Hauling many machines across the state

[Gumby]

OK.

I've recently purchased 9 machines plus some extra stuff.  Its about 3.5 hours away (about 210 miles).

I'm going to go down, rent a U-haul and bring them back home.

My questions are:

How big of a U-Haul do I need to haul 9 games (7 normal sized games, a pole position, and a super hang on)?

How should I secure them?  Those of you who have U-Hauled games before, did you use straps?  Rope?  Blankets?

Any advice?  I've moved my games quite a few times, but only 1-3 at a time and I used my little pull trailer behind my truck.

-Gumby

[Grauwulf]

I would think a 17' moving van would be enough space. You should have roughly 108 sq/ft of space in the back of one of those. You will lose a little space because of the wheel wells poking up into the floor, but you should be able to work around that. I would measure the footprint of a standard size cab and do some calculations from there, but I would think you could get 4-5 cabs in front of the axle no problem.  Definatly bring lots of blankets and some rope. If I remember correctly, the last couple of u-haul trucks I've rented have had spots to tie ropes, but tie down straps wouldn't work. Go down to your local rental office and have a look in the back of one. Also check out www.uhaul.com for a ton of information about their rental equipment.

[DrewKaree]

Dunno about the size of the hauler, but to secure your cabs, go get one of those 3-4" ratchet straps.  That strap will be long enough to reach to the back, and the ratchet will allow you to tighten it to your satisfaction.  

Drive down the road and check it after 15 minutes.  Retighten if necessary.  Repeat until you do not need to retighten, or proceed at your own risk.

[AlexC]

I brought 8 machines home not too long ago from a local auction.
I rented the 17ft truck. I had plenty of space left over so you should be fine with 9 machines. I used some rope and straps to secure them. Also bring your own stuff (rope,straps,blankets,dolly,etc)
because U-haul charges extra for using their stuff.
Happy moving  

[AlexSledge]

I've hauled several lots long distances, up to about a 10hr drive so far for the longest, and let me just say this.

U-Haul sucks.

However, I recently had to move 15 machines about 40 miles, and used the biggest Budget truck (15' I think), so much much much better. Their biggest truck fit 15 machines (had to lay one down in the rear due to the rear door lowering the ceiling height when open) comfortably, and was about 100% nicer than the U-Hauls I've used. Cheaper as well, just be sure to say you're a commercial and make up some DBA name (doing business as...) and you'll get the cheaper commercial rates.

If you have some old cardboard boxes, you can use them in place of shipping blankets, but I'd try and blanket any of the really good games from rubbing into others. Use a cross strap every few rows (though I'll admit when lazy I only do two straps across the last row).

My final suggestions is to avoid 10hr long trips with U-Haul equipment. That was one long day.