MOVING? Organ too wide for door? Put on side

[paulj0557]

I've not heard this mentioned, but there are many occasions when a console organ is 29" and your door opening is only 28 inches. Particularly on an interior door jamb. I am facing just such an issue. Fortunately the two organs that must go through the doorway have no molding on the side of the organ that needs to be on the floor side. Although I am dealing with a hard wood floor it's easy to obtain a piece of carpet and a few furniture sliders to make the job easier.

Organs with no legs ( RT-2), or legs that remove ( Wurli 4500) are the easiest to deal with and if the organ has legs that won't remove ( Hammond Elegante 340100 ) then your opportunities are decreased, but you might get lucky.

If you are not good with figuring geometry the best bet is to get a big piece of cardboard and mate it up to the side of the organ and just draw around the outside dimensions 0f the organ and cut it out . Then maneuver this cutout in the directions that will work. You can also flip the cutout over to resemble the other side of the organ because you might find it will work better.

I got the idea not long ago when I had to get a sofa through a door and the only way to do it was on end. In fact most sofas are moved this way.

Yes, it would be better to find another solution, but dismantling 50 year old organs is not very feasible.

My Thomas Palace III is 31 inches wide and it needs to go through the side door of the house where I am moving. Since there is a direct flight of stairs down to a basement through this door there is no hope of putting it on it's side. This is one BIG organ! It's key desk is 17 inches deep. Also it has the curved accent area that connects the top to the base ( it has a name, but forget). Only one thing to do- get out the angle grinder and saws-all and remove one pillar of a 28 3/4 " steel door jamb... thought I was going to say organ lol? Then it's free sailing 32 inches down the 32 inch wide steps.

The best time to love a spinet is when you have to move it, they go anywhere. However, there is a post right in the center of the small hallway where the bedrooms meet in the house where I'm moving. I think I might be lucky on the consoles because there is a linen closet where an organ can make a second spin if needed. Picture a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood laying down with a 3"x3" post right in the center. This is what I'm dealing with. If the pillar wasn't there it would be easier, but I'd still have to put the console on it's side.

Please comment about your organ moving experiences. Has anyone ever used Forearm Forklift straps to move an organ? Is it easier to put an organ on a sled and pulling and pushing at the same time? Like this-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYA-vVFXgXQ

this is interesting- http://youtu.be/ppjf9--Sfcs

[andyg]

The 'curvy bit' was the technical term I always used. More than one curvy bit has been sawn off - carefullly! - to allow entry, then glued back later.

[indianajo]

Can't watch your video. I use a 2000 lb car hauling ratchet strap around the organ base, with a rope loop tied through one end, to push and pull horizontally. I've found putting 1/8" UHMW plastic, a 2'x4' sheet, under the organ and on top of door sills and stairs, works better than a dolly on non-level surface. I put a fence pipe through interior doorways, padded against the wall with phone books, as a fulcrum to winch the organ up into the house over the sill. I use a porta-pull and log chains for the winching.
I use another rachet car haul strap around the organ, with an engine cardboard box over the keys to prevent breakage, to lift the organ up the stairs. I put a bed frame rail above the porch on the second story, and drilled a 3/8" hole down through the porch ceiling, and installed some 3/8" all thread and a lifting eye above the porch to lift the organ with. The Wurli 4500 was left on the sidewalk by the previous owner for $20 gas money. I replaced the wood legs with steel, and lifted it up 6 steps and over the sill into the dining room by myself. I have a 1200 lb 4 wheel furniture dolly with 5" pro quality plastic wheel casters for across the carpet. Hasn't hurt any pedal switches yet, but experience is limited to Hammond H100's and Wurlitzer 4500/4300.
Putting the organ on its side to turn the keybed through a narrow door is viable, but I would use the rubber padded dolly if level, and the UHMW under a carpet scrap if not level. Of course the music rack and anything else that unscrews comes off before all this.
All the advice about Roll-a-lifts is wonderful, but they are about $1200 a pair and not for rent in the Louisville market without 2 men and a truck at $39 an hour, 2 hour minimum. Unless I start making money at this hobby, not buying any. With Baldwins Allens and Steinways going to Goodwil charity resale shop for free, not likely any time soon.

[Charlie Metcalf]

I had to take my Hammond CV around a tight corner, then into a doorway. This made it essentially a "U-Turn" shaped movement to the left. I locked the generator, then removed he organ back to allow more places to grasp the console. Next I removed the cover and fallboard to keep them from flopping around. I removed the door from the hinges to the room we were entering. My friends and I tilted the console on its side and onto a furniture dolly. We rolled it around the corner and into the room with ease.

I'm glad it went easily because we plan to sell this house and will need to reverse the process to get my Hammond out.

[torea]

My dad and I use the Forearm Forklifts all the time. Great for taking a RoK-equipped Hammond up stairs. They really do make a big difference. I'm sure they'd help your back if you were trying to carry one sideways too.

...

I'm glad it went easily because we plan to sell this house and will need to reverse the process to get my Hammond out.

Ah, just smash a small, tidy hole in one of the walls and cart it out. Tell the new owner "uhh, it was like that when we got it. I think it adds a contemporary element to the traditional stylings of the home. No givesies-backsies!"

