Grand Carriage

[Charles K. Ball]

Hi Jeff,

No, they certainly are not made equal, as we discovered at UT. Check out
the guage of metal used and also the quality of the casters.  If your truck
is bowing up in the middle, I suggest that you replace it with one made
from a heavier guage steel.

We now use trucks offered by Paul Jansen & Sons, with excellent results,
after suffering through the problems you outlined.  When we asked for bids
for several Steinway D trucks last year, one of the major piano supply
houses returned a bid, even though their product clearly did not meet
specifications.  I had to call the vendor and pin down the supervisor
before I could determine the exact specifications of his truck.  It turned
out that he was trying to sell the same inadequate merchandize that we had
struggled with for the past 15 years.

Good luck!

Charles


 >List:
>        One of the casters on the grand carriage of our 9' Steinway grand
>had a blowout which has prompted us to consider the following:
>        1) Replace the casters 2) Replace the carriage with a new one 3)
>Replace the carriage with the individual leg dollies
>        My questions: Are the individual leg dollies not a good idea for a
>piano that has to be moved on and off stage on a regular basis?  We have a
>9' Yamaha with those large, very smooth-rolling brass casters with the brake
>and it doesn't seem to have a problem.  Would the "dollies" not be as stable
>- offering the risk of a broken leg if someone is not careful?  (We'd look
>at the kind with a square receptacle for the leg and 4 small wheels)
>        Do those grand carriages get worn out in general over time?  The
>middle is awfully high (bowed up)and the ends of the arms where the piano's
>legs rest are awfully close to the floor.  Are they this way when new, or do
>they lose strength over time?  I checked out the custom made carriages from
>Decals Unlimited, but at $1,500 a crack they seem quite pricey compared to
>around $250-300 for most others.  Are the others (Schaff, Jansen,
>Pianotek....) created equal?
>I hope this hasn't been covered before on the list - I  seem to recall some
>discussion but not regarding the individual leg dollies vs. carriages.
>Thanks for any input.
>
>
>Jeff Stickney, RPT
>University of Montana
>jpage@selway.umt.edu

Charles Ball
The School of Music
The University of Texas at Austin
ckball@mail.utexas.edu