Piano Trucks

[Andrew and Rebeca Anderson]

Install of piano-truck (spider).

Before you begin:
ascertain height of leg off of floor with caster check against height 
of truck piano-leg-receiver
(tall casters will be higher than the truck and the lyre may rest or 
occasionally scrape on the floor, make plans/parts for any corrective 
measures, even if the lyre just clears the floor the pianist will 
hate pedals that are too close to the floor to comfortably operate)
make a pair of wedges to fit between the floor and the truck leg-receiver
(paint these black and keep for use in concerts, there is too much 
spring in a truck)
setup a jack and timber (or better get the jack-the-box) system to 
support the piano
layout and loosely assemble the truck under the piano next to the legs
(loosely means that the bolts are loose enough you can adjust the 
angle of the legs and the length of the arms)
Install
1.) Jack up whichever corner you want to start on and pull the caster
Sometimes easier said then done, be prepared to remove the leg and work on it
2.) Roll the truck under the leg.
3.) This part is important wedge up the truck leg-receiver FIRST
4.) Then let the piano down on to the truck.
Go to the next leg and repeat steps 1 to 4.
Go to the next leg and set it as well.
(when you set down the third leg you can free up all the wedges)
Straiten the spider (truck) out.  Sit on the center and tighten the bolts.
Put the casters in a labeled box and give to the customer with the 
admonition not to lose them.
(When they want to sell the piano and put a new one on the truck you 
do not want to be left holding the bag for the missing casters.  If 
in doubt spray-paint the box black and tape it to the center of the spider.)
Dust yourself off and turn in the bill, or better, collect the 
money.  Always get a down-payment on the spider before 
ordering.  Institutions can be fickle and knowing who actually has 
authority to order it and pay you becomes crystal clear when you are 
actually holding the deposit cheque in your hand.  If they are 
worried about you, offer to have it shipped directly to 
them.  Especially if you drive a motorcycle or a little car.

Have fun and remember to quickly dodge that spider when you forget to 
wedge up the foot.

Andrew Anderson

At 01:27 PM 6/6/2008, you wrote:
>Greetings all,
>
>Has anyone installed, or seen installed, a grand piano truck?  Those 
>of you with any experience in that area, can you 'zap' me an e-mail 
>so we can 'chat' about it?
>
>I would greatly appreciate it, and thanks!
>Matthew

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20080606/d489025c/attachment.html