Exploring a Victor Cannonball Safe
After seeing cannonball safes online I knew I had to have one. Finding it was not so easy. Yes, there were some on Ebay but they were always far away or priced ridiculously high. I missed out on a couple opportunities, usually a day late, sometimes a dollar short.
Patients finally paid off when on a Sunday evening this one popped up on Craigslist. It had been on for a couple days, I couldn't believe it was not sold yet especially at the $200 asking price. Needless to say I was on the phone immediately and was in Rochester, MN early the next morning. There she sat, her better days behind her but looking optimistic to a bright future.
This is the smallest of the Victor cannonballs. I believe there were 5 models in all. The next step up is the same upper but the base is taller and it has a compartment in it with a combination lock on the door. I would have preferred that model but I will not complain. The others were of the same style but were larger overall, and much heavier. I estimate this one to be ~1800-2000 lbs. My Bobcat can lift it but my tractor can just get it off the ground enough to move it in the shop.
A quick story about loading it. I took my equipment trailer to pick up the safe. The seller had a small endloader with large pallet forks to load it. I intended to use chains to lift it as there were no worries about damaging paint. That plan changed when the guys helper suggested rolling it onto a steel plate on the forks of the endloader. It was a large sheet of heavy plate steel so it sounded like a good idea. Rolling the safe onto the steel was easy as he lined it up with the edge of the concrete apron in front of the building.
As the safe was lifted the steel bowed a little as the forks were about 4' apart. All seemed sturdy and I gave the seller the thumbs up to move and lift it to the trailer. I have to give the old guy credit, the endloader was old and worn out but he backed up, turned and lifted the safe with care. Careful to keep the forks level I used hand signals to guide him to the edge of the trailer. Gently the heavy load was lowered until the steel plate rested on the trailer's edge. The steel just touched, the forks were tiled a bit to assist me and the guys helper to roll the safe onto the trailer. With a gentle push it started roll... then all hell broke loose!
I hadn't noticed, but when the steel was rested on the trailer it was just the bowed portion of the steel. The forks were still a little higher. When the safe rolled quickly forward the wheels hit the wooden bed of the trailer as the steel sprung upward with the weight being removed. In a split second the safe flipped forward landing on it's backside! Thank goodness I and the helper were not in front of it. It happened so fast no one would have been able to get out of the way.
Fortunately, the safe was being rolled backwards. If it had landed on the door there would have been serious damage. It was determined that it was in the perfect hauling position and was chained down and I headed for home 150 miles away.
Next I will get into the nitty gritty of the safes insides. This may take a while but I will add more as time permits. Stay tuned!