Looking for Suggestions for Transporting Records

[bbphonoguy]

I'll be moving about 300 miles in late June, and want to know if anyone here has tips on the best way to pack and transport 78's. I have about 1500 of them I guess.

Thanks for any info.

[Retrograde]

Depends... is it up hill or down hill to the new home?

Dealers transport records all the time in "milk crate" type storage bins. Not sure how many crates it would take but those seem to work.

[Swing Band Heaven]

I moved 3,000 78's about 12,500 miles from our home in the UK to Auckland, New Zealand. I must admit I did expect some losses but not one was broken in the move!

I took advice here on the forum before the move and packed them very tightly into very sturdy carboard boxes. Not your supermarket type ones but special heavy duty ones supplied by the removal company. I packed them in as tight as they could possibly go (as advised here) and I think that is the key. When packed this way they have a certain amount of strength. On the sides I packed any spare voids very heavily with scrunched up paper. I also put some extra cardboard on the bottom of the box on the inside to protect the underneath. Each box was plastered with tape saying "FRAGILE" on it.

Where I had records I particulalry wanted to protect I packed scrap 78's along the inner sides of the box as well as paper - in case the box got bumped - although as it actually turned out none of these 78's for packing got broken either!!

The one thing I did insist on was that I packed all the records myself, I warned the guys doing the packing that what was inside was very heavy and breakable. I personally watched each box being carried to the shipping container and made sure they were placed in the container very gently and that nothing was placed ontop of the boxes apart from light items. The same applied when the boxes were unpacked here in NZ. I warned the guys that they were heavy and very delicate and closly supervised each one being unloaded and placed as gently as possible in the new house. Just to make sure that none were dumped on the ground.

They probably thought I was very odd but after collecting them over a period of 30 years I wasn't going to have them thrown around.

So I think the things you need to do is make sure they are well packed AND that each and every box is supervised by you when being moved. It really is the only way. I still can't believe that all 3,000 made it though! I would add though that milk crates do sound like a very good idea. Wish I had thought of that!

Good luck!

S-B-H

[Brad]

Depends... is it up hill or down hill to the new home?

Dealers transport records all the time in "milk crate" type storage bins. Not sure how many crates it would take but those seem to work.

I will second the recommendation for milk crates. I moved about 5000 records using them. They are perfect for 10 inch 78's and you should expect to be able to to fit about 125 records in paper sleeves in a standard (US) milk crate. The other nice thing is that they stack very nicely and securely (though, in a vehicle, I would not stack more than two high if you can't secure them from falling over.

Getting your hands on them may be a challenge if you don't have access to them. You might be able to ask a retailer to borrow them or offer to pay the deposit he would be liable for etc.

Good luck.

[Kirkwood]

I moved several thousand 78s using the milk crates suggested above. I bought a bunch from the Container Store, the size was perfect for 10 inch discs. I would line the crate with a leftover used Priority Mail box (of the appropriate size), then lined that with a bubble pack mat for the bottom, and lined the sides with a sheet of bubble pack. I'd carefully nest the discs, in sleeves and upright, in this and be sure that there was almost no movement end to end or side to side. Done carefully, you can *just* stack the filled crates, so as to avoid rim chips from the crate being set onto the top. Larger milk crates, the more rectangular ones, I used for 12 inch album sets, padding the insides with cardboard and bubble pack, but obviously you can't set those crates one atop the other. The Container Store sells (or used to) a collapsing crate that is marketed as having been designed by a DJ for moving 12 inch record albums. I bought a few of those, and used them to move 78 album sets, but there is a large weight difference between LPs and 78s. The collapsible crates stood up to the challenge, but failure at the movable joints seemed imminent, so I decided not to invest in any more for the 78s. It bears noting that I moved my collection myself, via the U-Haul or Budget rental truck, and so I was able to be as persnickety as I wished when loading and unloading. It's also a good way to burn off a few thousand calories on a hot afternoon, particularly since there were a number of trips up and down stairs involved!

[gramophone78]

Sorry, I just can't resist to answer your question........with great care!!!!!.... .

[Valecnik]

I moved 3,000 78's about 12,500 miles from our home in the UK to Auckland, New Zealand. I must admit I did expect some losses but not one was broken in the move!

I took advice here on the forum before the move and packed them very tightly into very sturdy carboard boxes. Not your supermarket type ones but special heavy duty ones supplied by the removal company. I packed them in as tight as they could possibly go (as advised here) and I think that is the key. When packed this way they have a certain amount of strength. On the sides I packed any spare voids very heavily with scrunched up paper. I also put some extra cardboard on the bottom of the box on the inside to protect the underneath. Each box was plastered with tape saying "FRAGILE" on it.

Where I had records I particulalry wanted to protect I packed scrap 78's along the inner sides of the box as well as paper - in case the box got bumped - although as it actually turned out none of these 78's for packing got broken either!!

The one thing I did insist on was that I packed all the records myself, I warned the guys doing the packing that what was inside was very heavy and breakable. I personally watched each box being carried to the shipping container and made sure they were placed in the container very gently and that nothing was placed ontop of the boxes apart from light items. The same applied when the boxes were unpacked here in NZ. I warned the guys that they were heavy and very delicate and closly supervised each one being unloaded and placed as gently as possible in the new house. Just to make sure that none were dumped on the ground.

They probably thought I was very odd but after collecting them over a period of 30 years I wasn't going to have them thrown around.

So I think the things you need to do is make sure they are well packed AND that each and every box is supervised by you when being moved. It really is the only way. I still can't believe that all 3,000 made it though! I would add though that milk crates do sound like a very good idea. Wish I had thought of that!

Good luck!

S-B-H

S-B-H's advice is right on. You cannot pack them too tightly together. I've shipped boxes by air freight and checked luggage to Europe and never had any problem as long as they were packed in that way.

[bbphonoguy]

Thanks for all the great advice, especially to gramophone78 ( ). I'll let you all know how it works out.

[gramophone78]

I'm so bad..... . Just don't break any. Remember if you break it, you buy it.... .

[kirtley2012]

when i was on holiday to new zealand i found a stack of 78s (for $10!)there was about 30-50 and i just stacked them in the suitcase and packed clothes around them, they arrived back in the uk fine!, some were cracked but i think they were like that when i bought them, if you stack them in a cardboard box with plenty of padding around them they should survive the trip, JUST MAKE SURE THEY DONT MOVE AROUND IN THE BOX!! that can cause chips, cracks and breakages especcially when going over bumps! if mine and S,B,H's made a 13,000 mile journey then yours should make it!
also make sure your favorites are in the middle of the stack, the ones on the top or bottom of a stack are most likely to break!
Alex