Hôw Cán Í Move a Piano 3 miles????

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

So, DS's new school building opens on 1/3.

Today they opened the old building to town residents to buy any surplus furniture and equipment.

I found a nice upright student practice piano (still in the practice room) for $100. The school has a strong and well-regarded music program, so I know the piano has been taken well-care-of (as opposed to sitting in someone's damp basement for 20 years). It was last tuned over the summer in preparation for this school year. The keys respond well, it sounds great. It is on a dolly already, on the second floor of a building with an elevator.

I have wanted a piano for years and years but didn't want to spend big $$$$ on one. Now, one with a provenance I can trust, is only 3 miles away and I finally have a home with space for it.

So, I turn to you wise EEers. How can I move it by 9 a.m. tomorrow? Obviously, I can rent a UHaul truck with a ramp for $30ish. Any other clever ideas? I have a minivan, but I seriously doubt it will fit in there. And, of course, we are expecting rain tonight and tomorrow morning.

So, aside from renting a UHaul or rolling it home on the dolly in the rain, how have any of you moved pianos in the past for cheap and easy???

[swamp]

$30 for a uhaul with a ramp is cheap and easy.

[Deleted]

Have the local homeless population take turns pulling it like a rickshaw.

[Chocolate Lover]

If you have rain coming I'd go with the Uhaul. Otherwise, I'd be hunting friends with trucks and trailers

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Dec 27, 2011 16:03:04 GMT -5 swamp said:

$30 for a uhaul with a ramp is cheap and easy.

Yeah, I might have to go that route. Was just hoping to find some way that was less "involved".

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Dec 27, 2011 16:04:13 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

Have the local homeless population take turns pulling it like a rickshaw.

Archie, I live in a middle class, suburban/rural small town.

In other words, if there are any homeless people in town, they aren't hanging outside the one and only liquor store.

And there are no park benches in the center of town...

Yeah, I don't exactly live in reality but, I assure you, my kids are not oblivious...

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Dec 27, 2011 16:06:20 GMT -5 Chocolate Lover said:

If you have rain coming I'd go with the Uhaul. Otherwise, I'd be hunting friends with trucks and trailers

Hmmmm, you might be on to something. DBIL has a trailer!!!! And DNephew just got his license and needs gas $$$$$!!!!!!

Off to text DN...

Thanks CL!!!!!

[Deleted]

Dec 27, 2011 16:12:46 GMT -5 GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl said:

Dec 27, 2011 16:04:13 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

Have the local homeless population take turns pulling it like a rickshaw.

Archie, I live in a middle class, suburban/rural small town.

In other words, if there are any homeless people in town, they aren't hanging outside the one and only liquor store.

And there are no park benches in the center of town...

Yeah, I don't exactly live in reality but, I assure you, my kids are not oblivious...

oh. so you bus them all a few town over.. Maybe you can intercept the bus one day and recruit a couple of them.

[Chocolate Lover]

Dec 27, 2011 16:13:57 GMT -5 GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl said:

Dec 27, 2011 16:06:20 GMT -5 Chocolate Lover said:

If you have rain coming I'd go with the Uhaul. Otherwise, I'd be hunting friends with trucks and trailers

Hmmmm, you might be on to something. DBIL has a trailer!!!! And DNephew just got his license and needs gas $$$$$!!!!!!

Off to text DN...

Thanks CL!!!!!

Just be careful! Especially if it rains

[floridayankee]

Dec 27, 2011 16:06:20 GMT -5 Chocolate Lover said:

I'd be hunting friends with trucks and trailers

You might want to hunt them with something else. A truck and trailer will really f' up that trophy mount.

[Chocolate Lover]

Dec 27, 2011 16:26:58 GMT -5 floridayankee said:

Dec 27, 2011 16:06:20 GMT -5 Chocolate Lover said:

I'd be hunting friends with trucks and trailers

You might want to hunt them with something else. A truck and trailer will really f' up that trophy mount.

Meh, you get the hang of it pretty quick

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

Just be careful! Especially if it rains

I'd also take along some old quilts or blankets if you have them to protect it from scratches.

[Genuine GA Peach]

mom and I moved her upright piano three times. I don't recall any major issues (as long as you have a dolly and don't have to deal with stairs). When she moved into her house, we joked about strapping the piano to the front of her truck and pushing it across town.

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Dec 27, 2011 17:02:45 GMT -5 Genuine GA Peach said:

mom and I moved her upright piano three times. I don't recall any major issues (as long as you have a dolly and don't have to deal with stairs). When she moved into her house, we joked about strapping the piano to the front of her truck and pushing it across town.

Getting it into the house shouldn't be an issue: 2 low steps and the threshold. (God forgive me) DH has an organ that we've moved as often as your mother's piano with the easiest move by far being the one into this house last year.

