Broadwood Frame Removal .. URGENT help please!

[Byrolinda]

I have an 1897 6'6'' Broadwood short grand which I HAVE to move on Monday. When I bought it a couple of years ago it cost twice as much to move as the purchase price as it is SO phenomenally heavy .. 4 experienced movers with lifting 'jacks'. I can't afford to pay another £400 -500 so decided to dismantle as much as possible.It's stripped right down .. strings off, pins out, all the screws I can find out of wrest plank and bolts out of rim. According to Arthur Reblitz we should be able just to lift it out now. However it still seems fast at the wrest plank end. Did Broadwoods glue the wood of the wrest plank to the iron?? or can anyone give any other suggestions? REALLY, REALLY urgent .. it HAS to go! Thanks

[joseph]

you could have just asked any of us if we wanted a Broadwood for the cost of uplifting. it seems like you might have killed your piano.

[PianoGuy]

I have an 1897 6'6'' Broadwood short grand which I HAVE to move on Monday. When I bought it a couple of years ago it cost twice as much to move as the purchase price as it is SO phenomenally heavy .. 4 experienced movers with lifting 'jacks'. I can't afford to pay another £400 -500 so decided to dismantle as much as possible.It's stripped right down .. strings off, pins out, all the screws I can find out of wrest plank and bolts out of rim.

So let's get this straight.... You decided to dismantle the piano to move it to save £500 in removal fees.
Please tell me I've misinterpreted your actions.

How much do you think it will cost now to get it rebuilt? Because sure as eggs is eggs you won't be able to do it yourself.

[pianobrereton]

I have an identical Broadwood grand of this size and vintage and managed to move it myself with the aid of my partner ( a slight french girl ) from my workshop in kent to my new address in London along with alot of other pianos.
So i find it surprising that your 4 experts had such a difficult time . I would have thought that the cost of rebuilding it far outweigh the cost of a decent removal company.

[joseph]

i remember once i used this steinway for a concert - it was in one hall and was being transported to another. the 'qualified' removal men were actually about to take the frame out because they thought it was too heavy. of course, they didn't get to do that. . . .

[vernon]

Assuming you neither live up a mountain nor several flights of stairs, had you consulted a competent piano removal firm, they would have done the job with two men for far less than the monkey you were quoted.
In addition you wouldn't have been left with a jeriatic joanna in need of a total rebuild.
We'd all be interested where you get the work done for less than the putative removal costs.

[Byrolinda]

Thanks for comments, guys. Well, it's not a great success, and I think I'll just have to reassemble and think again. The frame itself is just too heavy to move .. it's about twice the thickness of any other frame I've ever seen .. virtually bomb-proof! I'm not being arrogant about it, but I don't THINK that putting it back together will be beyond my abilities. Everything was removed carefully and I have recently restrung another instrument pretty successfully ..hard work though! So that my efforts are not completely wasted, I'll use the opportunity to freshen up the soundboard with a coat or two of shellac and do some thorough cleaning. I think my model MUST be a heavier than usual model .. I'm no weakling and I cannot even lift one corner of this piano. My concert grand is much, much lighter.

[mdw]

Cant wait for April 1st, this ones ace and we are 6 months away

[Barrie Heaton]

Was the tuning pins threaded ?

Some Broadwood planks come out with the frame some are tenond to the case


Barrie,

[pianobrereton]

Broadwood used their patented threaded Wrest pins from 1862 to 1897 so its just possible it could be , but these grands are quite light. I have one of these as well and can move it on my own .

[A440]

Yes, It's not really a heavy piano by professional standards. Yes, moving a piano is expensive but, as you admit, it's not an easy job. Taking the frame out to make it easier to move is like taking the engine out of your car to take it to the garage.

[vernon]

Hope he checked to see if the gauges are marked on the wrestplank or frame.

Unless he proposes ro put the old strings back !!

[pianotechman]

If i recolect correctly, on the heavy Broadwood framed grands, the plank is bolted into the frame from the underside, so you have to hoist the frame out, after removing the bolts going into the side of the case at either end, then remove the plank, which may well be glued.
Crumbs, I hope you Know what you're letting yourself in for!