As I understand it, the piano needs to get moved several thousand mile, so a "road trip" is out of the question unless client will pay you for 10 days of driving.
I think I understand Peter's situation. He cannot get piano movers or furniture movers t do this, it needs to be shipped by a freight company. For this, it needs to be crated. Essentially you are building a 5' by 2' shipping palette with a box on top for the piano. You can us 1x4 or 1x6 pine/spruce boards to make the crate, or go with plywood, consider at least 5/8". Make sure the piano is padded and perhaps plastic wrapped inside.
In the old days, they used to secure the piano with two large lag bolts through the crate into the back of the piano. You can see this on many old pianos. I would do the same today. Make sure there are some 3" high cross pieces on the bottom so that a fork lift can get its forks underneath.
Insure well!
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Jurgen Goering
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-31-2020 16:51
From: Richard West
Subject: Crating Pianos
Peter,
Have a local mover load the piano in a U-Haul and then have your customer pay you handsomely for a nice little road trip. Meet another mover at your destination, and unload. Drive home. Sounds like it could be fun and profitable. Insurance might be required. Also, traveling during covid could be scary.
Or the customer could fly or rent a car to go to the piano. Then rent a van, and hire movers to load the piano. Drive the van home and unload using local movers.
Or trade in the old piano and buy a new one. Then, the dealer would have to take care of the moving.
Original Message:
Sent: 8/31/2020 3:40:00 PM
From: Steven Rosenthal
Subject: RE: Crating Pianos
If you have access to new piano crates perhaps you can obtain one of those. Sounds like it would be worth paying a good price for one.
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Steven Rosenthal
Honolulu HI
808-521-7129
Original Message:
Sent: 08-31-2020 14:58
From: Willem Blees
Subject: Crating Pianos
Peter
From what you're describing, it looks like you need to find a way to get the piano from one place to another. How the piano is packed up is not the issue. While it will be safe to have the piano crated in a box, it's not necessary.
One suggestion is to find a family that's moving to the East and ask if a piano can be included in the load. (pay them, of course).
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Willem "Wim" Blees, RPT
Mililani, HI 96789
Original Message:
Sent: 08-31-2020 12:11
From: Peter Stevenson
Subject: Crating Pianos
Believe me, Willem, I have looked for such companies. We can certainly find companies who will drive a truck anywhere in Canada, but we would need to pay for a truckload. For people who are moving cross-country and are loading their whole home into a moving van, we have certainly used the method described by you. But to find a company that can load a piano into a truck filled with other goods that can go cross-country and get dropped off with the help of piano movers at another city is surprisingly difficult
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Peter Stevenson RPT
P.S. Piano Service
Prince George BC
250-562-5358
ps@pspianos.com
Original Message:
Sent: 08-29-2020 23:48
From: Willem Blees
Subject: Crating Pianos
Peter
There might not be movers that specialize in pianos, but there have to be companies that move furniture all over Canada. My suggestion is to contact one that you trust and supervise the movers who put the piano on a truck. Be sure they have a grand skid board and plenty of blankets. Then make sure there is someone at the other end who can do the same. It won't necessarily have to be crated in a wooden box.
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Willem "Wim" Blees, RPT
Mililani, HI 96789
Original Message:
Sent: 08-29-2020 21:19
From: Peter Stevenson
Subject: Crating Pianos
The piano is going from northern British Columbia to Ontario.
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Peter Stevenson RPT
P.S. Piano Service
Prince George BC
250-562-5358
ps@pspianos.com
Original Message:
Sent: 08-29-2020 19:32
From: Willem Blees
Subject: Crating Pianos
Where is the piano being shipped to?
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Willem "Wim" Blees, RPT
Mililani, HI 96789
Original Message:
Sent: 08-29-2020 17:42
From: Peter Stevenson
Subject: Crating Pianos
Hello all,
I live 500 miles from the nearest freight warehouse that can crate a piano, and in Canada we don't have long-distance piano movers that can move blanketed pianos.
Does anyone know of any resources to help us learn how to safely crate a piano for freight? We have access to new piano crates to study, but they are generally made out of cardboard instead of plywood.
Thanks,
Peter
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Peter Stevenson RPT
P.S. Piano Service
Prince George BC
250-562-5358
ps@pspianos.com
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