.com/user/darkcat12/media/P2150001_zpsvahlgygg.jpg.html)

If it won't fit in the back of my minivan, it won't fit through my basement doors, thats what keeps me in check.

I guess the question is, how many games do you plan on getting? 1 or 2? Pick up truck or van. 3-4 standard sized uprights, pick up truck.  4+ I'd get a box truck with a ramp. I rented a 15' UHaul truck with about 12 games. I had a cocktail table in the "Mom's attic" and a workbench in there too. So you could probably fit 13 or 14 games in it depending on the size.

I work for a company that sells office furniture, and I can tell you that when I am moving a wood desk the liftgate truck is the only way to go. Desks turned on end are quite similar to an arcade cabinet in terms of footprint, being top-heavy, etc. Plus if you have no help (or not much help) the liftgate will save your back. But I'm sure they're not cheap to rent!  I would also think about how many you have and how you secure them. With a box truck you will have to make sure you have lashing straps or ratchet straps to secure to the sides of the box, unless you are really packing them in. In which case, congrats on a big score!


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I have a question along the lines of transportation of arcade games. 

I read above the post about a full size van being able to transport a game or two.  But what other vehicles are you using to transport video games.  For instance John uses a Ford Explorer, but what year model. 

Anyone use a Chevy Astro Van?  Some of these 10-15 year old vehicles can be bought for cheap.  I have a pick up, and that is good for nice weather, but an enclosed vehicle would be nice to have as well.  Plus I kinda need a junker to have as a back-up for my truck.

Thanks for any help. 

Scott

(http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160516/87f7e9af9f333eda655ad18f89e182db.jpg)

Well I mentioned the Station Wagon

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Nice, Thanks for the photo.

Scott

I transported my DKJr on its side in my wife's Jeep Commander. Won't fit if it's on its back, but a perfect fit on its side. That's probably the max height and width it can handle though. Anything taller and wider than a Nintendo cabinet will probably not allow the rear hatch to close. At least, not without having the front seats moved way forward. Definitely no hope for transporting a Gauntlet cabinet in that one! Ha!


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I didn't grab the smaller cabinets I thought I'd get, but I ended up renting a 16 foot Penske truck to move some big racing style cabinets.  That size of truck has a ramp built into the back, so it wasn't too bad pushing them on up there.  It was actually a much smoother ride than the Uhauls I've had in the past, and I was able to rent it as a business so it was considerably cheaper.  I'll probably use em again!