If you are about to make a local move and are looking for moving services that can manage heavy objects, you may be surprised at how many options you have. There are many more devices for heavy lifting and furniture moving available to you than just the traditional dolly. If you want to buy some of these devices, they can come in handy for moving your heavy furniture and objects all around the house too.
Portable Transmission Jacks
Although you would not ordinarily think of a transmission jack for moving anything but a transmission, you may want to give this device a second glance. When used for moving heavy furniture or appliances, such as a large flatscreen TV, it is most effective. You can move the jack's platform up to match the level of the base of the TV, shuffle the TV onto the jack's base, use the attached safety straps to secure the TV to the jack, and then roll it all out the door and onto the moving truck. Transmission jacks can move several hundred pounds on their platforms, making them rather ideal for this type of work.
Gantry Cranes
These portable, overhead cranes are effective for lifting and rolling just about anything. The width between their two rolling posts dictates the length of an object they can move, although you could turn an object sideways and attempt to pick it up with the crane that way, too. Some moving companies do not openly offer gantry cranes, but may have them for rent on demand. Many of them can lift as much if not more than a transmission jack, but can suspend the object in the air like an overhead crane instead.
Forearm Lifting Straps
Perhaps the least expensive of all of the alternative lifting devices you can use for moving, the forearm lifting straps or forearm "forklifts" provide stability to heavy objects while engaging your body's own natural leverage ability in your forearms and elbows. Two sets of these straps often cost less than the daily rental price of a transmission jack, but you do have to be able to use your own arms and legs to lift. The one benefit that these straps and method have over transmission jacks and gantry cranes is that you can easily slide the straps off of the heavy objects you are lifting after you have placed them on the moving truck and reuse them to move and place other heavy pieces of furniture or appliances.
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