Without the dolly and strap, a piano move should not even be attempted because the dolly absorbs all of the shock and ground abuse to the piano while the strap is used to guide and carry it.
Once the piano is up on the dolly (either on its feet or on its side), two men can easily move it along on level surfaces. However, when traversing up or down a ramp from the truck, at least three men should be used – two on the bottom and one on the top – in order to better control the piano’s weight.
This is a place where the piano can easily get away from the movers because it looks so simple. So bear in mind that the angle of the ramp throws all the weight of the piano on the bottom man. For this reason, two men are necessary to guide the piano and keep it from falling off the dolly or the ramp.
Sometimes if a move has up to 5 or even 6 steps, the truck’s ramp can be utilized to make the shot easy. Instead of carrying the piano up the steps, the piano on the dolly is much more easily rolled on the ramp up and over them.
This is a good reason to use a ramp truck rather than a lift-gate truck (but be sure the ramp can be disconnected from the truck because most ramps only slide out from the back of the truck and cannot be pulled off).
If one high step or two consecutive low steps or a stoop is involved anywhere in the route, and for some
If a piano is being moved from 1-elevator building to another or ground-level to ground-level or some mix of the two, the entire piano move is called a “dolly shot” (which is also considered an “easy shot” by a piano crew). The “easy shot – dolly shot” is made easy because of the professional’s dolly and strap and their skill with it. The key to piano moving is having the right equipment and the right technique. This kind of “easy shot” piano moving is only accomplished with the right equipment and techniques! With this equipment and our teachings, we believe even rank amateurs can successfully do
If you try to move a piano on its casters over level ground, you will ruin its casters and tear up the bottom of the piano. You would not finish the piano move and probably somebody on the crew would get at least severe muscle strain from trying to strong-arm the piano as the casters deteriorate. We have even heard of situations where amateurs attempting a piano move without the right equipment have torn it up and then just left it where they gave up!
If your piano move has only one high step or two low steps to traverse (or more ramped steps), then you should have successfully moved it by now.
Congratulations! You only need to set the piano down in the new location without damaging the bottom of the piano or the floor. You need no further instruction because the rest of our teachings cover carrying the piano up or down the stairs.
If you’re not sure what to do, then don’t risk your health or the well-being of your expensive instrument. Instead, get a quote from professional piano movers to see how much that piano moving job will cost you.
