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I want to dispose of my old acoustic piano which was said to be beyond economical repair.

Piano companies charge a tidy sum to help move it away. I wonder what they actually do to these old pianos? Do they actually recycle any part of it?

Any one has any idea how to dispose of it for free??? :P

Cheers

Piano movers charge that much because no one else (or hardly anyone else) will do it.

When you pay them, what you get in return is success.

You can offer "Piano, poor condition, free for pick-up" and see if anybody wants it. But why would they want it?

We had around here a couple burly boys with a truck. They charge something like $50 to pick up an upright, they only deal with uprights that are beyond repair. They have a big truck, a hoist, dollies, ropes, etc. They haul the beast out, strap it into their truck and haul it away. Then the fun starts, separate the metal from the rest of it. The metal is sold off to scrap yards for whatever they can get for it, the rest is burned up in a boiler to produce energy on some farm. In times like these, people can do things like this to earn a few extra bucks.

Maybe Robert Frost knew the solution to this problem:

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

Put it on Craigslist in the free stuff section. You'll get an email back soon...

you can do this too....

http://picasaweb.google.com/silverwoodpianos/TheSeasonsAtSilverwoodPianos#

Interesting! But it seems a bit 'cruel' to subject the old piano to the elements, when all the time it has been comfortably indoors with the heater on 24/7!! :P

I look at it as “setting them free” to return from whence they came…they don’t last long out there…maybe 3 years tops. Then you have to call in The Replacement…..

I have often thought of putting several out there; perhaps 5 or 6 of them in a small semi-circle; some right side up, some upside down, and some on their sides….. and calling it “Pianohenge”

I'm still curious as to what happens to the old piano after the piano company collects the piano for disposal... Do they re-use the wooden housing? Sell the strings and metal inside as scrap? Or just dump them?

Cheers

Some and some I guess. The recycle madness is really big here on the left coast…..

In my location here on the west side of Vancouver, a lot of boomers are inheriting these old houses from parents and other relatives. In these houses are an incredible amount of unused musical instruments of all sorts…..

I just came across a 7 leg Broadwood square grand from 1821……8 ft long by 36 wide……..ink spot rosewood…….. inside gutted out……keep this one for a desk….

At the present time I am using my garage as a wrecking yard; I bring in the old unwanted instruments, first try to find a home for the good ones ……even if donated….

The badly broken ones I try to send the wood off to the Vancouver Wood Society who takes old wood and makes new products out of it…….

http://www.vancouverwoodarts.com/

The plates and other metals are picked up regularly by my metal guys…. A lot of the detailed legs and pilasters I keep around for folks who might need a piece of this or that…..

Most of the time it is the old English cottage uprights that end up in the yard out front with the flowers in them, although the one out there right now is a Gerhard Heintzman……….

Is the recycling effort worth what they can get for it? In other words, is it so labor intensive that it would not be worth the trouble for the amount of money? Just wondering ;-)

Please note that the keys contain round lead weights, which requires special disposal. And be specially careful if any parts are burned! Lead vapors are very dangerous.

--Cy--

I'd probably scrap it - recycle the metal and burn the wood.