Piano Moving

[BobDavis88@aol.com]

I posted this two days ago and didn't see it on the list, so I'm posting it
again. Please forgive me if it shows up twice - Bob Davis

Subj: Re: Piano moving
Date: 05/05/96
To:   pianotech@byu.edu

>From Jim Kinnear:
> my original question was.. :
>can a grand leg sustain the piano if on an angle ie when the left corner is
>resting on the floor, the right and end legs are on an angle that looks to
me
>too great to hold the weight ( I've been too cautious too try leaving the
>piano this way, and as a result, always use three guys for moving grands...
-----------------------
Above all, I think you're smart to use the number of people that makes you
feel comfortable and safe. However, as several have said, there are ways to
make the move easier for those who want to use fewer people, and those
methods usually involve either being in the right position or using the
piano's weight to help, and sharing the weight with some part of the piano.
Pianos are designed to be moved. However, all methods of moving besides
picking the piano up and setting it down on its side stress glue joints in
some way, so there's no substitute for good judgment and good insurance.

My wife (who is of normal strength) and I have moved hundreds of grands, and
I have moved them alone. The decision is between 1)removing the lyre, which
means more dead weight both down and up and puts more pressure on the two
remaining legs; or 2)leaving the lyre on and putting some stress on it but
less on the legs. This puts less weight on the lowering/raising person and is
certainly easier, especially if the skid is left on the dolly, with a small
dolly-height box under the front of the skid (this can be the box you keep
your tools and the leg hardware in).

In current production pianos whose legs and lyre feel stable, I think it's a
matter of preference, although rolling it over on the lyre (with a pad under
it to protect the corner of the lyre) is easier. You can get the pad under
the lyre by kneeling under the keybed in the bass and arching your back. This
leaves the bass leg in the air to be knocked off.

In pianos whose lyre might be a little more fragile, we prefer to take it off
and stress the legs a little more. I lift the corner, while my wife kneels on
the straight side to knock off the bass leg and help at the end of the "down"
and the beginning of the "up". On the "up", by the time it's too high for her
to be much help, it has become easy for me. We do try to keep things moving.
When we set the bass corner down, it doesn't stay in that position for more
than about ten seconds - the piano's up on its side. WooOOOOP.

Although we've never lost one this way, we did once have the glue joint break
loose at the header block of an older piano's leg, frightening us no small
amount.  We've had to repair several lyres for movers who move older pianos
the second way.

Be safe,
Bob Davis
University of the Pacific
Stockton, CA