[pianotech] flipping a truck

[Ron Nossaman]

Scott Helms, RPT wrote:
> It's been so long ago that the original post was put up that I may have
> forgotten a couple of details. Are they planning to keep the big casters
> on the truck? If so, they are presumably planning to (at some point) push
> the whole contraption to wheel it to a different locale. This operation
> might be just the one that leads to the "optimal idiot inclination tip
> point" Ron mentions, especially if the wheels hit a bump in the process.

I don't think it's an issue. Ever see anyone bounce a piano 
truck wheel 2 feet off the floor, ramp jumping it over a 
threshold? If so, it wouldn't matter how low the center of 
gravity is. Everything and everyone in the vicinity is doomed. 
Once more, I'm not in favor of doing the truck flip because 
it's a dumb idea that doesn't fix the problem, but it wouldn't 
be inherently unstable if it was done.


> The obvious question is, if they're going to go to the trouble of building
> a platform to accomodate the bench/pianist and a resting point for the
> heels at the pedals, why not just go all-out and build the damn thing big
> enough to accomodate the whole piano?? The whole platform could be on
> wheels if they wanted it to be movable ... very similar to a wheeled
> platform I built to accomodate a 3-manual organ console a few years ago.
> It worked great!

Yes, of course, that would be the obvious, straightforward, 
and smart thing. That's probably why it wasn't considered. My 
wife's father used to tell a story about an Army detail moving 
a privy. Since the thing was a few outside handles short, they 
couldn't get hold of it well enough to lift it. Someone got 
the bright idea to lift it from inside, pushing up on the 
ceiling. So three guys squeezed in and pushed up, whereupon 
the roof lifted off. The Lieutenant, seizing his opportunity 
to participate in command, ordered two more guys to jump up 
there and hold the roof down.

This thread has brought back some memories.
Ron N