I tried lifting my Devils Dare (heavy Gottlieb widebody) game up the stairs and it pulled forward and pulled me off the stairs and I lost the machine down the stairs. Luckily I was able to catch myself or I would have been seriously hurt.
I am quite light which is likely why that happened but I had already been very familiar with the handtruck at that point so that was not the cause. I ended up needing to take the playfield and glass out of the cab to lighten it up to get it up the stairs.
As an EM collector I consider that game "the heaviest of them all" but in comparison I bet that game is lighter than most DMD games.
For what it makes up in lifting it does give back in form of forward pull and you have to be quite strong in the arms to control it well. It was easier than lifting but I felt more nervous when using it than I would just using a regular old handtruck up the stairs. I guess you have to weigh the pros and cons for yourself, being tired vs. being scared shitless. I would hate trying a refrigerator or an arcade machine which provides even more weight up top where pinball machines cease to exist past a decent mid-point even.
Also, never use a spotter at the bottom of the game like you would for a normal handtruck. They serve no purpose and all you could ever do is crush them. It seems like you would not want to operate this yourself alone but that is exactly how it is designed. So, if you must have a spotter make sure they stand well to the side incase you drop it. Not like they can help in any way as the machine does all of the lifting work.
Added over 4 years ago:
