Moving a video game

[CitznFish]

Any tips on loading a game into the back of a pick-up truck? I am picking up a Popeye game tonight (and this time it IS mine for sure!). My friend has a toyota 4x4 and I am wondering how hard these things are to move....



Any tips would be aprpeciated.  I have a large refrigerator dolly, but I am not sure how we are going to lift the game into the back of the truck.

[menace]

first empty it of all moving parts--coin boxes etc.  Then make sure that all your boards are firmed in and not going to vibrate off--also double check the isolation transformer--if this gets lose it will be like a bull in a china shop--adios internals!  I carried mine on their backs but i see them stood up to--personal preference.  Just make sure you tarp if you are on the highway--there's always a gravel truck looking to ruin your day!

[SirPoonga]

if you can pop out the monitor that would help out alot. Otherwise go to a rental place and pick up a fridge hand trunk if you don;t have one.

[CitznFish]

Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately I cnnot even get inside (owner doesn't have the keys to the locks!).   Sounds suspicious, doesn't it? I thought so, but apparently he got a few games years ago from a chuck E Cheese that closed down. The coin box is full of tokens too..


I have a refrig. truck... my worry was getting it up and into the back of my friends truck. Aren't these things 500lbs or so??

[Tailgunner]

I always ask before leaving if the seller has means to lift the cab. If not I'll take a trailer. Generally speaking, uprights weigh between 250 and 350 pounds, so two or three people should be able to lift the cab up into a truck's bed.

Few of the cab's I've bought had locks in the coin doors, even fewer came with keys to the lock on back. Picking them open hasn't proven difficult though, all you need is a small straight bladed screwdriver, a paperclip and time.

I'll second the tarp suggestion as well, you'd be suprised how quickly a downpour will appear when you've got a unprotected rare cab in an open truck.

[kspiff]

Shoot.. I've transported several games, never removed anything from them.. all still working when I got home with no dickering (if working to begin with).

All I do is wrap it in regular cling wrap from the dollar store (a few rolls per game), stick a blanket in the truck bed, back the game up to the tailgate, and load it on its back.  2 man job (1 if you are buff, like Saint).  Just make sure all the stuff in the cab is secure if you do it that way.

I need to get a truck bed tarp, though.  Haven't had the bad luck to buy anything on a rainy day yet

[paigeoliver]

Nintendo cabinets are light. I have moved dozens of games and never taken out a monitor or coin box (I have removed glass bezels though).

If you can't get a Popeye cabinet into the back of a truck by yourself then you aren't even a man.

I never work out, spend most of my time sitting down, yet I can still move these things around by myself without a problem. Even small sets of steps are OK when you are alone (more than 4 usually requires a friend to help though).

The last time I went to make a game trade I went to the guys house (middle of nowhere, went miles on a dirt road just to get there). The guy wasn't home. I saw the stuff I came for in an outbuilding though.

By the time the guy finally showed up two hours later I had unloaded the (heavy Atari cabinet) upright, and the two empty cocktails and other assorted parts I had brought him, and had loaded the pinball machine and two uprights (both with 23" monitors) that I had came for. Heck, I even managed to get them stood up in the bed of the truck. The only reason I even waited around for the guy to show up was because I was supposed to get $50 from him (because I came to him, rather than him to me).

Also. I don't like to stand games up when I move them unless I am moving more than one game. It is hard to secure a single game upright (at least as far as I am concerned). But when you have two games you just strap them firmly to each other, and then to the bed of the truck and they don't move then.

[BobA]

A regular screwdriver inserted into the keyless lock and turned will often open an old cabinet.   Usually a counter clockwise twist.  This may allow you to empty the tokens out off the coin box and check for other loose goods.

BobA

[OSCAR]

I will doubly recommend the advice to remove any loose debris from inside the cabinet prior to transporting it on its back.  Or at the very least, triple-check everything inside the cabinet before powering it up after you unload it.

Learn from my mishap...  I brought home a cabinet (transported lying down) and when I stood it up, I opened it up to check for loose parts, brackets, nuts, etc to make sure none had lodged themselves anywhere.  Well, I missed something.  There was a small washer, probably a 3/16" one used on a joystick bolt or something, that had wedged itself between two lugs on the transformer.  It wasn't there before I brought it home because I had been playing the game before I loaded it up.

Anyway, when I powered up the cab, no game!  Everything else worked (monitor, marquee, coin door), just no game.  Turns out the short caused by the washer blew the fuse for the supply to the power board +5V for the game boards.  Naturally the transformer fuse was some oddball that I couldn't find anywhere locally (I never over-fuse!!), so I had to order one and a couple spares from mouser.com and wait a few days to power up the game again.

If you lay down games to move them, check very carefully for strange things like this.  They do happen...  Here's where the tiny washer was wedged:

[Tailgunner]

Two more pieces of advice for moving cabs.

1) Always carry a working fire extinguisher in the vehicle.

2) If you smoke, use your ashtray.

A blanket wrapped around a cab, a carelessly tossed cigarette butt, and the air swirling around in the back of an open truck will turn into a blazing inferno quicker than you can imagine.

Even if you don't smoke, the extinguisher is a good idea as quite a few smokers concider the world to be their ashtray.

[SirPoonga]

Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately I cnnot even get inside (owner doesn't have the keys to the locks!).   Sounds suspicious, doesn't it? I thought so, but apparently he got a few games years ago from a chuck E Cheese that closed down. The coin box is full of tokens too..


I have a refrig. truck... my worry was getting it up and into the back of my friends truck. Aren't these things 500lbs or so??

how did it go?
I fit my ddragonII in my friends aztek:)


BTw, no keys.  There isn;t ant way into the cabinet?  Going to cut out a lock and make a new door then?

[OSCAR]

Nah, I wouldn't cut out the wood to remove the lock.  What has always worked for me (I never once bought a cabinet with keys included) is to take a large punch or nail set, put it right over the keyhole, and give it a few smacks with a big hammer.  This pops the cylinder right out, taking the cam lever with it.  Then all you have to do is buy a $3 replacement lock instead of fixing the door.

[CitznFish]

Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately I cnnot even get inside (owner doesn't have the keys to the locks!).   Sounds suspicious, doesn't it? I thought so, but apparently he got a few games years ago from a chuck E Cheese that closed down. The coin box is full of tokens too..


I have a refrig. truck... my worry was getting it up and into the back of my friends truck. Aren't these things 500lbs or so??

how did it go?
I fit my ddragonII in my friends aztek:)


BTw, no keys.  There isn;t ant way into the cabinet?  Going to cut out a lock and make a new door then?

Unexpected delays. I was supposed to pick it up today but the owner is out of town on business so now I need to pick it up tomorrow. So far nothing has gone easy aquirring this cab. I can't wait until Super Auctions on 10/25