piano moving/lyre

[Andrew & Rebeca Anderson]

Allen:
Maybe a limited production run would sell-out.  I'm interested in anything 
that makes moving grands easier.

Andrew
At 08:14 AM 10/31/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>Allen,
>
>Moving Equipment Makers was started (and the products developed) by
>Harry Day in Duluth, GA.  He sold the company to a fellow up in Toccoa,
>GA who then moved down to Florida then later closed the business.  In
>addition to the Grand Chariot, they built some great tools like the
>Grand Stand (support for removing the leg), metal skids and ramps, and
>some fabulous dollies including pneumatic tire and even the 6-wheeled
>all-terrain dolly.  I've been talking with Harry some and have wondered
>how much interest there would be from the list folk in these particular
>products.
>
>Allan
>Allan L. Gilreath, RPT
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On
>Behalf Of Allen Wright
>Sent: Friday, October 31, 2003 12:51 AM
>To: Pianotech
>Subject: Re: piano moving/lyre
>
>Allan,
>
>I agree - the Piano Horse is a wonderful tool, and makes the job of
>moving
>grands much less stressful. It supports in the same way as the lyre,
>only
>better because of the smooth roll involved in getting the piano onto
>it's
>side. It's a beautiful thing.
>
>For any of you that haven't seen the Horse, picture a 1/4 slice of pie.
>That's the shape of the frame, basically, which is fit under the front
>part
>of the piano (under the keyframe), with a threaded post (for support)
>that
>screws out against the leg opposite the side that's being dropped onto
>the
>sled.
>
>There used to be a grand sled called the Piano Chariot, which had
>lockable
>wheels, which meant you could move grands without any lifting
>whatsoever.
>These two in combination made the perfect moving tools, in my opinion.
>I'm
>not sure the company is still in business, since I just tried the
>website
>address I had saved a couple years back and it didn't come up. They were
>in
>Atlanta, or thereabouts. Anybody know what happened to them? They were
>called Moving Equipment Makers. They had moved from I think Tennessee
>down
>to Atlanta with a change of ownership, but perhaps the company didn't
>survive the change.
>
>Allen Wright
>
>
>
>----------
> >From: Allan Gilreath <agilreath@mindspring.com>
> >To: 'Pianotech' <pianotech@ptg.org>
> >Subject: RE: piano moving/lyre
> >Date: Thu, Oct 30, 2003, 11:30 PM
> >
>
> > Carl,
> >
> > You'll usually find techs/movers (not dividing them into two groups
> > there) strongly divided on this issue.  I've seen two collapsed lyres
> > and quite a few more that had tenons weakened from use of the lyre to
> > turn the piano so I quite simply won't do it or allow it to be done on
> > any move with which I'm involved.  Sure, it's good money repairing
>these
> > when they're brought in but I cringe at the thought of someone getting
> > hurt.
> >
> > The best route is to use the "Horse" developed by Gordon Crail and
>sold
> > my Jansen (I think).  It's a professional piece of equipment and does
> > the job it's designed to do while protecting the movers and the
> > customer's investment.  It's a frame that fits under the front of the
> > piano and allows one person to roll the piano over onto a skid with no
> > straining.  Two people can easily, and safely, turn even the heaviest
>9'
> > piano.
> >
> > If I don't have one of those available, I remove the lyre and set a
> > metal stand (we made one that's adjustable in height) under the bass
>end
> > of the keybed then remove the bass leg.  The bass corner is lifted
> > slightly, the second person removes the stand and then the bass corner
> > is lowered to the skid.  I haven't tried the support running from the
> > bottom of the lyre to the treble leg but I still prefer the Horse
> > because of the leverage afforded even on small pianos.
> >
> > My feeling is that if we're going to do this work, we should do it
> > safely, efficiently and professionally.  Life is just too precious to
> > take those kinds of risks.
> >
> > Allan
> > Allan L. Gilreath, RPT
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On
> > Behalf Of Carl Meyer
> > Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2003 12:45 PM
> > To: files
> > Subject: piano moving/lyre
> >
> > I think that the lyres on most pianos are strong enough for tilting
>the
> > piano.  Most of the movers I've dealt with  use them.  I would think
> > that
> > you would want to examine the lyre so that it is solid and attached
> > well.
> > Large and heavy pianos might be an exception.
> >
> > I've moved TOO many pianos.  I now (if I can't get out of it) lift the
> > bass
> > end and tuck a 3 inch thick piece of expanded polyethylene under the
> > lyre.
> > This lifts the bass up enough to remove the bass leg.  Now I position
> > the
> > skid on the dolly properly so that the bass edge tips on the center of
> > the
> > skid.  The dolly will tip so that the left side of the piano will be
> > flat on
> > the skid until the piano is raised upright.  The trick is to position
> > the
> > dolly so that the piano will balance.  Now the piano can be centered
>and
> > strapped down.
> >
> > An idea I got from Lowell Wacker (who moves pianos, any size, by
> > himself is
> > to brace the lyre to the treble leg.  I made something for this out of
> > threaded rod and plumbing parts.  Haven't used it much but I think it
> > would
> > be some insurance against putting too much side thrust on the lyre.
> >
> > Anybody seen or heard of a lyre collapse?
> >
> > Picture of the contraption is attached.
> >
> > Carl Meyer Ptg assoc
> > Santa Clara, Ca.
> >
> > Photo at:
> >
> >
>https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/files/attachments/4e/48/2e/c7/lyreprop.jpg
> >
> > Alternate:
> >
> > http://tinyurl.com/t2h4
> >
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> >
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