Make sure to have someone there to help move the refrigerator with you, if not a professional moving company who specialise in moving commercial refrigeration to take care of the task of relocating your refrigerator for you.
It’s also very important to note that a commercial refrigerator should never be laid horizontally on its side, as this can damage the delicate components within, and scratch the exterior body of the fridge.
There are a few things you need to know and steps to take before moving your commercial refrigerator.
Before you move your refrigerator, take everything out from inside the unit and give it a good thorough clean. Allow it to fully defrost, giving it at least 2 hours. This may seem like a waste of time, but cleaning can help you spot any potential issues with the refrigerator that you may need to keep in mind while moving the appliance, such as ice build up, a blocked drain or water leak.
Cleaning the outside of your unit is also important as it easily collects dirt, dust, grime, oil, and other debris which can get in the way of moving the appliance and making things more messy and less stable for you. Make sure the walls are clean and properly dried so they can easily be gripped when moving. You also wouldn’t want the fridge bringing all that grime and debris along to its new home.
Now that the refrigerator is clean, make sure the refrigerator’s new location is clear of any rubbish or furniture. Give the area a good clean and get rid of any dust, as a fridge works best in a clean environment.
Clear the path you’ll need to take to get the fridge to its new destination, as you don’t want to be unnecessarily squeezing around furniture or tripping over anything while moving a big and heavy item.
Now that your refrigerator is clean inside and out, you’ve prepared the new spot and cleared the path for yourself to move it, you can get started.
First, empty the refrigerator of all its contents if you haven’t already. You don’t want any unnecessary weight and you don’t want your stock banging around inside. Also remove any trays and other attachments and accessories. These will only add extra weight and can detach unexpectedly, or vibrate during transport with a vehicle. Make sure the trays and accessories are properly packaged for transport or safely out of the way.
The next step is to turn off the refrigerator and unplug it from the power point. Secure the cable to the unit using masking tape, because a dangling cable can be a nuisance as it can get stuck somewhere while you’re trying to move the fridge, get caught in the castors, trip you over, or damage something. Alternatively, you can have someone hold the cable out of the way.
If you are moving an upright refrigerator with doors that swing out, secure a strap, rope, or tape around the unit to keep the doors firmly shut.
Many commercial refrigerators come mounted on castors so they can be easily moved around the kitchen to a different location. Novachill’s range of commercial display refrigerators are mounted on heavy duty castors that make moving your refrigerator easy.
However, if you have a large commercial refrigerator that needs loading into a car, then castors will only get you so far.
Now that the refrigerator is empty, switched off, the cable safely secured, and the doors firmly shut, you can start the process of moving the unit.
Depending on the size of your refrigerator, whether it’s a single door, double door, or even triple door refrigerator, you’ll need to use certain tools to get the job done properly.
Let’s say you need to move your fridge further down along the wall, but your fridge doesn’t have castors, and you don’t want to risk scratching your floor. You’ll need some heavy-duty moving discs placed under each corner of the fridge, which will help it to slide along, leaving no marks on the floor.
If you are moving a smaller unit, such as a single door fridge or drinks fridge, then you may be able to just use a regular hand trolley. Make sure the trolley bars are padded with foam or carpet to keep the metal from scratching against your appliance.
Simply lift the fridge slightly on one side and slide the toe plate of the trolley under the unit. You can then strap it down further to the trolley for extra security. Stabilise the bottom of your trolley with your foot. Make sure you’re wearing thick, steel capped shoes to protect your feet.
With your foot stabilising the bottom of the trolley and your hands on the fridge, pull the fridge towards you so that it tips the trolley towards you, grab the handlebars and allow the trolley to hold the full weight of the fridge.
You can then either hold the handle bars, or find the balance point and hold the top of the fridge and slowly and carefully wheel the fridge to its new destination. Make sure you push the appliance rather than pull it, if possible. Pushing it will allow you to push the fridge out of the way if you happen to trip.
If the appliance is large, choose one side of the refrigerator to see where you are going. Get assistance from someone to help you transport the fridge.
Once you have wheeled the refrigerator to its new destination, tilt the trolley slowly and allow the fridge to carefully make contact with the ground. Make sure the fridge lands gently and doesn’t abruptly slam into the floor. This can damage the fridge, the floor, or your back!
An electric trolley is perfect for helping you get a commercial refrigerator up the stairs. The electric wheels will help you to pull your fridge up the stairs without having to use too much force on your part. They also make it easy to go over any bumps in your path more easily too.
A tall electric trolley can slip under your refrigerator and has straps that extend out to wrap around the refrigerator. The straps keep the fridge mounted securely on the trolley, which also has gaps running up and down along either side of it, allowing you to attach any extra straps if needed.
Simply thread a ratchet strap or tie down strap through one of the gaps and wrap it around the refrigerator, and attach it to the other side of the trolley. Make sure there is a strap running around the top, middle, and bottom of the refrigerator.
Firmly tighten all the straps. This makes it as stable as possible and greatly reduces the risk of your fridge coming off the trolley.
Now that the fridge has been mounted onto the trolley and is tightly secured, attach the wheels to the trolley. Make sure they are properly secured so they can carry the weight of the fridge and roll smoothly. Grab the handles on top of the trolley. Now while someone pushes the fridge over onto the trolley, the other holds the trolley and leans the fridge toward them. The person with the trolley can then wheel the fridge to wherever it needs to go.
As mentioned earlier, be sure to never lay a refrigerator down on its side, as the fluids could leak and the delicate components inside could be damaged. A commercial refrigerator must be kept upright, even in the back of a car or trailer.
You’ll need at least two people to get a refrigerator onto the back or a car or trailer. Assuming your refrigerator is already loaded onto a trolley, wheel it over to the tail gate of the truck or trailer. Lean the fridge towards yourself and rest one end of the fridge onto the tailgate.
The other person can then come in to assist you in lifting the appliance up onto the bed of the truck or trailer and shimmying it into a secure place on the vehicle. The trolley should stay firmly on the ground, unless it can wheel the refrigerator directly into a vehicle via a ramp.
Using ratchet straps, secure the refrigerator to the vehicle and make sure it can’t move around while you’re driving. Use as many straps as necessary, remembering to put a strap over the top so the appliance doesn’t rock. Also note that your refrigerator may stand much taller than your vehicle, so keep that in mind when driving through branches and tunnels.
Once you arrive at your destination, unstrap the refrigerator and walk it to the edge of the flat bed, and while one person uses the trolley to support the weight of the fridge, the other can hold the fridge to the side so it doesn’t tip too far. Slowly lower the fridge down onto the trolley.
Once the refrigerator is in its new home, take off any straps and tape, shimmy it off the trolley, and return all the shelves to their rightful positions. Plug the cable back into the wall socket and turn the refrigerator back on. Clean off any hand prints, and now you can put all your stock back inside the unit!
Transporting a refrigerator is no easy task, so make sure you either hire professionals, use correct tools, keep yourself and the fridge safe, and ask for help if you need it.
