30 replies to this topic

[Tempest]

OK so I finally got my first arcade machine at Philly (a nice DECO Cassette system), so now I want to move it upstairs to my room. Unfortunately there's a problem. My stairs go up to a landing and then do a right angle to the top. This arcade machine is HEAVY and its also unusally tall (over 6") so moving it with only two people is really tough.

What's the best way to get this beast upstairs? I'm seriously thinking of calling movers and seeing if they can get it up stairs. My other thought was maybe I could take it apart to make it lighter (take the monitor out and such). Any ideas? The stairs are kind of cramped so there isn't room for people on either side of the machine, only on the front and back. There also isn't a great place to grip it except on the bottom of the machine.

Tempest

[killersquirel]

I would get a handcart (handtruck?). Preferably, on that has straps, so that you can secure the game to the handcart. Bring it up backwards, with a friend behind you for support.

-Mike

[Tempest]

The problem with that is once you get it to the landing there's no room to get the dolly out. also this thing has a weird base on it. It has a little "box" underneath the bottom of the cabinet where the wheels are. It looks like this:

==========
....======

So the blades on the dolly don't quite sit right.

Tempest

[UK WOMBLE]

I had a similar problem moving 2 large fruit machines (Gambling machines, large coin-ops) upstairs for my wife a couple years ago. I literally had to remove doors/handrails/ even doorframes !!

There really is no other way unless you have a balcony or such like and can get some good rope !!

It has to be 2 blokes underneath, at least 1 above, preferably on the thinish side if possible, I was shitting myself about the thing slipping and killing one of my mates, which is why I was at the top !! If your worried, fasten it to someone (*large) upstairs via a rope as well.

There is no device I know of that can do this any easier than your own brute strength, I guarantee you have no less space to manouvre in than what we had. Need a few blokes though, and its always easier when your thick wife isnt standing above you moaning about the scrapes on the walls and dents on the machines when your halfway up the stairs with her bloody machines !

Taking it apart wasnt something I even considered, pain in the ass i reckon. It would still be a nightmare to move, especially a machine like that I reckon.

Dont kill anyone.... but more importantly, dont damage the cab !

Si

[ATARIPITBULL]

I had the same problem with my Exidy Venture arcade game when I brought it home, at first I put it on the second floor of my house and I had to lift the whole thing by my self, with only my little cousin guiding me at the top, then my wife told me she did not want it up there so I had to take it to my basement and once again I had to hold the whole weight in my arms as my cousin guided from the top. a hand cart can be too big and in the way when moving these machines up and down tight stair ways, so you just might have to get some guy's to help you lift it by hand.

:!:

[rpmxxipt]

Press a gang of kids under 18 and pay 'em $10 each to hoop that cabinet around those stairs.

[jedijeff]

Taking the monitor and power supply out will help make it lighter. Just make sure you measure it and make sure it will fit up the stairs before you go to all the trouble of taking it apart.

Jeff

[Tempest]

I also thought about paying some movers to haul it up stairs, but I don't know if you can do something like that for just one item. Besides, I bet it would be really expensive.

Tempest

[sku_u]

If you can't get it to negotiate the corner, can you rig a pulley to pull the cab up and through the window, or is the window too small?

[sebastius]

Dis-assemble the cabinet. Gives you the opportunity to clean it and to move it.

[Rocko]

Two things:

1. I dont think its gonna happen. Find a place downstairs.

2. If you want to live in that home for a while, just take it apart. If not, you gotta lug that thing down agian, so is it worth it?

[donkeykong1]

I had the same problem recently. What I did was go to the local Home Depot and got two guys standing outside looking for work and they helped me get it up there. The machine was heavy too. It was a converted Mortal Kombat, now a Neo Geo with two game slots, Samurai Showdown and SuperKicks. My other machines are in storage.

[Tempest]

I just got it up stairs today with the help of a friend.

Tempest

[Cassidy Nolen]

Any luck yet getting it up there, man?

I would suggest two guys to help you push, and you get at the top and guide/pull. The weight in that cabinet is pretty well evenly distributed. I would suggest wrapping the shrinkwrap partially around the cab, if you still have it. That would protect it some.

