Any problems with shipping a pinball with the legs on?

Grantman

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Any problems with shipping a pinball with the legs on?

I asked a shipper (Michelle Bianchi at a NAVL affiliate) what kind of preparation was needed to ship a pinball machine and she said all it needs is for the head to be folded down on some cushion against the glass. They can move it with the legs on. Actually, you can read her exact words:

"What we ask is that the head be folded over the
playfield, with some padding in between. We will corner board and blanket
wrap the machine. It doesn't need to be on a pallet, only if you are
shipping it with the legs off. It is completely up to you if you choose to
ship with the legs off."

Has anyone done this with the legs on? Were there any problems? Is there any other preparation needed if they are going to be moving it upright like this?

Thanks for any feedback on this.
 
I wouldn't ship a pinball machine with the legs on. I've seen it done without damage but it's just not the best way to do it. If nothing else you're taking up a bunch of unnecessary space under the body.

First remove the balls and anything that might be inside the cabinet. I would fold the head down with cardboard between the head and body then strap the head to the body. Then remove the back legs, set the machine in it's back then remove the front legs. At that point you can wrap it however you want or let the shipper wrap it. Personally I would wrap it with cardboard and plastic wrap. That's really how these things were intended to be moved. Moving a pinball machine any distance with the legs on is asking for trouble.

Just my $.02
 
Mine was delivered in a dropgate delivery truck with the legs still on, they had a pinball cover over it, back box was up, they even left the balls in didn't seem to bad, but they only had a 1 hour drive to my home too.
 
I've only bought two pins that needed shipping. The first came legs on, no problem, over 800km's. As long as you make sure the legs arn't tight. If you loosen the bolts slightly it allows for some movement within the body.

The one that came on a pallet was no problem either. The backbox latch got smashed during transport but otherwise it was all good. I would say either way is just as good.
 
I've had 2 machines shipped that way to me with the legs on and had no problems. Shipped one machine out and it arrived just fine.
 
I wouldn't do that. More chance of the legs gouging the cabinet or loosening the cabinet seams. Having the cabinet rocking around on loose legs is not a good thing.

Agree with the above. Don't loosen them off much and they are ok. One full turn of the bolt is all it needs. If the pin is strapped to the side of the truck with this method all is good.
 
Not to get you worried but my brother had a Williams pitch & bat shipped with the legs on to him by NAVL. It looks like they strapped around the legs or the straps slipped. Two bent legs, lots of wood damage to the cab. IMO, don't do it. Six months latter, the claim is still pending.
 
Agree with the above. Don't loosen them off much and they are ok. One full turn of the bolt is all it needs. If the pin is strapped to the side of the truck with this method all is good.

I don't agree...ship with legs off,strap to the pallet...wrap and all will be good.Why take a chance?
 
I had a Pinbot show up on a truck (from the upper East Coast somewhere) with the legs on and the head up. Couldn't believe anyone actually shipped it that way.

When we ship pins, we pull the balls, coin box, and any loose parts or paperwork, lay the head down on a cushion and saran wrap it to the body, remove the legs and stand it up, wrap the entire thing with cardboard and plastic wrap (with the legs, coin box, etc up on top), and then strap the entire thing to a pallet....
 
There's nothing good about shipping with the legs on. I don't need experience to know what will happen as the legs move or are stressed. That stress has to go somewhere and that somewhere is the wooden cabinet.
 
No!

Don't take the chance.. Take the legs off, wrap them up.. I've seen more pins with damage from legs being too tight and cracking the cab and artwork.. To people moving them without taking them off, bent legs, broken bolt holes and so on..
 
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