Where can I get a good Dolly for stairs?

[XtraSmiley]

After getting hooked on buying machines and building my own, I realize I need a good dolly that can help me do stairs to save my back on moving, anyone know of one that's around 60-100 bucks and really sturdy?  I've seen ones on the internet for $40, but I'm not sure I trust these...  Thanks guys and gals.

[Ken Layton]

Don't bother with the cheap hand trucks when dealing with stair climbing. Get a Mag-Liner hand truck. They are expensive (around $300)  but worth every penny. Happ Controls has them.

[XtraSmiley]

Really?  I was going for something where I may use it 2-3 times every 1-3 years.  Should I really spend the extra money?

[allroy1975]

I went to Home Depot and got a nice dolly with air tires and stuff for like.  $30.  I also have some of those Racheting Tie Downs...you know..those ones that are good for making sure your new pinball machine doesn't fall out the back of the pick up truck?  I use those to strap the Machine to the Dolly and it works great.  I still always get 2 people to move a machine down stairs..but those air tires make it easire.  I just put my brother in law under the machine and I stay on the handle side of it and make sure it doesn't come down on him too fast.  

I only do 2 or 3 a year too...so..that's my advise.


Allroy

[XtraSmiley]

Cool, does it have those things for the stairs?  That's what I really need, being a weakling and all!

[Mugzilla]

Go rent one at U-haul.

Big, tough, and they have the "tread" on the back for going downstairs...

[mr.Curmudgeon]

I'd just go to my local moving company and rent their fridge dolly. Or look to buy the heaviest duty fridge dooly you can buy. This is not the type of hardware you want to skimp on.

It has both the tracks for doing stairs as well as a strap to lock the cabinet onto the dolly. You can move an entire fridge by yourself if used properly.

I use to work for moving company myself and these things are niiice.

[spidermonkey]

http://www.harborfreight.com/

Go here and type in "hand trucks"  The one for $114.99 is the one I have. and it does have the rubber crawler tracks for stairs and a nice adjustable tie down strap. I've bought lots of stuff from these guys. Good company to deal with. Don't bother with the cheaper ones with the pneumatic tires as they are no good for moving stuff that heavy and you won't find one of those with stair crawlers anyway. The one for $114.99 is as close as you can get to the real professional aluminum appliance carriers without the $400.00 price tag.

[spidermonkey]

And if you're REALLY serious about professional ones and want the real deal then go here.

http://www.handtruckstore.com/?OVRAW=hand%20trucks&OVKEY=hand%20truck&OVMTC=standard

[paigeoliver]

If you are really serious about keeping your games in good condition then you won't use a dolly on stairs at all.  The ones without the stair climbing stuff on them bounce the games all over the place, and the stair climbing ones still give me the heeby geebies.

I always just carry my games up the steps manually, there is little chance of an accident then. (Oh, and before you say "But Paige, my cab has to go into the BASEMENT, or I might MOVE in a year", let me just say that I own like 20 games, and I live on the second floor, and have moved several times in the last few years).

If the game is a bit heavy for two people then pull the monitor out. That will usually lighten up any game enough for two men to carry it with ease. Also, ALWAYS have two people when moving games up and down steps, stair climbing dolly or not.

[mr.Curmudgeon]

let me just say that I own like 20 games, and I live on the second floor, and have moved several times in the last few years

Just in case our paths should ever cross and we were to befriend each other, I just want to get this out of the way now...I will never help you move!  

[XtraSmiley]

LOL, yeah, no kidding.  I also live on the second floor, but 20 games?  Moving so much!  Yeah, it's gonna have the stair threads, taking the monitor out is not an option right now as I'm still kind of scared of releasing the electricity.  Anyway, like I said, they won't get moved that often, and also there will be 4 people helping.  Two on top pulling, two on bottom steading.  I don't want to risk any damage to the walls or machines.  By the way, I found a $40 dolly that looks just like the $114 one.  I'll post a link later.

[eightbit]

For occasional use just rent a good one. Also note they can sometimes be more hindrance than help if you have tight corners or a landing on the stairs. We got a game to the bottom of my stairs where it need to turn into the basement but couldn't with the dolly on it. We had to go back up 2 stairs and get the dolly off it while holding it up. It wasn't fun.

[Stingray]

If you only need one a couple times a year I have to agree with the guys who said just rent one.

-S

[paigeoliver]

You don't have to discharge a monitor to remove it from the game, only to remove the monitor boards from the chassis.

To remove a monitor from the game just unplug it, unbolt it, and grab it by the frame.

[SirPoonga]

Yep, just rent a fridge dolly.  The ones with the treads on the back for going up/down stairs.

[DarkKobold]

How much does it cost to rent a fridge dolly? Like, after x number of rentals, have you already paid for the dang thing?

also, paige - moving arcades, he just doesn't show you the full truth

[Trenchbroom]

Cost me $12 to rent a fridge dolly for 3 hours from the local U-Haul last year.  Not much money and 100% worth it.

[XtraSmiley]

I just bought this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2591914486&category=26222&sspagename=STRK%3AMEBDW%3AIT&rd=1

Renting doesn't seem to make sense to me b/c after 3-4 time I could have owned it.  Also, shhh, don't tell anyone, but if you contact the store via email, they'll sell you one of these for $39.99, instead of $100.  As for the quality of it, I'll let you guys know when it gets here on Wed.  X

[Tailgunner]

Don't bother with the cheap hand trucks when dealing with stair climbing. Get a Mag-Liner hand truck. They are expensive (around $300)  but worth every penny. Happ Controls has them.

I already owned a "refrigerator mover" style hand truck, but after using the 4 wheel type at an auction I bought my own set. They're expensive, but not having to balance a top heavy arcade cab while moving it sold me on their worth. I went with the steel Stevens ST-M hand truck, Happ sells them as well as the Mag-Liners.

http://www.happcontrols.com/material_handling/33000300.htm