Moving Upstairs...
Stephen Ryner Jr.
and haul them up to my third floor apartment. I'm renting an appliance
dolly, the kind with the hard rubber wheels and the "stair-climbing"
treads on the back. (Yes, I take an extension cord and a flashlight
to video game auctions, too ^_^)
I'll probably take out the monitors and box them separately, since
that will take some of the weight out and make the cabinets less
awkward to move. Heck, I could even take out the PCBs and bubblewrap
them for safety.
That leaves the cabinets. I was wondering if anyone had some tips,
advice, or stories about hauling the cabinets up the stairs.
I assume one person hauls the dolly from above, while someone
guides or pushes from below. How hard is this to do? How should
we coordinate our efforts? What should we NOT do?>
Thanks,
Steve
--
Stephen Ryner, Jr. 7///
"Keep Pedaling!" @L@
http://sharkie.psych.indiana.edu/ for classic video games, manga, etc. _
Jonathan Neal Deitch
>I'll probably take out the monitors and box them separately, since
>that will take some of the weight out and make the cabinets less
>awkward to move. Heck, I could even take out the PCBs and bubblewrap
>them for safety.
Frankly, if you're moving the things yourself (ie: in a truck, strapped
to the walls) I'd leave 'em as-is. After all, they're shipped that
way when new. And the monitors are usually safer in the cabinets
anyway. Just make sure there's nothing loose in there and that the
monitor mounting screws haven't loosened up at all ...
>That leaves the cabinets. I was wondering if anyone had some tips,
>advice, or stories about hauling the cabinets up the stairs.
>I assume one person hauls the dolly from above, while someone
>guides or pushes from below. How hard is this to do? How should
>we coordinate our efforts? What should we NOT do?>
Four people will probably be able to do it -- not only do the wheels
and stair treaders on the dolly help immensely, but the dolly itself
is a handy grab-hold for your four people !
I'd put two on either side of the top, two on either side at the bottom
and just lift the thing up. Sounds hard, is hard, but you only have to
do it once ... :-)
- Jonathan
"Braves Win ! Braves Win ! Braves Win ! Braves Win !" -- Skip Caray (1992)
We are NOT "Loserville" anymore !!!
--
mus...@panther.gsu.edu | "I Hate it when I can't trust | Atlanta 1996 !!
jde...@gsu.edu | my own technology!" - LaForge | Play Pinball !!
http://www2.gsu.edu/~musjnd |-------------------------------------------------
---------------------------- "Thrills! Chills! Magic! Prizes!" -- Hurricane
Roddenberry, Asimov, Henson, Dr. Seuss, Mel Blanc, Friz Freleng ... Sigh ...
Ray Ghanbari
> and haul them up to my third floor apartment. I'm renting an appliance
> dolly, the kind with the hard rubber wheels and the "stair-climbing"
> treads on the back. (Yes, I take an extension cord and a flashlight
> to video game auctions, too ^_^)
>
> that will take some of the weight out and make the cabinets less
> awkward to move. Heck, I could even take out the PCBs and bubblewrap
> them for safety.
>
> advice, or stories about hauling the cabinets up the stairs.
> I assume one person hauls the dolly from above, while someone
> guides or pushes from below. How hard is this to do? How should
> we coordinate our efforts? What should we NOT do?>
Having moved more than anyone's fair-share of games up Michael's rickety
stairs and down into my basement, there is no real need to pull monitors
etc from your games. Just make sure you have 2 or 3 people and you take
frequent rests. Also make sure that you have a good strap on your
appliance dolly and that the dolly is tall enough that your wrists don't
snap off when your hauling the game up the stairs.
Anyway, we always worked it so that the dude on top mainly steered the
game, and the 1 or 2 people shoving from below did most of the lifting
(legs are better to move things than backs) We just stick a sholder into
them and have the dude on top call out "1-2-3" so we stay coordinated.
Basically, designate _1_ person as being in charge, and have the other 2
do most of the hard work. Take your time. Rotate for different games so
people get to rest. Looks out for ice. If you run into any, get a 4th
person. My golden rule has always been "death sucks" so I try to arrange
things so that if someone slips on ice, the other 3 can safely catch the
puppy before it does too much damage.
I also suggest measuring _every_ opening _before_ you start moving you
cabinets. Take into account that you may have to swing games around
corners etc, and that they are fairly tall for some stairwells. This is
particularly true for pins and sitdown cabinets.
The other option is to sell your full sized cabinets and get mini/caberets
(my Dig Dug caberet was a breeze to move, although I may need to get rid
of it soon to make room for a sit down....yeah yeah I'm deranged ;-)
(almost forgot to mention, learn the lesson from Tony Jones' move and wrap
up your precious cabinets well, so that the side art doesn't get all
gouged up by people who care less about your hobby than you do)
--
Ray Ghanbari
Mayo Foundation
r...@mayo.edu
Chris Bright
carried my Starwars upright up my stairs without even sitting it down. The
stairwell was quite wide, but I don't think its a problem unless the machine
weighs more than my Starwars,(which I think is one of the heaviest basic
upright games, I know its not the heaviest). But, I guess if you moving alot of
games up a few staircases, then much precautions should be taken.
