At 08:40 AM 3/28/03 -0600, Avery Todd wrote: >Does anyone have any suggestions on the best/easiest way to install >a 9' grand onto a grand truck? Hi Avery, I, like Wim, use the Susan Graham jack-on-the-box but mine is the model currently sold by Paul Janses & Son (its actually a "jack-in-the-box"... it works the same but transports & sets up easier than Susan Graham's design). I lift one corner of the piano high enough to remove the caster and position the truck under it (optionally, I remove the leg and take the caster, and socket if need be, off more easily _______ this is a good opportunity to check the integrity of the leg itself as well as leg plates, cam locks, etc.... always a good idea!). All the truck bolts are loose at this point, except for caster bolts which are tight. Before lowering the piano leg onto the truck, I place a couple of 2x4 blocks under the end of the truck arm (directly beneath where the leg will sit) to support it high enough so that the truck casters will be slightly off the floor when all three piano legs are lowered in place. This procedure is repeated for each of the remaining two legs. At this point, the piano is on the truck and the truck is resting on the 2x4 blocks under each arm end. The truck casters are slightly off the floor and the whole truck mechanism can be adjusted in/out and back/forth to reposition it, if needed. After that, all the truck bolts are tightened and the arm ends are raised one by one (I use a couple of extra 2x4 blocks and a longer length as a lever under the truck arm next to the caster) just high enough to remove the blocks and lower the truck caster to the floor. That's how I do it solo and it works pretty well. I use the same blocking procedure if I need to make repairs on a leg of a piano already mounted on a truck (though sometimes only one of the other truck arms needs to be blocked up in that case). On a related note: in the event that I need a grand on a truck to remain stationary for some reason, I merely take the above mentioned lever and blocks, and block up the ends of the truck arms in the same manner right beneath the legs. If the blocks are sized right, it doesn't even raise the pedals very much at all. Regards, Alan Crane, RPT School of Music Wichita State University alan.crane@wichita.edu
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