Dear Folks, A few days ago Annalisa Regenfuss asked about moving a
player piano.  Most of the respondents discussed dealing with changes
in the piano's new environment.  I had a different reading on this,
although I may be wrong.  I took her question to refer to the moving
process itself.  To that end let me offer a few thoughts along those
lines.

In 2005 we moved our 5'8" Knabe Ampico from New York State to Florida.
Granted, this is a grand piano but some principles apply.  Since grand
pianos are normally shipped on their edge, I purchased a grand piano
skid from Schaff Piano.  Next, I consulted John Tuttle's article in
MMD dated 2001/10/03 for his instructions on moving a grand piano.
For details, I refer you to that article.

I removed most of the movable cover pieces, top cover, music desk,
et al.  This is to lighten the piano as much as possible.  I judged
that most of the mechanism would handle the move all right but I tied
the motor down to keep it from sliding on its rails.  After tipping the
piano onto the skid per John's instructions, I covered everything with
big moving blankets finishing with a canvas cover.  Then a number of
straps were installed over the cover in a crisscross fashion to tie
the piano to the skid.  This also kept the innards in place.

The loose case parts were individually covered and packed onto the
trailer and everything was tied down snugly.  There was no trouble with
the move and it came out at our destination with no problems; all the
mechanisms remained fully intact.

Earlier, I had occasion to pack our Link AX orchestrion for a long
distance shipment.  In this case, I tied everything movable inside the
case and used foam house insulation and foam rubber to lock everything
in place.  Loose interior parts that were easily removable were taken
out of the machine (such as the paper guide plate).

The art glass doors on the front were left on the machine and more foam
insulation was used to protect the glass.  Then the entire case was
wrapped with packing film, this is similar to Saran Wrap or "Clingfilm"
but comes on a reel and was wound round and round the case.

I think the key to any of these moves is to block any mechanical parts
from moving inside the case and remove any loose pieces from inside.
This prevents anything from getting loose and causing damage inside.

One respondent mentioned the metal casters on pianos.  These certainly
can be a problem and it has been my practice to replace the metal
casters on upright piano shaped objects with large rubber casters with
wheels 3 inches in diameter.  This reduces catching on truck ramps and
makes the piano much easier to move around the house.

It makes sense to have a professional mover actually move the piano if
you can't do it yourself but even with a mover, it is wise to do the
packing ourselves.  That way we can be sure that everything is tied
down securely.

Regards,
Bob Conant
Bradenton, FL