How to Use a Viking Arm to Wrangle Crates When a Pallet Jack Won’t Do the Trick

I’ve been meaning to drop a note your way about a specialty tool I’ve been using, it’s called Viking Arm (videos at bottom).

I initially bought two ($200 an arm) for home use, where I transfered heavy furniture onto dollies and added felt feet to the bottom of furniture legs, both by myself. I also added felt feet to the Viking Arms base to protect our wood floors.

For museum use, again solo, I’ve transitioned crates from pallet jacks to dollies by elevating and blocking skids, as shown below. They have been a good substitute for a J-bar, especially in cramped areas. Since often I am a crew of one, these have allowed me to do work I couldn’t have by myself.

They are very robust and feel substantial, rated for 330 lb per arm. The raising action is very smooth, with low effort to elevate. The best parts are the 2 release buttons. One is a full release, best done without a load on the tool as it is fast. The other is an incremental release, about an 1/8 move per release. It allows for very controlled height changes under full load.

I’ve shown them to multiple people, who went on to buy them. My museum boss bought them about a week after I brought mine in to demonstrate. One art transit driver got two within 20 minutes of seeing me use them. I wish I was getting a commission!Like many specialty tools, they have a limited range of uses, but I found them extremely good for certain problems.

And that’s my story about Viking Arms.

Rob Kimberly

Installations Manager
Blaffer Art Museum
University of Houston

NOTES from Matt:

There are some tools that you don’t use every day or even every month, but they are a crucial tool in the shop. Thin sliders with a foam top come to mind for me, they get those tall crates under the threshold when a dolly or pallet jack can’t manage the task. This Viking Arm is one of those tools. You won’t use them every day, but you’ll wonder how you managed without them.

Thank you so much Rob. I 1,000% need a pair of these. We’ve definitely struggled with a few crates in the past. We all know the crates where the builder overlooked, you know, a gap under the crate ample enough for a pallet jack. I’m not talking about narrow versus standard-width pallet jacks. No, I’ve definitely come across crates where a pallet jack can’t sneak under. And yes a J bar can do the trick in most cases, but with a busy day, in tight quarters, it can be hard to get that “J” in there sometimes. Oh man, this would have easily solved the issue and elegantly!

I love the “easy down” button option next to the “full down” button and how substantial they look. I fell in love the moment Rob sent this article in. Thanks Rob! Here is a couple of sexy Viking Arm Videos for you. It may give you a better sense of the tool: