Moving a Centipede

[joeycuda]

Battlezone and Asteroids, which I've both had a couple of through the years, have seemed to be some of the worst to move. Like someone said, the shape is about as bad as the sheer weight of all the particle board. 720 is a different beast, with the 25" monitor, but it's a nightmare to move. Before unloading it from my truck, I went by Harbor Freight, got 6 new heavy duty 3" casters and installed them on the bottom with lag bolts. The casters on it were crushed and folded over from the weight.

Out Run and Afterburner are worse..anyone who has moved one of those 2 knows what I'm talking about..

 

[LyonsArcade]

Perhaps I'm just stronger than most, but my biggest problem is the shape of the Atari cabs. Not really the weight.(And I'm the one who lifts the cabs all the way up, while one other person guides).

From the sidewalk up to my place there are a total of 25 stairs and 5 turns. (Some very tight). And if I remember correctly, the dedicated Star Trek seemed to be the heaviest.

Would a Centipede cab be any heavier than my Asteroids or Millipede? (My star Wars had no monitor in it when I got it so it doesn't count. And my Pole Position is an Irish cabinet(PP2)).

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

Darren in my opinion Centipede is LIGHTER than Asteroids or Millipede.

 

[LyonsArcade]

Alright, Centipede apparently weighs 307 pounds. Man, that's heavy for an arcade game. the slanted top kind of makes it 'front' heavy too, making it harder to move. Asteroids I don't have a weight on, but the slanted top on it is much more wicked, making it even worse.

Asteroids Deluxe weighs a whopping 313 pounds! even worse! Check out the cabinet on that bitch. REALLY front heavy.

By comparison, a Pac- Man cabinet? 204 pounds. A Donkey Kong? 220 pounds.

 

[gutsman004]

Goddamn Atari cabs. I hate moving them with a passion. But, a trick I learned from some moving guys might work. They built a cardboard "shute" down my staircase from the upstairs. You'll need a bunch of cardboard, duck tape it down, lay the cab on its back and try sliding it down...

I would wrap the sucker in a heavy blanket,lay it on its' back,and have one person at the top of the stairs while you have your hands/a shoulder/chest braced against the bottom of the cab for resistance and slowly let it slide down the stairs. Of course I don't know how narrow the staircase is nor how sharp of a right angle turn it has so this may not work.

 

[JoshBrown80]

Out Run and Afterburner are worse..anyone who has moved one of those 2 knows what I'm talking about..

I second that..my outrun has caused more injuries, pulled muscles, and near crushes than any other cab I have tried to move *cringe*

 

[nerdygrrl]

I have a Centi, Milli, and an SI Deluxe, they are never moving. Well except for the Millipede that I just sold and offered to deliver Doh.

I suggest strapping it to a piece of plywood like a stretched and sliding the unit down the stairs. The plywood will protect the back of the cabinet and will also add another 20# onto your project

Also I think Space Duel is weighs more

 

[D_Harris]

So I need to move my Centipede down into the basement. I can't use a hand-truck, because there's a right-angle turn on the stairs, and the landing's too small to allow me to turn the game.

My wife and I moved my DK, Jr, and Defender down without any trouble, but I can't figure out any good way to grip hold of the Centipede cabinet.

Any suggestions?

-Jim

The best way would be to not cover the stairs which would make them difficult to step on. But instead, tape cardboard from boxes to two cabinet sides in such an overlapping way that you can slide the game down the stairs on it's side without damage to the cabinet.(Or you can use a blanket).

When you get to the 90° turn you have to upright the game as you approach the wall.

Then you grab the bottom of the game and pull it out to slide it down the rest of the way.(This is why two sides of the cabinet must be protected with cardboard or blanket).

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.