Now pushing it with the car is EXACTLY the type of creative idea I was looking for!

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Dec 27, 2011 16:15:44 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

Dec 27, 2011 16:12:46 GMT -5 GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl said:

Archie, I live in a middle class, suburban/rural small town.

In other words, if there are any homeless people in town, they aren't hanging outside the one and only liquor store.

And there are no park benches in the center of town...

Yeah, I don't exactly live in reality but, I assure you, my kids are not oblivious...

oh. so you bus them all a few town over.. Maybe you can intercept the bus one day and recruit a couple of them.

Sounds like you've had experience with that sort of thing, Archie...

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Dec 27, 2011 16:26:58 GMT -5 floridayankee said:

Dec 27, 2011 16:06:20 GMT -5 Chocolate Lover said:

I'd be hunting friends with trucks and trailers

You might want to hunt them with something else. A truck and trailer will really f' up that trophy mount.

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Dec 27, 2011 16:40:17 GMT -5 ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ said:

Just be careful! Especially if it rains

I'd also take along some old quilts or blankets if you have them to protect it from scratches.

Great idea, SL! Considering it is a student practice piano, the finish is actually in decent shape. I want to keep it that way.

[Apple]

I had a piano moved about a year ago. My dad is friends with one of the guys who runs a landscaping business and I was able to call him up and have his crew move it for me. It was a 45 minute drive away--he only charged me $75 and I didn't have to do any of the work (I did do some of the work, but I didn't *have* to).

[rovo]

Message deleted by rovo.

[Sammy]

Rovo, were you being bad?

[rovo]

Dec 27, 2011 18:10:22 GMT -5 Sammy said:

Rovo, were you being bad?

No. I was trying to put up a "You Tube" video but it didn't work.

Hey. What's with the "bad". No one has ever accused me of being bad. Well, maybe once, but it was only meant to be a quickie.

[Sammy]

FINALLY you admit it!! ;D

[Artemis Windsong]

www.ehow.com/how_8342_move-piano.html

The page is slow to load but has some useful info.

The easiest piano move was my GDs and it was done by pick up and 3 or 4 guys. It wasn't an upright but one of those flat ones.

My earliest nightmare was my family dropped a beautiful ornate antique piano down my stairs smashing the wall. It was very heavy and too big to make the turn. It was a miracle no one was hurt. It was garaged for a long time. The drop broke the sound board whcih was found by a piano tuner.

[simser]

How much do you like the piano? Honestly?

I have a music degree and my secondary instrument is piano (I have an upright). I moved mine by UHaul this month and it fell and while it's still playable, it may never be truly the same again. My friend who plays piano professionally will only have professional movers move his (it's a baby grand).

I would actually recommend (if possible) just pushing it on the dolly the 3 miles. I know it sounds crazy, but taking it on and off the dolly onto the Uhaul would bother me more than the pushing it 3 miles. I'm assuming you have fairly quiet streets that you can push it on, will do this at nightish when it's quiet, have a lot of help, and some guy in a car following you. But that's my paranoid self.

[NastyWoman]

Goldengirl did you succeed in getting the piano moved?

[april47]

Go to the gym and pick out the huskiest bodybuilders. Then ask them which one can carry a piano the farthest. Make it sound like a dare and
bat your eyelashes a little.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Dec 28, 2011 21:43:09 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

Goldengirl did you succeed in getting the piano moved?

[TD2K]

Are there any music shops that you could ask what suggestions they have?

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Dec 29, 2011 8:49:59 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

Dec 28, 2011 21:43:09 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

Goldengirl did you succeed in getting the piano moved?

No, I didn't get it moved. I'm sorry. I should have updated everyone. But, I'm really kind of bummed about it.

Sometimes, DH can't wrap his head around my great deals for things *I* want -- a rare enough event as it is. That problem is sometimes exacerbated by his own weak problem-solving skills; and recognizing my genuinely solid (albeit sometimes unconventional) problem-solving skills is even less of a strength for him. I'm not alone. He often rejects the kids' ideas as well.

Oh well, we all have shortcomings, don't we?

The piano may still be at the school unsold, I just don't know how to contact the guy who was running the surplus sale.

I may just go ahead and email the principal next week when school is back in session and find out if it is still there and then try and hire someone to move it.

It's only $100 and in great shape. And I've wanted one for a really long time.

DH might just have to deal with it.

In the meantime, a genuine "thank you" to all of you for *your* supportive and creative problem-solving skills.

[Apple]

Dec 28, 2011 23:03:16 GMT -5 april47 said:

Go to the gym and pick out the huskiest bodybuilders. Then ask them which one can carry a piano the farthest. Make it sound like a dare and
bat your eyelashes a little.

Oh, I think I could use this one ;D


I'm sorry you weren't able to get it, hopefully it's still there when you call the principal!