Securing a mobile home for the transporter is one of the most important steps in moving a mobile home and any help you give mobile home movers is appreciated.

Here are our recommendations from mobile home movers for setting up your trailer home to move by preparing furniture and the built in items in your mobile home:

* Place medium-weight boxes under beds and secure them. Do not leave loose items on beds.
* Place loose furniture forward of the axle(s) and secure.
* Place as little weight as possible behind the axle(s).
* Secure all windows and mirrors. Storm windows should be treated as separate windows. Taping large glass surfaces will help reduce the chance of breakage.
* Pack and secure all accessories. Loose articles in the kitchen, broom closet and cabinets must be secured or removed and packed.
* Secure all doors, including appliances. Hinged or sliding doors should be blocked or taped. Tape or tie cupboard doors between handles to hold them closed.

Ready to Move your Mobile Home

If you have a commercial transporter is moving mobile home, be sure that you give them one set of keys to your mobile home before you leave. Also you should probably provide the origin and destination transporters an address and telephone number where you may be contacted while your mobile home is in transit should anything occur on the road.

It should be remembered that your mobile home was in fact not designed to be moved with any thing but the factory installed equipment and furnishings. The more weight that you have added to the factory weight, then the greater the chances for structural damage to your mobile home while in transit. The following items simply cannot be shipped inside of your mobile home:

* Hazardous or flammable materials;
* Gas tanks or bottles, oil barrels and similar compressed canisters and materials;
* Guns, Ammunition or Explosives;
* Motorcycles/motorbikes/scooters/bicycles;
* Concrete blocks/bricks,paving stones;
* Pets;

* External central air conditioning and/or heat pump units not part of the trailer’s manufactured equipment;
o Large and heavy items such as pianos and electric organs;
o Lawn mowers;
o Fragile or antique furniture;
o Heavy freezers;
o Assembled or disassembled garden sheds, porches, swings, cabanas, skirting, fencing and steps;
o Flower boxes/plants;
o Full aquariums;
o Waterbeds not originally part of the trailer (of course all waterbeds have to be drained);
o Air conditioners;
o Yard or porch furniture;
o Outside television antenna/disks; and
o Heavy tool chests.

VALUABLES

If your mobile home is to be towed by a commercial transporter, do not include any valuables, such as important financial or personal documents, hcas, money, jewels or jewelry, precious stones, furs, bonds, deeds, stock certificates or securities, stamp or coin collections, personal or business papers, or any other articles of extraordinary or peculiar inherent value. Remember, the carrier is totally responsible for your mobile home during transit and must be given a set of keys to your mobile home. The carrier will not accept any liability for such articles.

OVERLOADING

Overloading during the movement of your home can contribute to problems such as buckled or popped panels, blown-out tires, broken axles, bent wheels and warped frames, and damage to other component parts of the undercarriage. Charges resulting from overloading can be several thousand dollars, for which you are responsible.

The mobile home mover will not approve, nor will a commercial transporter accept, a mobile home believed to be overloaded. Avoid overloading by removing household goods no longer of value to you and your dependents. Have a garage or yard sale, or just give away and donate such items to a charitable organization or your friends if you have to. If overloading of your mobile home still exists, ask your mobile home mover for details about a do-it-yourself move or to arrange a Personal Property Bill of Lading move for the excess property. Professional books, papers and equipment should be packed, marked, weighed and, when necessary, shipped separately from the mobile home.

SHOULD I MOVE MY MOBILE HOME?

Only you can answer the question of whether or not to move your mobile home. Moving a mobile home trailer from one lot to another in the same thing is not the same thing as moving your mobile home state to state. Some factors you should consider before moving your mobile home are:

* What is the availability of space for moving trucks on the destination lot;
* Are used mobile homes permitted to be moved into your new location;
* What are the local, county, municipal and state regulations concerning mobile homes in your anew area? Some states will not accept oversize mobile homes while many others will not permit the use of oil for fuel heating and still others have more strict electrical coding requirements;
* What is the age of your mobile home and what distance will it be transported - your mobile hime must be structurally sound enough to withstand the rigors of the move;
* Estimate mobile home transport costs and you may find them in excess of your entitlement and which you will be required to pay any differences;
* Your costs to prepare your mobile home for transport, such as getting the trailer body and chassis in a road ready condition, including new tires, wheel bearings, springs and other mechanical and structural areas as well as lighting;

If after considering all of these factors in moving your mobile home, you don’t meet these requirements, you may want to consider selling or renting your mobile home rather than shipping it.

Get free mobile home movers estimates in your area with our nationwide network of mobile home transporters.