Hoisting pianos

[Joseph Alkana]

Cribbing is the term applied to wood or steel beams that are placed under 
the object to be moved after the jacks have lifted the object to a certain 
height to allow for the placement of the cribbing. Then repeated until you 
get the object to the height desired. I've looked for examples on the 
internet but so far no pictures of extreme heights objects have been lifted 
to. Yes I imagine it would be a lot of work, but is quite safe when proper 
materials and techniques are used. That's why I suggested you ask a house 
mover about using that technique.
Joseph Alkana RPT
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Greg Newell" <gnewell at ameritech.net>
To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2007 9:28 PM
Subject: Re: Hoisting pianos


> Joseph,
>         This is interesting. What do you mean by cribbing? I've not heard 
> that term before. I suppose I could continue to add height to a platform 
> being built underneath the piano as we go. Sounds like a lot of work 
> though.
>
> best,
> Greg
>
>
>
>
> At 02:12 PM 9/1/2007, you wrote:
>>You could hire a house mover to do the job. Using cribbing and hydraulic 
>>jacks, that is, building up squares of timber will get almost anything 
>>well into the higher stratosphere. It's possible to do the job by 
>>yourself, although it would take a long time and require a lot of muscle 
>>to carry that much timber into the working space. I watched a program on 
>>the History (?) channel where house movers lifted a structure up and over 
>>a railroad trestle with this method. Fascinating.
>>Joseph Alkana RPT
>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Greg Newell" <gnewell at ameritech.net>
>>To: <Pianotech at ptg.org>; <Caut at ptg.org>; "MPT" 
>><Mpt-list at masterpianotechnicians.org>
>>Sent: Friday, August 31, 2007 10:01 PM
>>Subject: Hoisting pianos
>>
>>
>>>Upcoming I have a job which requires hoisting a piano over 20 feet in the 
>>>air to clear a glass wall and put a grand into a choir loft. There is no 
>>>way the piano will go up the stairs. The donated piano I put a block in 
>>>needs to go up and the old grand comes down. A contractor member of the 
>>>church will install a hook in the ceiling for me. I was thinking of using 
>>>some sort of block and tackle arrangement but thought I would tap into 
>>>the collective expertise of the list first.
>>>Before it's suggested we thought of a fork lift but it is too heavy to 
>>>roll over the ceramic tile in the foyer and the marble tile in the 
>>>church. It's also too tall for the double front doors of the church even 
>>>if they were removed. A scissor lift is pretty much the same story as is 
>>>other similar machines.
>>>Thanks in advance for your responses.
>>>
>>>Greg Newell
>>>Greg's Piano Forté
>>>www.gregspianoforte.com
>>>216-226-3791 (office)
>>>216-470-8634 (mobile)
>>>
>>>2003,04,05 & 06 winners of
>>>Angie's List Super Service Award
>>>
>>>
>>
>
> Greg Newell
> Greg's Piano Forté
> www.gregspianoforte.com
> 216-226-3791 (office)
> 216-470-8634 (mobile)
>
> 2003,04,05 & 06 winners of
> Angie's List Super Service Award
>
>
>