I have noticed some talk of lifting uprights onto the standard 4-wheel
piano dolly.  I have done it the old brute force way for over 30 years.
However, in the last year or two, I noticed that I had a Sam's Club
$39.99 Green two-wheel box dolly, and I found myself trying something
that works like a charm.

Have one person ready who knows how to set the dolly under the piano.
(That is, with the rubber tracks up against the bottom of the piano with
two of the wheels in the air.)  Have them ready and waiting in front of
the piano with dolly at the ready.

You stand at the end with the green two-wheel box dolly poised with its
long foot under the end of the piano and wheels on the ground.  Push the
foot most to all of the way under the end (usually treble)  of the piano.
With one of your feet on the axle of the dolly, pull the top down almost
to the floor.  The piano kicks itself up in the air and your partner
cocks the 4-wheeler up on one end and slides it under the piano.

The 4-wheeler will not be perfectly centered, but it usually does not
need to be any more centered in most cases.  If you need it centered,
then take a deeper bite with the 2-wheeler while the piano is cocked up
and lift a few inches higher.  When you push the 2-wheeler down, you must
notice the angle at the "foot to piano bottom board".  If you go past a
90-degree angle, and push the top all the way to the floor, you run the
risk of the piano sliding off but usually that doesn't happen unless the
bottom board is slick.

I have also used this method with a two wheel appliance dolly with a
shorter, more substantial foot: the kind with straps for a refrigerator
and all.  It still worked, except it felt more stable when holding the
dolly all the way down to the floor.

I needed this method because I do not move many pianos any more.  I plan
to keep my back in functional condition.  I especially needed this method
before my hernia repair.  (No, it was not from lifting pianos, oddly
enough.)  I have used this method to move several hundred pianos and I
have not had one catastrophe, except once when I had a complete idiot
setting the 4-wheeler and he managed to set the dolly out of square, so
that the piano tipped forward.  Luckily it was a small Euro console and
did not do much damage when it hit the floor.

Good luck to you all who try this, and save your backs.

D. L. Bullock
Piano World
St. Louis