Carl, You'll usually find techs/movers (not dividing them into two groups there) strongly divided on this issue. I've seen two collapsed lyres and quite a few more that had tenons weakened from use of the lyre to turn the piano so I quite simply won't do it or allow it to be done on any move with which I'm involved. Sure, it's good money repairing these when they're brought in but I cringe at the thought of someone getting hurt. The best route is to use the "Horse" developed by Gordon Crail and sold my Jansen (I think). It's a professional piece of equipment and does the job it's designed to do while protecting the movers and the customer's investment. It's a frame that fits under the front of the piano and allows one person to roll the piano over onto a skid with no straining. Two people can easily, and safely, turn even the heaviest 9' piano. If I don't have one of those available, I remove the lyre and set a metal stand (we made one that's adjustable in height) under the bass end of the keybed then remove the bass leg. The bass corner is lifted slightly, the second person removes the stand and then the bass corner is lowered to the skid. I haven't tried the support running from the bottom of the lyre to the treble leg but I still prefer the Horse because of the leverage afforded even on small pianos. My feeling is that if we're going to do this work, we should do it safely, efficiently and professionally. Life is just too precious to take those kinds of risks. Allan Allan L. Gilreath, RPT -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of Carl Meyer Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2003 12:45 PM To: files Subject: piano moving/lyre I think that the lyres on most pianos are strong enough for tilting the piano. Most of the movers I've dealt with use them. I would think that you would want to examine the lyre so that it is solid and attached well. Large and heavy pianos might be an exception. I've moved TOO many pianos. I now (if I can't get out of it) lift the bass end and tuck a 3 inch thick piece of expanded polyethylene under the lyre. This lifts the bass up enough to remove the bass leg. Now I position the skid on the dolly properly so that the bass edge tips on the center of the skid. The dolly will tip so that the left side of the piano will be flat on the skid until the piano is raised upright. The trick is to position the dolly so that the piano will balance. Now the piano can be centered and strapped down. An idea I got from Lowell Wacker (who moves pianos, any size, by himself is to brace the lyre to the treble leg. I made something for this out of threaded rod and plumbing parts. Haven't used it much but I think it would be some insurance against putting too much side thrust on the lyre. Anybody seen or heard of a lyre collapse? Picture of the contraption is attached. Carl Meyer Ptg assoc Santa Clara, Ca. Photo at: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/files/attachments/4e/48/2e/c7/lyreprop.jpg Alternate: http://tinyurl.com/t2h4 _______________________________________________ pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
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