It probably would not go back together particularly well if you took it all the way to pieces. You could pull the monitor (disconnect all the wiring; power and the video input cable in the upper right hand of the monitor chassis), pull the control panel, pull the plexiglass, pull the bezel and tint screen, six spacer screws, four monitor bolts and pop the monitor out through the front. Its a pain, but its about 35 pounds of the weight gone.

BTW, Ataripitbull, I had to solo a Venture up and down a flight too. I wore a weight belt, and used a dolly. It ended up in the way of the game, I feel your pain on that cabinet, bro. So pretty, so heavy!

Cassidy

[Albert]

Heh, I had a similar problem several months ago when I moved into a townhouse. The washer and dryer are *UPSTAIRS* (near the bedrooms), but there's a 90 degree turn near the top of the stairs. Getting the dryer up wasn't *too* bad, but my god, Alex and I nearly killed ourselves getting the washing machine up the stairs. No way in hell we could even use a dolly. We got it up to the turn and just could not get the damn thing any further. We must have sat there for an hour cussing and swearing, with thoughts of getting the Sawzall out to hack it into pieces racing through my head. I'll let movers handle it next time.

That reminds me, I need to get some spackle and paint.

..Al

[bjk7382]

This reminds me of when I was helping my friend move and we went to get the entertainment center up the stairs and he said "Yeah, we got it already assembled, and got it down the stairs" and then as we get it halfway up the stairs and it seems pretty damn heavy and tight, he asks his girl and she says "No, we put that together down there"

So here we are ripping lights off the wall of his rental house he is moving out of, and we eventually get it out with a few scratches to the walls

[Saikyo]

Well done man!

[Pixellated Ghost]

Speaking of moving an arcade machine upstairs, I just got this little beauty a few days ago... sure it's pretty compact, but it sure as hell wasn't light. carried it up the stairs myself. This thing must weigh over 80 lbs.

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[rpmxxipt]

Pixellated Ghost said:

Speaking of moving an arcade machine upstairs, I just got this little beauty a few days ago... sure it's pretty compact, but it sure as hell wasn't light. carried it up the stairs myself. This thing must weigh over 80 lbs.

That must be the heaviest lava lamp ever made!

[Pixellated Ghost]

rpmxxipt said:

Pixellated Ghost said:

Speaking of moving an arcade machine upstairs, I just got this little beauty a few days ago... sure it's pretty compact, but it sure as hell wasn't light. carried it up the stairs myself. This thing must weigh over 80 lbs.

That must be the heaviest lava lamp ever made!

Actually that one's a plasma storm lamp with tricolor lightning.

[Albert]

Pixellated Ghost said:

Speaking of moving an arcade machine upstairs, I just got this little beauty a few days ago... sure it's pretty compact, but it sure as hell wasn't light. carried it up the stairs myself. This thing must weigh over 80 lbs.

I want one! I've never seen an Arkanoid like that, and I love the game.

..Al

[Pixellated Ghost]

Albert said:

Pixellated Ghost said:

Speaking of moving an arcade machine upstairs, I just got this little beauty a few days ago... sure it's pretty compact, but it sure as hell wasn't light. carried it up the stairs myself. This thing must weigh over 80 lbs.

I want one! I've never seen an Arkanoid like that, and I love the game.

..Al

That's one of my favorites as well. Splendid update of Breakout. Before I got the machine I last played this in 1987. And the small cabinet is great as I'm really short on space.

[EricBall]

deleted

[Rocko]

Pixellated Ghost said:

rpmxxipt said:

Pixellated Ghost said:

Speaking of moving an arcade machine upstairs, I just got this little beauty a few days ago... sure it's pretty compact, but it sure as hell wasn't light. carried it up the stairs myself. This thing must weigh over 80 lbs.

That must be the heaviest lava lamp ever made!

Actually that one's a plasma storm lamp with tricolor lightning.

Yep, I got one of those (the lamp) those are REALLY REALLY heavy

How much did you pay for that (the machine)?

[Stingray]

Arkanoid is one of those games that was conversion only so you see it in all kinds of cabs. Never seen it in a bartop though.

-S