Fridge-sized cabs, basement stairs, and middle aged me.

[mindwell]

Here is my challenge, summed up in two pictures.

After humping these up and down the stairs for a while now with the help of a cheap moving dolly and, occasionally, my wife, a new approach is needed. Here are the three I'm considering.

1. Refrigerator dolly with stair tracks
2. Long sheet of cardboard placed on stairs, cab laid down, and pushed upwards as cardboard is folded up and over.
3. Some sort of pulley/come-along mechanism to pull laid-down cab up the stairs.

Or......?

Anybody with relevant moving or engineering experience is invited to weigh in with constructive suggestions. In particular, how feasible is #1 above for a single person?

NOTE: if your suggestion in any way entails "downsizing," it will not be relevant to this discussion. Thanks.

 

[High Camp]

Met deze plateautraplift zijn trappen tot 8m eenvoudig te overbruggen

or

Elevators, Stair Lifts, Wheelchair Lifts - HomeLift Mobility

 

[quickfix]

Purchase and install the strips as are shown on the back of Ampeg's 8x10 fridge. They're meant for pushing up or sliding down stairs while laid on their back.

 

[High Camp]

But this one's best, IMHO:

AmeriGlide Stair Lifts - AmeriGlide AC Cargo Lift

 

[Goatrope]

I used to hump an Ampeg SST 4X12 cab up and down stairs like that. I just got under it and rolled it end over end to go down the stairs, and rolled up the same way. Never actually lifted it with my little girl arms, just flipped end over end.

 

[mindwell]

I used to hump an Ampeg SST 4X12 cab up and down stairs like that. I just got under it and rolled it end over end to go down the stairs, and rolled up the same way. Never actually lifted it with my little girl arms, just flipped end over end.

Indeed. I considered that, but the larger of these cabinets are too tall to clear the low staircase ceiling.

 

[DukeLeJeune]

If you go for the appliance dolly with the stairclimber tank-treads, try to find one with an aluminum frame. The steel frame appliance dolly I used to have was close to sixty pounds.

The cardboard makes me nervous. You could slip on it, or otherwise lose control of the cab.

If you do the pulley thing, I'm thinking pulley + dedicated sled, but that still might be a lot of friction to overcome going upstairs.

Any chance you might be able to relocate the items that are underneath the staircase in your photo, and move your cabs into that space?

 

[Anemic_SluG]

I have a friend who purchased a $150 ac winch from harbor freight. Has a slide board. Lay down the cab on the board and press a button. Done.

 

[Basshappi]

Teenage boys

 

[mindwell]

Teenage boys

My Doodz will get there eventually, but it's going to be a few years.

 

[Basshappi]

Future roadies!

 

[mindwell]

'ZACTLY.

 

[Interceptor]

I had the fun of moving 600+ pound equipment racks up stairs early in my career. Fortunately, I don't have to do that any longer.

If we could, we'd lay plank on the stairs and anchor a winch at the top. We would wrap the planks in visqueen sheeting to keep from marking things up. That worked well. The appliance dolly approach we hated, as we figured all the dolly did was add more weight.

On something the size of a big 2x15, my first thought is to get some handles on it on each side, grab it and go up the stairs backwards. Or try a hump strap.

Oh, if you haven't been doing so, back squats and deadlifts will acclimate your body in a matter of months to dealing with heavy weight. Itisn't just about strength, it is developing balance under heavy load.

 

[JGbassman]

Block and tackle, glide strips on the back of the amps and you are golden.

Prolly less than 100 bucks.

The block and tackle winching system will make it easy and the torque ratio is easy to move.

Another thought would be an electric warn winch like the type used on jeeps. Push a button and let it do the work

 

[Bodeanly]

No room for them upstairs? Any chance you could leave a cab in the garage or in the car? I got tired of schlepping and now have cabs that live at a couple rehearsal spots. Nothing like grabbing a bass and hittin' the road. Sorry for not being more helpful.

 

[saltydude]

I had a new washer and dryer delivered. They guys removed and installed both units up and down a tight steep set of stairs with the use of this simple thick nylon strap harness thing. Only one guy did the moving. Made it look easy.

 

[chris_b]

I'd leave those cabs in the hallway.

 

[CaseyJ]

Since you have multiple heads and cabinets, could you leave one upstairs for traveling/gigs?

 

[mindwell]

Since you have multiple heads and cabinets, could you leave one upstairs for traveling/gigs?

Sadly, no. We have limited floor space for a family of four, so they really need to live downstairs.

 

[Freekmagnet]