Hi Mike and Paul: I will try to answer your question here. Sorry for leaving out the third dimension. I'm not at the shop, so I am going to guestimate the height of my blocks, which is about 16 to 18". I already had made the blocks for another purpose, so if you are making them, you can have them cut to the height you want. They sit on the floor and the jack is placed on top of them, with a 1/2" thick piece of plywood square between the jack and the bottom of the piano to protect the piano. I actually had cut a number of pieces of the plywood to sit on top of the wood block as shim stock as needed doing this for the first time, if I needed them. By the time it was all said and done, I think I had opened the scissors jacks 5 or 6 inches by the time I was actually installing the truck the next day. No, it's not scary. I had to do modifications on the legs which required the removal of all three. Once you've got it jacked up, it's so stable it doesn't matter if it is 10 seconds or 10 days. Unless the kids are playing soccer in the sanctuary, you don't have much to worry about. I had a couple of down days for the room to work in. The purpose of the blocks is to serve as a platform of sufficient height to raise the piano. Because they are broad (12" x 12") and heavy, they are quite stable. And the SD-10 weighs what, 12 1300 lbs? All that mass is in your favor, barring an earthquake or tsunami. It just ain't gonna go anywhere. Where the jacks will go depends on the size of the piano. One determining factor is that they cannot be in the way of the tripod when you are locating it. It's been over a year since I did the job, and my brain is a bit fuzzy, but this is what I did (I think). At the keybed end I placed a jack under the keybed at each end as close to the legs as possible and near the front of the keybed, allowing room for removal and reinstallation. I think I ended up within a few inches of the legs. At the tail, the tripod arm required that I jack the piano on one side under the rim to gain sufficient clearance. I was initially concerned by the fact that I was lifting the piano off center, and played with this just barely off the floor when I started, even shook the piano a little bit. It turned out to be an absolute non-issue. But remember that I could go around to each jack and raise the piano an inch at a time, feathering it up and down. I used the scissors jacks, although I doubt if it matters which you use. I cannot emphasize enough how easy this makes the lowering of the piano onto the leg plates and the attendant adjustments. Zero stress and utterly safe. I will boldly state that this is the fastest, easiest, and safest way to do this job. I've done this job before with movers and other methods as suggested by my respected colleagues. This way is the Cat's Meow, and I would never do it any other way now. Will Truitt -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of John Dorr Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2009 10:20 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Grand Piano Truck instalation, attn: Will Truitt Will, I have some questions about your method posted below. Some things are not quite clear to me, so my mind's eye is not getting the whole picture. 1. Wood dimensions: 12" x 12"... what's the other dimension? 2. The blocks are for what then? To protect the floor? 3. Where exactly are the jacks placed? 4. Are you lifting on the rim or the keybed or the beams? 5. What kinds of jacks? Bottle jacks? or Scissors jacks? Your post is below. Thanks, John Dorr Helena, MT Sender: "Will Truitt" <surfdog at metrocast.net> Subject: Re: [pianotech] Grand Piano Truck instalation Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2009 06:06:13 -0500 To: <pianotech at ptg.org> Hi Paul: I posted a reply some time ago about a method of installing a piano truck, but since the archives are incognito, I will do my best to give my answer again. I use three car jacks and 3 large blocks of wood, roughly 12" x 12" pieces gotten from ye local lumbar supplier. I already had these, because I use them to set the piano on in the shop when I am stringing or doing damper work, to make it easier for my back. I already had the one jack from my car, and went to the local auto parts store and bought two more for $20 a pop. They are each rated for 3500 lbs. So they are more than adequate for even the Baldwin 9' SD-10 that I was putting the piano truck on at the church. I didn't want to enlist the services of the 80 year old janitor, or hire my piano movers for $200 or so. Quite simply, you position the 3 blocks on the floor, set the jacks on them with additional shim blocks if needed, and slowly scissor the piano up to a sufficient height. You can go back and forth to maintain a reasonable level until you are at sufficient height. It took me all of 20 minutes to position the blocks and jack the piano up. I needed to remove the legs to do other work on them. I took all three back to the shop and left the piano sitting on the jacks overnight. Came back the next day, installed them without the concert double casters. I set up the truck, working to position the three plates under the legs. What is really nice is that I was able to slowly and evenly lower the legs to where they were almost weight loading the truck plates, do final micro-positioning, and then tighten everything up. Then final lower the piano until it was fully on the truck, again going back and forth to bring it down evenly. All this with absolutely no stress or risk to anyone, including me. It's very safe and easy, and you don't have to use movers. Best $40 bucks I ever spent. Will Truitt
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