If the escalera could just lose about 100lbs that would be great.

I wouldn't want the forklift setup just for the reason of hauling that stuff around

The escalara is just heavy enough its much harder to get lined up with my cabinets when on my sloped driveway...

They work better for people that don't need to break down the games. If you are moving games from location to location and don't have to break the games down the coffin lift carts are faster and support the cabinet better. They get the game up and down faster as it's a single operation.

So when moving games to and from w/o stairs and with a lift gate... they are great. They work great for moving games around on flat floors.

They are however... limited use.

Replaces the toe plate with a bigger square so more of tge plate fits under the game

The last thing my escelra needs is to be heavier...or bigger... no thanks

I would appreciate it tho if it let it stand on its own better

Ill try that...

my driveway is on a slope... the cart is a lethal weapon if you don't lay it down because it won't stay still. And is a pig to manually drag slide to side etc when getting under a game

I just made simple runners using https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/lund-ramp-kit?cm_vc=-10005 and 1x8s. You could buy a simple alumnimum one pre-built... just get one worthy of running appliance cart wheels over.

The home consumer isn't their prime audience. It's people who use the tool for work. Trades folk, movers, etc.

Their price point has stayed relatively stable while the money hobbyists are throwing into the hobby has nearly doubled in the last 10 years. Percentage of cost is moving in their favor.

Reality is a very large percentage of hobbyists just pay someone to do the work. The price point of 1500 vs 2500 really isn't going to change the TAM. People are either invested in tools for moving or they treat it as a overhead expense per transaction.

That sounds kind of about right to me. Thats a lot of steps. Somewhere in the back of my mind... i had the number 70 steps tucked away to remember. I think there is a statement somewhere on the website about expected capacity

Capacity isn't an issue... unless you are a dozen moves a day? I mean... when I have to move a truck load of games, I'd make sure I was charged and maybe have a plan B. But otherwise... it's 'When did I use this last? oh I better plug it in..' and not much else

I just use ratchet straps rather than keep spending money on the attached ones...they dont work as great as the big geared ones you normally see on big carts imo.

I’ve also never needed anything other then the normal toe plate.

The weight of these things suck... i am generally against things that bloat them

On the downward trip... remember you don't have to find the perfect clearance either.. the truck will kind of scoot itself forward if you were too far back. You can play it conservative and worst case it doesn't go over the edge.. just reverse and try again. The hardest part is just getting used to the weight shift as the lifters kick in. Holding it back as it lunges a bit.

It is just a confidence thing... but you do have pretty good margins of error. The weight shift is the one that doesn't have many 'undo' opportunities

A real steal.. even on CL around here I think the cheapest I've ever seen is about 600... with 800-1200 more typical for one that needs a tuneup/parts.

Nope - can get the feet alone direct from escalera

? You put the lifters into the ground.. they will keep the cart from moving.

Ehh.. I own my own so no need

The guy was talking about worrying the cart would roll off the step.. the guy was pointing out you can use the lifters to stop the cart from rolling. You could use them to stop the cart, then back them off, re-position and descend the next step. Really it's gonna be the position the game is held that will make the game want to roll down the stair tread or not. I can't say I've dealt with any steps that were extremely abnormal to say.

For those of you with push carpeted steps or floors, do you have issues with the chains making contact and getting grease on them?

I have concrete, so no issues here, but have had issue at another location where there was carpet. I can't think of anything that could be done except if there were bigger wheels to keep the base up higher off the floor.

I doubt the chain would like life dry... it's still taking the strain and rotating forces. Escalera manual says lube with wd-40.

Yeah, this is what I've considered... but unless you have the sticky plastic stuff, it seems more hassle than worth.

Luckily it's not a problem at my unfinished basement, but thinking of my friend's house. Luckily, the escalera is so freaking heavy I have no desire to take it anywhere..

Nothing special about the charger - can use any battery charger designed to work with the correct sized sealed battery. Same with the battery, it's about using a sealed (because you move it around.. the gel batteries are preferred) and one that easily fits on the shelf. Otherwise, you can pretty much use whatever you see fit.

Not all the time - but the battery will lose charge overtime. Just like a car that sits idle. If left too long, they will “die”. Good chargers can act like a trickle charger. Or just plug it in every other month or so.

