<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Re: [CAUT] Moving Pianos on Campus</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> Hi Rob,     Here at UNM we always hire a piano mover any time a= grand must go on its side, or an upright must be moved out of the building = (pianos on trucks/dollies, rolled from room to room within the building, we = handle in house). We are fortunate to have two competing professional piano = movers in town, which helps a lot (I don’t need to supervise, and pric= es are reasonable). My job description claims I only lift about 20 pounds, a= s I recall <LOL>. But my supervisor, who came to the department from h= uman resources, is definitely opposed to my involvement in moving pianos, fo= r university liability reasons. I’m not complaining. (I do put grands = on and off trucks and such, but never use methods that put any stress on the= back). Regards, Fred Sturm University of New Mexico On 2/22/06 10:31 AM, "Rob & Helen Goodale" <rrg@unlv.nevad= a.edu> wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE>Hello, Typically I stay in the back ground and just observe the list but I have wo= rthy inquiry.  I am the staff tech at UNLV, (University of Nevada, Las = Vegas).  We have +/-65 pianos and occasionally a few must be moved arou= nd.  I have one grand and one upright that I keep aside for when someon= e needs one for special events.  The upright has a permanent heavy truc= k on it for moving around.  For grands I use a method that involves til= ting the piano up onto the skid while it's already on the dolly.  The d= olly is custom made with extra large hard wheels.  Two of the wheels do= not swivel so that it doesn't skip out while lifting.  If it is a reas= onably small grand, (nothing larger than a C-3), then it is surprisingly sim= ple.  I'm sure there are others who do this.  Anyway to the point.=   After lifting and moving pianos fo= r years my back has just about had it.  Every so often it slips out of = place and I find myself in pain for several days.  Recently I was requi= red to move several pianos in a day and it just about did me in.  This = morning I found myself stiff and unable to crawl out of bed.  The reali= ty is that I can't continue doing this.  At age 40 I have a long way to= go and I don't fancy ruining my back for the likes of ungrateful university= staff. I would like to know what other un= iversity techs have done regarding piano moves.  Because of liability r= easons they are not too enthusiastic about getting students to do it.  = The facilities management people are not reliable and can't be trusted to sh= ow up on time.  The Faculty is certainly not interested in getting thei= r hands dirty.  I have occasionally called in another outside tech but = that is not always possible.  Unfortunately my Jedi skills aren't maste= red well enough to move pianos using "The Force".  So... what= do YOU do? Rob Goodale, RPT Las Vegas, NV </BLOCKQUOTE> </BODY> </HTML>