HOW TO MOVE A REFRIGERATOR

Loading a moving truck is a bit like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. You have a whole lot of pieces, but only one piece fits at a time. As you put the puzzle together, you look among the loose pieces for the next piece that fits in. Would it help to have ten people handing you puzzle pieces at random? No, it would just slow down the process.

First, start by figuring out how much food you intend to move vs throw away. You will need a few large coolers, and some empty boxes. Start by removing all the items from the fridge and loading up the coolers, and the boxes. This is temporary so you can do a thorough cleaning of the inside of the fridge and freezer.
As you load items into the coolers or boxes, check the expiration date and throw out old, expired items. Also, throw out the 90% used-up jars of mustard and ketchup, and other similar used-up items. 
Once the fridge is empty, slide it out from against the wall. If your fridge has not moved for 5 or 10 or more years, you may be surprised just how messy the floor is under the fridge. You will likely need a mop and some strong cleaning agents to clean up the floor. Figure 10.10 shows the dusty mess behind my refrigerator as it was pulled out from the wall. 

Figure 10.10 – Area behind Refrigerator

Also, check the back of the fridge. Note the copper water line that feeds the automatic ice dispenser. Prior to moving day, shut off the water valve and disconnect the water line. One less thing to worry about on moving day. You can survive one week without automatic ice cubes. Now is a good time to wipe down the outside of the fridge, including the back and top. Finally, there is usually a pan along the bottom of the fridge for catching grease and water. Slide the pan out, clean it up, and reinsert it.

After the cleaning is done, slide the fridge back against the wall, and replace the food from the boxes/coolers back into the fridge. You have two choices here. You can either load all of the food back, or you can load only what you will use over the next week and pitch the rest. If you load everything, you will need to pack those items into boxes on loading day to empty the fridge/freezer.

By doing all the cleaning ahead of loading day, and by disconnecting the water line, the actual loading of the fridge onto the truck on moving day will go much smoother! I can’t tell you the number of times I help friends move, and on loading day they realize for the first time that they need to empty the fridge, and clean behind it. Not the kind of stress you want to have on loading day!

Now that you have the measurements for your door (or doors), next go to your refrigerator and measure it’s depth along the side from front to back. Be sure to account for the front handle and any rear radiator bars, as shown in Figure 11.6:

Figure 11.6: Measuring the Refrigerator Prior to Moving Day

After you take the measurement, compare it to the door opening to make sure it will fit on loading day. In this case, the refrigerator measures 33”, and the front door opening with the door removed measures 33.5”, so I know I will be OK on loading day. (Also measure any interior door openings between the refrigerator and the front door). In some instances, it may be necessary to remove the refrigerator door handles, or remove the doors off their hinges so it will fit out the door. You will know that ahead of loading day by taking these measurements. If you do have to remove the refrigerator doors, don’t sweat it, it is not that big a deal. Remove the screws at the top door hinges using a screw driver or wrench, unplug an electrical wire plug, and the door slips up off the hinge. You would do this on the morning of loading day once you unplug the refrigerator to move it.

In addition to checking on the width of the refrigerator, check now for any other oversized item, like a long sofa, to make sure those items will fit through your door openings.

Depending on the measurements, you may need to remove the sofa feet to ensure it will fit through the door. Be sure to do that before moving day.

Using the Appliance Dolly
Major appliances are moved with the aid of the Appliance Dolly, which was rented from U-Haul. To use the dolly with the refrigerator, slide the bottom of the dolly under the side of the refrigerator, with the door handle closest to the dolly, as shown in Figure 14.8. Do NOT attempt to carry the refrigerator from the back or the front.

Figure 14.8: Attach Appliance Dolly to Side of Refrigerator

You will notice that the Appliance Dolly has a built-in strap in the middle. Wind that strap around the refrigerator, looping it through the refrigerator door handle, and attach it to the receiving end of the Dolly. There will be a crank mechanism to tighten the strap. This is shown in Figures 14.9.

Figure 14.9: Wrap Dolly Strap Around Refrigerator, Crank Tight!

The refrigerator should now be firmly attached to the Dolly. Using two helpers, have one helper hold the Appliance Dolly handles, while the other helper gently pushes the top of the refrigerator toward the first helper. Do this until the refrigerator is balanced on the Dolly at an angle, as shown in Figure 14.10:

Figure 14.10: Balance Refrigerator on Dolly

The mover and helper team can now carefully walk the refrigerator along the floor and out to the truck. When you get to door thresholds, the helper at the bottom end of the Dolly should gently pull up to guide the wheels over the ledge while the helper holding the handles gently pushes forward over the threshold.

When it comes to moving a refrigerator up or down stairs, you will really appreciate having an Appliance Dolly! The Dolly has a special set of rollers built into the bottom support rails. These rollers, as shown in Figure 14.11, are designed to travel up or down stairs. Just go one step at a time, and have the “top” helper communicate to the “bottom” helper when it is time to advance to the next step.

Figure 14.11: Stair Rollers on Appliance Dolly

When the refrigerator is carried up the loading ramp, set it down on the floor of the truck, and then disconnect the dolly strap. Pull the Dolly out from the refrigerator, and take the Dolly back inside for the next appliance! The refrigerator will require three pads. Once on the truck, start with one pad covering the front, as shown in Figure 13.17:

Figure 13.17: Padding Refrigerator, Step 1

Once the front pad is in place, take two pads and hang them from each side, as shown in Figure 13.18. Use the plastic stretch wrap to keep the pads in place. When I worked as a professional mover, we had very large ‘rubber bands’ that we could use to place around appliances and furniture to keep pads in place. Unfortunately they don’t sell huge rubber bands in stores, so I find that the roll of stretch wrap does just fine as a low cost alternative.

Figure 13.18: Padding Refrigerator, Step 2

The refrigerator can then be slid ‘face first’ into position on the truck to create a tier. Do not be concerned if the back is exposed. Once again, these illustrations show the padding being performed in the house. On moving day, carry the refrigerator on the appliance dolly onto the truck. Once on the truck, apply the pads and then slide the fridge into place.

Check out this video for visual reinforcement:

You Tube Visual Reinforcement – Moving a Refrigerator

How to Pack: Fridges and Freezers 2 min, 43 seconds Gobox TV Using U-Haul® Products and Services (2020) John Elie, Author. To Order the Complete E-Book: https://www.amazon.com/Try-Moving-Yourself-Self-Moving Householdebook/dp/B084137KJJ/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Try+Moving+yourself+John +Elie&qid=1594479311&s=digital-text&sr=1-1
Source: Try Moving Yourself! The Complete Self-Moving Guide for a Full Household Move Using U-Haul® Products and Services (2020) John Elie, Author.