DIY Piano Moving Equipment Costs

EQUIPMENT

There are two pieces of basic piano moving equipment, the dolly and the humpstrap pictured above and below that are absolutely necessary to move pianos. These must be obtained as a part of your piano moving preparation.

Without using this basic piano moving equipment you cannot take advantage of balance to move your piano, and you cannot protect the bottom and sides of the piano from scuffing as you move it. You need to obtain:

• 4 wheel piano moving dolly - $125.00 (seen under the side of this piano and in 2 pictures below)
• 1 hump strap - $25.00 (being used by the front man to pull, lift and guide the piano)
• If you'll be traversing more than 4 consecutive low stairs with an upright piano you will also need....
• a locking piano belt- $25.00
• to tie the piano securely (weld it) to the dolly.
• To move a grand piano you'll need....
• 2 locking piano belts - $25.00 each to secure the piano board to the grand and
• a piano skidboard - $125.00 to be secured to the long flat side of the grand.
• (it is also called a piano board and is approximately the same size as your grand piano's 5' or 6' long flat side)
• 
• You can supply your own moving pads or blankets and packer's tape to secure the pads to the piano or you can purchase them from us -
• Quality Mover's Pads - $30.00 each.
• Quality Packers Tape (that won't break every time you yank it) - $3.00 / roll.
• Our 4 wheel piano dolly is ideally constructed for piano moving.

I

It is somewhat similar to other rubber-capped dollies in the moving industry, but it has a couple of major improvements over most other moving dollies that make it absolutely perfect for piano moving.

The first thing that makes it special is that it has four-inch high, soft rubber wheels with two sets of ball bearings, one set around the axle and one set around the swivels (pictured below) for extremely easy wheel rolling and turning movements with heavy loads like pianos.

Other kinds of piano moving dollies are harder to push because they have smaller hard rubber wheels on a rod axle and only one set of ball bearings around the swivels.

Our soft rubber swiveling wheels will not mar hardwood / tile / marble / slate / stone / linoleum floors. If kept clean they will not dirty or stain the carpets either .

The second thing that makes our piano dolly really special is that it has custom-carved rounded strong hardwood crossbars.

These are very easily gripped by the movers positioned on the bottom of the piano as the piano is being carried.Other dollies in the moving industry have wide, flat crossbars that are not as strong as ours and can't be so easily gripped. So they put unnecessary strain on piano movers because they offer them only a poor handhold while they're lifting or lowering the piano on stairs.

As the action picture above illustrates, the two bottom people can get their shoulders firmly braced under the piano and tightly anchor themselves to it with a firm hand grip on this dolly's crossbars while carrying it over stairs.

We believe that the top quality wheels and the carved rounded thick hardwood crossbars make our piano dollies absolutely the best to be found anywhere in the moving industry.

4 wheel piano dolly $100.00 hump strap $25.00 locking piano belt $25.00 50' soft tie roll $25.00 Our prices include shipping costs to send any of these items to you anywhere in the Continental United States. Analyzing Your True Cost Savings When Moving Your Piano Yourself Most professional piano movers charge from $250 - $1000 to move a piano locally (depending upon the size of the piano, the distance moved and the number of stairs traversed). Add another $200 - $1500 to that price for long-distance hauling. So you could spend anywhere from $250 to $2500 to move your piano. Compare your truck rental costs + your cost to purchase the piano moving equipment + the potential for mover injury and / or piano damage and / or property damage to a professional mover's charges and you'll find that in the vast majority of cases the net cost savings to you to move the piano yourself just isn't that great! It is our belief that in most piano moving situations, financially speaking and health wise for you, your crew and your piano you would be much better off just hiring a qualified piano mover in your area to do the job for you. Remember, the professional piano moving company is liable if any injuries or damages to the piano occur! Certainly you should at least call one or two professionals to get a quote before you make a final decision to move your own piano yourself. Now that you have read all our warnings and seen all of the costs involved, and have obtained professional mover's quotes - do you still want to move your piano yourself? If this is still what you really desire to do, then we feel that we have done our duty as responsible teachers, of providing you with adequate information for you to make an informed decision. We hope that now you will be good responsible students and carefully follow our teachings so that you will have a successful piano move and not an insane nightmare! Therefore, in order to proceed just call Jim at 773-274-5500 between the hours of 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. CT in order to purchase your piano moving equipment and to be given a password so that you may begin studying immediately. You may also have some basic questions to ask about piano moving so feel free to ask them when you call. Meanwhile you may want to review our warnings of the risks and dangers of DIY piano moving again. Piano Warnings Page 1 Piano Warnings Page 2 Piano Warnings Page 3