Mr. Yankee, You pose a heavy question that has a heavy answer. The answer is weight. Perhaps this "administrator" is not aware of the actual weight of the piano models you mention. In the process of moving a grand (other than merely within a single space), the piano must be put on its side and the legs and pedal lyre removed in order to pass through doorways. This involves setting the piano's long side (the bass or left side, from the player's perspective) onto a special board, equipped with straps for securing the instrument. This board is then raised at one end and a small, wheeled dolly is slipped underneath. This permits relatively easy movement thereafter; assuming, of course, that there are not stairs or other obstacles to negotiate. The lifting of the nose end of the piano does for a moment at least require some considerable brute force. Ask your "administrator" if he or she can safely and single-handedly lift about 300 pound from floor to a little above waist level and hold it that high for perhaps ten seconds. This is not the only moment of required power but it is the most crucial. This also necessitates a second person being there to handle the dolly. Most of the rest of the procedure can technically be done by one person; but, that is not advisable. I have known one individual whose sheer brute strength enabled them to move even large grands with confidence and relative ease by themselves. But, that is unusual. A lone technical not uncommonly has to effect a minor move of a single grand in order to work on it. But, the level of activity you appear to be referrencing with the carpet replacement precludes that. Perhaps at New England Conservatory you have enough piano technicians employed and they are robust enough to do the work. But, if I were one of them, I would insist on the "administrator" posting a personal bond of one million dollars against injury to either an instrument or personnel. On a routine basis, the occasional move to and from the shop could possibly be done by a team of techs, as long as one of them is physically robust enough to do the heavy lift(s). IMHO. Robin Blankenship Matoaca, VA ----- Original Message ----- From: Brian Yankee To: caut at ptg.org Sent: Friday, June 02, 2006 12:14 PM Subject: [CAUT] Piano Techs as Piano Movers? Greetings. I am the Director of Performance Services at New England Conservatory in Boston. A member of our administration wants to have our Piano Technicians (whom I supervise) move our pianos (mostly a mix of Steinway B's, L's and M's) out of studios, into and out of the piano shop, etc. when the need arises. We have always hired an outside piano moving company to do all of our moves except for occasionally rolling an upright piano down a hallway from one room to another. What prompted this is a proposal to recarpet and paint seven faculty studios this summer. The proposal included an estimate of the cost to hire our movers to remove the pianos from the rooms, bring them to our piano shop for storage on their sides and then to return them to the studios once the work is done. Needless to say, the piano moving costs are considerable. Personally, I think it's inappropriate for piano techs to double as piano movers, but what do I know? I need a reality check: Is this something that piano techs at other colleges and universities do? If not, can you give me some good arguments why they shouldn't? Thanks. Brian Yankee Director of Performance Services New England Conservatory ******************************************************************* Brian S. Yankee Director of Performance Services New England Conservatory 290 Huntington Ave. Boston, MA 02115 Tel: 617-585-1271 Fax: 617-585-1270 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.8.1/354 - Release Date: 6/1/2006 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/caut.php/attachments/20060602/a6ebffe9/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.8.1/354 - Release Date: 6/1/2006
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