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Transporting large cabinet.
my58vw:
Hello arcade controls
In a few weeks I will need to transport home a large beatmania cabinet that I am purchasing about 1100 miles away.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Beatmania6thmix.jpg
http://www.arcade-history.com/pages/mini_cabinet.php?fi=3507.jpg&nl=160&nh=237
(This is not the same cabinet, but just like the one I am transporting)
The top marque section can come off, and with the marque on top on it is 6.5 feet (77 inches) tall, and weighs about 500 pounds. I am planning on bringing it is an uhaul trailer pulled by the jeep patroit. What would be the best way to get it in the trailer, and home.
Another option is an open ramp trailer which I can stand the arcade cabinet up and drive it that way.
BTW I have one other person helping getting into the trailer, and maybe 2 more to get it out.
MonMotha:
Having help move a beatmania, I can say that, assuming everything is screwed down properly, there's no problem putting it on its back or side and just transporting it like you might any other cabinet. I've moved a para para in the bed of a pickup with the stage in a minivan, worked fine. beatmania got moved in a large commecial van ("white van man" style) on its back.
Basically, get a vehicle big enough and chuck it in there. If possible, try to secure it in some way (especially in a pickup), but in most cases you can just go easy on the driving.
To move the cabinet itself around, find a dolly that's of a reasonable size and put the cabinet on it. Be sure to use a strap to secure it to the dolly. The cabinet will have casters, but they're really only useful on hard floors, concrete, or level carpeting. Getting it into the trailer might present a hassle depending on how high it is. If it's sufficiently low, tip the cabinet back into the trailer and then push it in. 2 people probably won't be enough to just lift and carry a full size beatmania (though possibly a mini).
That said, if it's 1100 miles away, just call up the North American Van Lines high value division. There's a gal who specializes in setting up arcade moves. NAVL has STI move it, and they do a very good job. In the end, it'll probably cost you no more than renting a truck and paying for gas, and somebody else will handle it for you. They'll even help you move it into your residence if no stairs are involved.
Are you by chance purchasing this from an arcade in Bloomington, IN?
my58vw:
American Van Lines wants way more than I can pick it up for (over 800 dollars!) where I can pick it up for about 400 - 450 dollars including the trailer and gas/hotel for two nights. The UHAUL Trailers are very low, lower than a pickup bed. I thought of tipping it onto the back over the edge of the trailer onto a piano dolly, then getting a few guys to lift the end of the cabinet up onto another set of rollers and then roll it in.
Here is the trailer
http://www.yukoncollege.yk.ca/~agraham/move2005/images/2packing%20uhaul%201.jpg
MonMotha:
That price seems unusually high. It should be in the realm of $550-700. I just had a full size beatmaniaIIDX shipped from Washington state to Indiana for way less and IIDX is way bigger than regular beatmania, is heavier, and it's two pieces. I know you can ship a Pump It Up (similar to DDR) machine for about what you're quoting, and that's two very large pieces (full size cabinet plus the stages stacked on a pallet). Factor in all that time spent driving (even at a really low value), and I'm guessing you come out ahead, but whatever you wish to do is your choice.
Is this a mini or a full-size beatmania? Where's it coming from and going to? If it's a mini core remix from Bloomington, IN, then I'm very, very familiar with the machine :)
my58vw:
It is a "the final" that was upgraded from complete mix 2, and includes the cm2, 6th mix, and 4th mix from a personal bemani collector in Washington that is moving and needs to downsize a bit.
The cabinet is going from Olympia Washington to Riverside California