Moving piano, questions and any advice

I've got a bit of a load (full-sized upright piano) I need to get in my prerunner. I think I've got two or three methods I'll be able to do but wanted to ask any of you if you've ever done this and if so how you did it.

My first question is: how much momentary weight can I have loaded on the tailgate? My first method I want to test involves forearm forestraps and placing this behemoth on the tailgate (for 10-15 seconds tops being fully supported) while I get in the bed to position. Can our tailgates handle this?

Second, for a top heavy thing like this ratchet tie downs should still work great shouldn't they? Obviously I need to cushion it some but otherwise that should be fine, right? Even if I needed to get back on the highway.

 

I did this with my 2nd gen Taco. It was a smaller upright piano (4-500lbs) but should be close enough.

Q1: For me, I removed the tailgate before loading to make sure I didn't destroy it. From what I understand the 2nd gen tailgates are rather weak. I'm not sure about the 1st gen by comparison but I wouldn't risk it, tbh. Remove the gate and load it directly into the bed if you can, unless the piano is too long.

Q2: I just used some ratchet tie downs and it worked fine. I didn't do highway, however, so I'd use extra caution. Cushion what you can, and give it a test drive before getting on the highway

 

I’ve run a piano repair business for 10 years. Started out flipping them and have moved 100+. Though no longer.

Having a heavy duty flat type furniture dolly with non swivel wheels works great, though not as well as an actual professional piano dolly. Are you using a skid board or just rolling the piano on a dolly or the piano’s casters?

Remove the tailgate for two reasons: one being that it is safer in case the supports break; 2nd is that you’ll have less distance to slide the piano into and out of the bed, and if you’re not using a piano skid, the casters will likely fall into the gap between the tail gate and bed and jam up the load / unload process.

If applicable and your streets are crowned, back the truck up so the rear axle rests at the low point where the street meets the driveway / curb. This will save you several inches of loading / unloading height.

Use a dolly of the aforementioned type if you can. Beware however that a lighter duty dolly’s wheels may not roll under that much weight.

Then, this how I did it, solo: Roll the piano into such a position that it’s back faces the bed opening, with one end of the piano about centered on the bed and about 30” away from it. Tip the piano up onto the bottom corner of this end so that it’s balanced (first place a piece of scrap carpet under the corner so you don’t chowder the wooden case). Rotate it 90 degrees so that it’s exactly perpendicular to the bed - otherwise it’ll be off balance - and then rest the center of the bottom of the piano on the back of the bed lip. Then in one motion, lift and slide the piano into bed. Viola.

I’ll try to find you a video.

Edit: no video :/

 

Hire a mover. Seriously. You're possibly going to do several hundred or thousand in damage to either your truck, your piano, or your body, to save $100 on a mover.

Failing that, go to uhaul and rent a truck with a ramp. It will cost $20 to $50 and you won't have to worry about your tailgate. And it will be a lot easier to load then picking up a piano and putting it into your truck.

 

Better yet, rent a trailer. Cheaper, and lower to the ground.

I'm at the age now where I'm still able to enjoy doing a lot of my own manual labor (yard work) but generally wake up in the morning barely able to move. I know the benefits of sitting back with a beer and watching other people dig holes for me.

The lesson here is to just hire a mover. They do all the work, your truck won't get dinged, and if something happens to the piano, they are (or *should* be) insured. Sit back, pop a brew, and relax.

 

Did exactly that with my 04 Gen1 two years ago, so 12 years on it. I also backed it up to the curb but I kept the tailgate on and used an ATV ramp. I put heavy cardboard like an appliance box underneath and it slid right on and off without worrying about the gaps. Did it myself and I was 44 with a questionable back- probably partly why it's questionable these days.

I crossed the ratchet straps over the top and one more to keep up up against the cab back and it didn't move an inch. Did both city streets and freeway. This isn't any more stress than ATV or snowmobile going into the bed compared to an upright piano.

Guaranteed to cause a freak rainstorm so plan ahead for that.

 

I’m a piano tuner, so I don’t have to move them anymore, but when I did move pianos, we had side rails on the bed of the truck that piano was always secured to. The idea of setting a piano in the center of the bed and simply securing it with straps is a little scary.

With that said, I would, and I have moved pianos in the bed of the truck. And I’ve also lost a piano out of a truck, so I’m going to go along with the suggestion to pay someone with the right equipment to move it for you.

 

I brought home a 60 gallon shop air compressor that stood 3 feet over the cab and weighed a couple hundred pounds. We backed the truck up to an incline on the property I bought it from and we used wood as a ramp to push it on. We kind of turned it 90 degrees, tilted it, while pushed forward to get it on. It took five people.

To unload I didn't have an incline, just my driveway. Also two less people. What we did was take two planks of wood, tilted the tank on its side, and slid it down. Worked fine.

To be honest I wouldn't even try putting a piano into the 1st gen. Way too heavy and you will have trouble getting it in if you don't have a suitable loading bay. Rent a trailer for $50-60 and just tow it.

 

Just do what my father did, he sold his upright after moving that heavy SOB two times in a 15 year span.

 

Sometimes one needs to do crazy dumb stuff !!

Just no way to wiggle out of it

I am not really sure it might be the third or fourth set of tail gate cables failed I now replace them every spring !!

Very seldom does my truck get used without a load

I would think long and hard about either a trailer or someone with the right equipment .

The loading and unloading is the fun part.

 

$25

 

The voice of reason.