[pianotech] Upright Tilter

[John Formsma]

On Thu, May 14, 2009 at 12:43 AM, James Johnson <jhjpiano at sbcglobal.net>wrote:

I find my tilter indispensable.  I have one that folds up and is fairly easy
> to carry.  One word of warning.  Be sure you keep the forks solidly biting
> into the bottom of the piano as you set it back into the upright position. I
> get the piano up to the position that the rear casters just begin to touch
> the floor, then I push the top of the piano away from the tilter while
> pulling the puller towards me, keeping the forks supporting most of the
> weight until the front casters touch the floor.



Isn't that pretty intuitive in the use of a tilter? I've used my tilter
maybe some 10+ times, and have always HAD to do this, just by being careful
when tipping it up.  If one goes slow, it seems this is an automatic thing
rather than something you have to focus on intentionally.

Or maybe there are different tilters???  Mine came from Schaff some 7 or so
years ago.  Were older ones different, requiring straps of some sort?



>  Years ago, a good friend of mine didn't follow this procedure and when the
> rear casters contacted the floor, the piano rolled forward off the tilter
> and came crashing down, crushing several bones in his leg.  He missed about
> 6 months work because of this little mishap.  Needless to say, since his
> accident I have been extra careful.  A strap around the top of the piano
> tying it to the tilter, as well as one around the bottom, would be a real
> good idea.  It is the bottom of the piano coming off the tilter and rolling
> on the rear casters that is so dangerous.
>


Scary to think about, and I've read about this in the past.  And I've always
been extra careful when using my tilter.  But nothing like this even comes
close to happening with mine.  Never have used straps around anything, but
perhaps ought to.


-- 
JF
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