--
| / ___ ) __ ) __ __/ ___/ /
/ | / / / / / / / /
/ | / / / _ __/ / ___/ /
/ | / ( / / \ / / /
__/ __/ ____/ __/ _\ __/ _____/ _____/
Chris Bright - Systems Tools and Process - S030
Stormoen MD
afterwards :-) I can see Ray and Jared reading right now. Anyhow, we
usually have one guy on the dolly guiding/pulling a little. Jared always
pulls too much. Then put *two* guys on the bottom and let them actually
push. I've done it with two guys, and it's a pain.
I've got a straight flight of steps, two stories high. Then I put them
up into the attic (another flight, which isn't so straight). I've since
quit bringing them up into the attic once I was able to convince my wife
to give up the spare room.
In retrospect, there is actually another set of stairs from the driveway
up to "ground level".
Ray doesn't like the stairs very much, as he thinks they're rickety.
Also, when you get to the top of the stairs, there is a little deck, and
you have to get right up against the railing, and over the railing is a
five story drop literraly to a bunch of rocks and concrete :-)
Bottom line is that three guys works best. So far, I think in the last
year nine uprights have been moved up here. Good luck.
Also, I just got a new job, and it looks like they're going to send a
moving company down here to move us! Those guys are going to hate me
:-) At least they go down easier than they go up.
Michael.
Tony Jones
: (almost forgot to mention, learn the lesson from Tony Jones' move and wrap
: gouged up by people who care less about your hobby than you do)
Even if you are moving yourself, especially if you only have 2 people,
I'd suggest covering the sides with pieces of cardboard - just attach with
masking tape. It doesn't have to be as securely covered as if you are having
it moved by professionals, since it will only be on the sides for a few minutes.
It's fairly easy to catch the corner of a wall, and tear the art work.
The counter to this is that it's also fairly easy to tear wallpaper - but
that's your house. Clearly not as important as your game :-)
The move Ray alludes to above was 2500 miles done by professional movers,
who managed to tear a nice 6" square chunk of my Black Widow decal off -
not exactly the same situation as the original poster faces but worth
considering anyway.
tony
Bill Brandt
Kevin Phillips <kev...@ubd1.vdospk.com> wrote:
>> > That leaves the cabinets. I was wondering if anyone had some tips,
>> > advice, or stories about hauling the cabinets up the stairs.
I've moved a cabinet up stairs with just one person helping. Without the
monitor it should be real easy....
Warren Llama Ernst
>In article <3123F2...@ubd1.vdospk.com>,
>Kevin Phillips <kev...@ubd1.vdospk.com> wrote:
>>> > That leaves the cabinets. I was wondering if anyone had some tips,
>>> > advice, or stories about hauling the cabinets up the stairs.
>I've moved a cabinet up stairs with just one person helping. Without the
>monitor it should be real easy....
try renting A REAL appliance dolly from U-haul --- you know, the ones
with the strap and the little "tank treads" on the side? Those treads
are for getting up stairs.
Rent one of these babies and enlist the help of two good friends.
Offer lots of pizza and beer.
Virtually,
Warr
Alan Jordan
to have at least 4 people involved in the process. Those stair climbimg
trolleys are a waste of time if you have more than 3 steps to go up.
Anyone volunteer to help me with my new star wars upright which has to be
the heaviest machine I've come across:-)))
ALAN
Alan Jordan
Gregory Kam
>
> Anyone volunteer to help me with my new star wars upright which has to be
> the heaviest machine I've come across:-)))
Yeah, that is what I thought until I got my BLASTEROIDS machine!
I got my machine early in the New Year and thought I had considered
*everything* (dim. of the car, the hallway, the turn radius -- hey I
actually used my Calculus for something useful! :-))
I was quite picky when I was inspecting the game at the operator's place
and noticing every crack and dent on that game. I managed to get it to my
front doorstep on my own when I realized that it was practically a dead
lift up that *one step* (Blasteroids does not have wheel casters, and the
step was just a little taller than the dolly's wheels).
I was so frustrated I was ready to do a Ryu-flying-kick to get that stupid
game into the house. It was January, in the middle of 4ft of Canadian
winter snow.
Finally I ran like a madman and got a neighbour to help move the game in
while the neighbourhood kids gathered to 'watch the funny man try to move
the big thing into his house'.
It was only after I had finally settled the Blasteroids down that I had to
move my Star Wars and that was like lifting a paperweight comparatively
speaking.
Not sure exactly why it was so heavy. But I do know that Ontario Hydro
does require the use of a second 'special' isolation transformer in order
for the game to be legal in Ontario.
Greg