[paulj0557]

Thanks guys for the reputation points...I wondered what those dots were. Indiana Joe, If you've seen the old Laurel & Hardy piano moving silent picture it had a set of steps like that, straight up with no landings. These guys were moving a spinet piano about like a Baldwin Howard. They had it wrapped and strapped to a fairly thin sled (maybe curved on the front side?) and with two guys at the top they used ropes about 4-5 feet long and attached at the bottom front corner of each side. The upper guys started out pulling backwards, but realized they fared better pulling it like a disobedient dog sideways, using the stair's rail for balance while planting their feet on the next step.

Hey I just went and looked at a free Gulbransen model V from 62' about 3 blocks from me. I'm going to pick it up on Friday. Wow! Nice spinet. Someone started a thread about the V a few months ago so I'm adding to it. I just can't resist getting it because of what it is. Transistor individual oscillators, amazing glock. I had to save it, it has a 2- 6bq5 power amp in it so I was afraid of the amp might end up junked for a guitar amp. No way! This one is completely untouched original and it completely works. It has reverb, built in real Leslie horizontal drum. The 3 tabs for bass is loud deep and even subsonic! Also has the bench. I'm picking it up Friday.

[gtc]

If you've seen the old Laurel & Hardy piano moving silent picture it had a set of steps like that, straight up with no landings.

Probably my favorite L&H film. Here, allegedly, is that set of steps today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d6ZvD2e9EI

[lparsons21]

When I took delivery of my Lowrey Palladium console, it had to go down a narrow hallway and make a sharp turn to go through an interior doorway that was not big at all. The guys that did it just put it up on end on the dolly and away they went. Quick and easy for them, and since I was just an observer, pretty quick and easy for me too!

[paulj0557]

Moved 2 organs on side with smaller 4- swivel dolly able to spin around corners. Made possible for Wurlitzer 4500 and Gulbransen G-3a, and Hammond S6, and soo to move in Gully Rilato II.
Since my recent move I have had various degrees of difficulty moving my organs. Organ dollies are a major help and at $27 a weekend they are well worth renting. I got my Wurlitzer 4500 from the basement using a come along , organ dollies, and a ramp. If you do this you will need two helpers downstairs and at least one above operating the come along. Where it got tricky was at the final length of pull at the top of the steps and the two long planks needed to be pulled out for better footing on the steps. Scary, but got it done and a very smart thing to do when moving an organ is to tape cardboard across the front and at each side block inner,outer, front edge, and top. I used HVAC foil tape. Just don't use something that will be impossible to remove and harms the finish.
Got my RT-2 in the house. I believe the vibrato scanner is a bit stiff. After a little localized Hammond oil it did free up long enough to run for a 20-30 minute stint- long enough to notice the RT-2's preamp had no glow on the two glass tubes and no warmth on the mains transformer, had line AC in though. Other projects on the move in have not allowed me the time to dedicate to it. First I'll check for secondary transformer output. There was a pile of wax below the transformer when I lifted the chassis. The old 31-H did operate just dandy with little hum. No other 6-pin Amphenol plug handy to test it for real, but a wiggle of the plug gave it a familiar line-in cable buzz. The hiss is there on the high rotor. For an all original Leslie it has a surprisingly low amount of hum...but still a little too high.

Just brought in the Wurlitzer 4410 and can't wait to get it in the basement with the Wurlitzer 310 cabinet that is strapped to a refrigerator dolly right now with the amps removed for a safer move.
I think the Gulbransen G-3a would sound really nice on the 310 as well, but the layout will allow the two cabinets upstairs to have a try on the Gully, those being the Leslie 31-H and the 705 & two 540's ready for the Rialto II that is still in storage, but hope to get out by the 6th of September so I don't have to pay another month of storage on it and the Elegante.

Part of me wants to unload the RT-2 and just put the Elegante in it's place. The Elegante is perfect physically and playing wise, where the RT-2 needs refinishing, the preamp is questionable, twio dead tubes on the solo pedal unit. I'm sure putting this out there will get me varied opinions about what to do, but I'm mixed opinion wise. Man, the Elegante is very awesome, but the RT-2 is the real deal...wait, so is the Elegante...see? Maybe the jazzers couldn't make an Elegante speak the same way, but maybe they never rigged it up to some prime vintage Leslies and Hammond tone cabinets? I already know the RT-2 will be great, but very very curious how the Elegante will fare. Would love to hear feedback from anyone who has used non-solid state amps on the draw bar side of an Elegante,Aurora, etc. of the later Hammond LSI's

[james]

PaulJ,

I have played a few of the Hammond LSI models with drawbars, and the Composer spinet is the one that comes to mind right now. It only has a set of drawbars for the upper manual, and then tabs for the strings, reeds, and Diapason tones. The lower manual has five stops with flute 8' and 4'. I was amazed at how smooth this organ sounded, and I found the features with the colored square pistons and even a couple of presets to be a very nice sounding organ. You will enjoy the Elegante, and I would go with that one first if you own a tonewheel.

How is the small Gulbransen G3A coming along? You have been so busy moving I do wonder if you have had time to play it and check it out.

Keep us posted. You always have some interesting posts on here as well as worthwhile info to share with everyone.

James