Moving Pinball Machines By Yourself (is hard)

supertechnoboy

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Sometimes I need to move my pin around, and it's really heavy. The last time I rearranged, I put a wood pallet on a car jack and ran it up under the center. It worked OK, but I wondered what other people have come up with. I think the best idea is just to grab a buddy, but that's not always an option.
 
I have something similar to this, but it doesn't have the big piston.

pinballdolly.jpg


Otherwise, if you have to move them a decent distance and don't have help, take the balls and anything loose inside (like a coin box) out, fold the head down and strap it to the body, take the back legs off and set the bottom on the floor, stand it upright, and then use a handtruck against the bottom to move it....
 
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I've got the skates and absolutely love them. They're small and fold up so you can transport them with the pin in the SUV, unlike the harbor freight lift. The skates are also tough enough to use outdoors on rough pavement. Worth every cent.

http://cgi.ebay.com/PINBALL-MACHINE...WHEEL-SET_W0QQitemZ260290513430QQcmdZViewItem

I also have a slightly different version of the pin wheels and they are good for pushing pins around the shop while servicing them but they just can't go outdoors without getting jammed up on every uneven surface.
 
if you have a wide enough dolly you can catch the back legs an move it around.

Pin skates work great, but if your space is tight, then you might have a problem getting them off the skates.

pin dollys can sometimes hit/chip the front of the cabinet if your not careful.

they sell a mod to the scissor lift for pin use. This mod looks cool.

http://www.jeff-z.com/pinball/dolly/dolly.html[FONT=arial, sans-serif][/FONT][FONT=arial, sans-serif][/FONT]
 
yeah i need to get some... what i use now is two of those cheapie 4 wheel movers dollys with boards on top...

like these:
00185_lg.jpg
 
yeah i need to get some... what i use now is two of those cheapie 4 wheel movers dollys with boards on top...

like these:
00185_lg.jpg


these are key for moving pool tables. the dolly Mod is suggesting works great. I also have the one without the big piston in it and it works great. the wheels are great working in a shop but not transporting elsewhere.

using a dolly between the backlegs can also be done with out taking any legs off. you just lift the pin up from the front.
 

Many people use this cart or something similar.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=93116

There are many threads on RGP describing how to modify it for optimal pinball use.


You can buy those same "pin wheels" at Wal Mart. I've got several sets and they work great on a hard flat surface (like the garage).


Harbor Freight has a different one that only has about 11" of lift but it looks like it would be real easy to mount some 2x4 rails a little higher to do the same thing as a real pin dolly.

There is also a site where a guy details how he build a pin dolly out of wood. It looks like it would work quite well. Link: http://www.biltronix.com/pinball_dolly.html.

ken
 
I was gonna be picking up my first pin in a couple of weeks...this is great advice! think I'll swing by walmart to try and find those wheels. shipping was $18 for the ebay ones! what section were the wheels in? automotive?
 
In my Walmart (your mileage may vary) they were in the hardware sextion across the aisle from electrical. They had a couple of boxes of casters and those furniture slider things and the three wheelers.

The shipping was what made me buy them locally.

ken
 
I use these, I got them at Crappy Tire. But most hardware stores sell them. They work good enough for my purposes. Wouldnt be good for thick carpet or anything. I want a nice dolly someday :)
 

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I have these under both my pins and vids www.magicsliders.com

Works great on linoleum, wood and concrete floors. Got mine over at Home Depot. The 2 3/8 concave fit perfect and come in a package of 4. If you put in on a vid, make sure someone is holding one side since it'll start sliding around! LOL
 
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Thanks for all of the excellent suggestions! I think every suggestion is better than my ghetto pallet/floor jack contraption. Let me try to summarize, in order of ascending price.

-Fold down back box, remove back legs, use hand truck $0 (thanks, mod)
-"Pin wheels" dolly set ~$36 on eBay (thanks, cadillacman) cheaper at Wally World (thanks, YellowDog)
-Manual lift cart made of wood $? (thanks, YellowDog)
-Manual lift cart made of metal $? (thanks, mod)
-Pinball skates ~$115 (thanks, xray2) those things win most clever, I think
-Modded Sears Hydraulic Lift $90 + wood (thanks, mrbill2084)
-Harbor Frieght Hydraulic Cart ~$260 (thanks, Oryk Zinyo)

I need to buy a few more pins to justify the higher-priced options here, and I don't move things around very much, so I think I'll get a dolly set. I really like the pinball skates, though. I had no idea such a thing existed.
 
Sometimes I need to move my pin around, and it's really heavy. The last time I rearranged, I put a wood pallet on a car jack and ran it up under the center. It worked OK, but I wondered what other people have come up with. I think the best idea is just to grab a buddy, but that's not always an option.

*shrug*

I've broken down, folded up, de-legged, and moved 10 pins solo in the last couple of weeks... Wide body pins like my TZ and RS are a bit of a pain in the ass, but not really too too bad.

Now the time I moved my DE Star Trek 25 down a couple flights of stairs solo -- that was kinda dumb.
 
I have some of these I picked up from Lowes many years ago, and they work great for vids and pins. Especially pins.

Wade
I could not find any at my Wal-Mart, but Lowes had them for $8 a pop in the hardware section. Now I'm ready for anything! Bring on the socialized medicine! Bring on the Korean nukes! Bring on the pig flu! I'll roll ALL you mofos.

Edit: And Hudson, you must be stocky fella. Stockier than me anyway.
 
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