I need a new set of heavy duty piano wheels for my upright. This piano is constantly loaded and unloaded from a trailer, so they have to be pretty tough. Any suggestions?

You need a Piano Dolly that will bolt on to the bottom of the piano. A Dolly has large wheels, and is a must for any piano that is moved frequently. Call GRK Manufacturing at (800) 289-2362. They are in Hamilton Ohio.

Thanks Bob....

Piano wheels are always screwed into the bottom of the piano. So when all that weight in dropped down in loading and unloading the caster axle and the wood around the bass gets torqued, crushed and bent. That's why movers use dollies; keep the piano off the wheels. If you must move in an out of a trailer, use PVC pipe. Cut a piece 2 ft long 1 1/2 in diam to 3 in and roll the piano like the Egyptians did the Pyramids. The pipe will last forever. I've moved hundreds of pianos onto pickup truck beds and trailers with PVC pipe.

hey Sam...
Thats not necessary in my case...
I have a tilt snowmobile trailer, and I simply crank the piano on with a come-a-long, and push it off to unload. The whole process takes less than 5 minutes. The problem here is that the wheels (2 sets now) sometimes turn sideways and literally break. Do YOU think a permanent dolly is the answer????

Also..(laughing)....THAT theory of how the Egyptians built the pyramids is NOT proven.
Sweep

I guess. Any mounted dolly is designed to work on a fairly unobstructed and flat surface. You have the potential of all sorts of hangups. I use the normal 4 wheel piano dolly and a tommygate on a pickup and pipes to roll in. Keeps the piano off casters. I would worry about the thing tipping or getting away from you with a mounted dolly, but I'm probably over cautious. Plus unless it's one of those low kind you will have pedal problems. May the Force be with you.

You might well find that you can replace the existing casters with larger, much more sturdy ones. Very sturdy, heavy-duty casters are easily available at industrial supply places and some big hardware stores. They may raise the piano up off the floor another inch or so.

To swap casters, you will have to tilt your piano onto its back because you will probably have to install new sockets for the casters, or attach them with screws directly into the bottom board.

I feel obligated to warn you that tilting a piano onto its back can be dangerous, because as the piano's lean angle increases, it can slide away from you. Don't do this alone; block up the piano on a piece of lumber before you begin tilting it so that it cannot slide on the casters and get away from you.

I wouldn't get casters from the hardware store. They are not normally built for a piano's weight.

There are bolt-on metal dollies you can get for upright pianos that have about 3 inch rubber wheels. You can get away with just bolting them to the back of the piano, so you can put them under the piano and bolt them in place, without tilting the piano. They are strong, and really make it easy to roll around. If you really want to bolt it on the bottom, just hang it over the tailgate sometime when you are moving it, and put bolts in from the bottom.

The only drawback to them is that they stick out the back a few inches.

My exwife can attest to the dangers of store bought casters on a upright. I have an ancient custom made dumper, turns an upright on its back with one hand. When the ex was 7 months pregnant with my youngest son I had her tip up an old upright with rubber wheel casters which I just finished some bridge work. I was in front to catch. The casters caught the concrete at just the right angle and the piano slid onto the floor on its back, coming down hard. It caught the lip of the dumper and flipped it up. It came down on the little woman's head and earned her 4 stiches right above the eyebrow. It took her another 6 years to divorce me but I never stopped hearing about that afternoon. (My youngest boy is now 23.) Store bought casters are bad.

Thanks guys.... I think I'll try one more set of extra heavy duty wheels before mounting a permanent dolly. I'll let ya know how it goes.

I like Sams way of getting rid of ex-wives. I just wish I knew that years ago.