Take the head completely off.

Straps for lifting/moving refrigerators.

And a couple human fork lift type friends to help.

LTG : )

I've had to use 2 hand carts.
I place one lined up with the stairs
the other I lift game from the right side, go in sideways
and line it up with the stair cart.

home-brew basement stairs helper

If I understand your situation correctly, then you may be in a similar situation as I was at my last house. The landing where the dog-leg begins is big enough for people to get around the corner but not a pin strapped to an appliance dolly.

Here's what I did to solve that problem. I used wood and built a platform that raised the landing up by one stair-height. For me, the addition of one more stair's worth of width was sufficient to allow me to get the pin down the stairs to the place where it had to turn 90 degrees while still strapped to the dolly.

There was NOT enough extra space for me to be able to spin the dolly plus the pin 90 degrees, and then keep going down the final few steps. But with the mod I devised there was enough space to un-strap the machine from the dolly, get the dolly out of the way, and then spin the pin 90 degrees. I then scooted the pin forward towards the edge of the landing, towards the next step down. It was rather precarious so I had my son help spot for me. Once I did that there was enough room to get the appliance dolly back into position and re-strap the pin to it. From there, we could tilt it back onto the dolly and make it down the last few steps and into the basement.

When we moved, I bought an Escalera and with that I also added the extended lower steps you see that are partially painted in black. I wish I'd done that sooner because extending those two lower steps made it all work easily (same process, just going up the stars instead of down.)

Good luck.

IMG_20140808_225137.jpg

That is absolute genius! Engineering background?

If it is carpet'ed stairs, with a 90 degree turn, you can slide it down, stand it up and turn it, then slide it down again. With a helper of course.

Escalera will get the job done but it ain't easy still

Here's Rensh's idea. Saw it on the thread "what machine did you bring home today..."

https://images.pinside.com/8/44/844788bc49e9a3b08076d0b64b4bedac93d6cc74/resized/large/844788bc49e9a3b08076d0b64b4bedac93d6cc74.jpeg

Looks like its custom, but its also a good idea.

I had this same idea years ago. Giving you something to hold on to makes it much easier.

Lived in a similar house to mrbillishere but the staircase didn't have that beam at the bottom. Me and 1-2 buddies were able to swing it around that bend and make it work.
Otherwise, we would use an appliance dolly to bring it to the bottom landing, slide the dolly off to the side, rotate the pin 90 degrees, then bring it down the last step.
I've never used those refrigerator straps but have heard nothing but good things.

Current house I HAVE to remove the head completely. A pain but I've gotten pretty good at rewiring the connectors.
Since the head is already off, I often remove the playfield also just to make it lighter and more manageable.

Pretty much my story here. For newer pins I don’t mind removing the head, but the older ones I have to figure out a way to get them out. My problem isn’t a dog-leg, it’s that we need to get the game out of our side basement door and right up the concrete steps outside. I have a big appliance dolly but may be going for an Escalera eventually! I too built the extra step up, and have a ramp which gets us out the door. It’s not quite as easy as a small set of extra stairs, but the overhead clearance doesn’t allow a full step up until you’re outside. My friends hate my basement.

That's pretty frickin' smart... Great idea.

I use 'forearm forklift' straps for lifting pins and arcade machines and they work great. I cannot fit a game on a dolley down my basement stairs due to the two 90 degree turns and small landings. The straps make it feel as though I'm lifting half the weight and keeps my hands free to steady the pin as we're maneuvering it. Two guys lifting a Hobbit is a breeze. Best money I ever spent.

I agree with. Since everything disconnected, taking the playing field out is a breeze while yer at it. Don't try to be a hero. All it takes is one person to loose they're footing.