This is what I am using - links shows unavailable now, maybe it's been replaced.. but < $30 from amazon when I bought it

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FQBWCY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00

what year?

The tahoe is exact same truck as the suburban except in length. I put pins in there all the time. What wouldn't fit though was stern pins with the head at the wrong end.. I had to remove a head to fit two stern games in the back. (not advised )

It looks like the difference is your seats are folded down for the space? There appears to be some ledge you are sitting on? Mine is the previous gen (2013). 2015 is first year of the redo I think. My back seats come out

The reason I had to take the head off was fitting the games side by side... they can't sit opposite each other and still fit due to the angle of the body.

I used to curse my 72" model as unnecessarily heavy vs the shorter model... but I've come to conclude the extra length is a blessing. It reduces how far down you need to reach when climbing stairs. In practice you find you need to lay down the load a good bit for the balance point.. and on a set of stairs taller than the load, then means reaching down while you stand on steps above the machine.

Watch videos that only show the machine climbing a few steps vs trying to climb a full half or full story of steps.

Now if the entire thing would weigh 50lbs less I would be so much happier

For the hand-cart - yes. For that kind of space with a pinball machine on the hand cart? No

The basic constraint is you is the clearance both in front and behind the step. The game sticks out a ton on the cart, and you have the game and hand-cart that must be in front of the step too.

These kinds of questions about an escalera are not really any different from using an appliance hand cart except
1) it's a bit bigger than a appliance cart so you need a few more inches vs a regular cart
2) it's way heavier than a hand cart which makes it harder to move/swap positions vs a hand-cart. So in these kind of landing situations, its more difficult to reposition vs a standard cart

So the main question is always clearance. You can navigate steps very narrow.. like 6".. but it's always the space to move the load+cart that is the biggest constraint.

Just FYI - I replaced the climbing feet on my 72" model for <$50 by ordering parts right from Escalera. Online and other folks wanted $80-$100.

He wanted $80 plus shipping (on par with online retailers)

From Escalera I paid $40 + $18.80 for shipping.

The feet are just bolts - it takes just minutes. You just swap the rubber foot - not the bracket on the chain.

I wonder if your chain just is rotated and not aligned to the other. If one chain were stretched, the relative position between the foot on one chain and a foot on the other would change as you keep cycling.

You might just want to pop the chain’s link and reset its position on the spokes

Its just like all chains afaik… a link with a clip to free

Your issue is really the size of the landing on each step. The shallower the step, the more upright the cart has to be and greater risk of going off the step or being pulled over by the weight.

Your experience with a dolly is going to be basically the same. The biggest risk is you can’t easily balance the load if the cart can’t lean back.

The wall is your limiting factor on the turn… your steps are straight so you can square up to each no problem as long as the game doesn’t hit the wall.

You have to have a landing for each climb. It can not climb step to step continuous. So I don’t think you have a lot of options for modification here. I think your clearance to the wall is gour biggest limitation

66 or 72 inch model… big wheel attachment… charger… and thats it. Can easily use ratchet straps for extra straps without dealing with the add ons

Big wheel is useful even if not rough ground because it lets you roll it without holding the weight

I’ve never needed a bigger toe plate for pins.

Big wheel is always an on and off thing because you can’t use it and climb the the same time. You get good with speed as you do it more.

The big wheel is nice for keeping loads already tilted back… but I don’t have the load balancer to compare.

It's not worth it to save $50-$70 unless you are the type that is already a welder and fabricator. The attachment isn't that expensive IMO.

The smaller ones should just be different sized side rails - but the 72" has more deltas because it's rated for heavier weights. I've never heard of any conversions (tho I'm sure the company could sell you parts).

If you are sweating your grip, you probably aren't balancing the load very well.. it should not take a lot of effort from you to hold the cart.

Of course it's just a simple electrical switch so you could rewire almost anything you wanted in there, but I've never heard of any interest in upgrading it.

Sounds to me like the 60" length is causing you to reach too far under the load making it harder to handle? Might be better to try to sell yours and just find a bigger one.

I have the 72" and dislike the weight of it, but I can see how the 60" could possibly be short enough to cause different challenges..

well.. it's moving nearly 400lbs of stuff.. there is always some element of safety in question

The biggest issue people have with Escaleras is getting used to the lurching when the climbing feet push off the step at the start of each cycle. This is not difficult, it just takes getting used to.. the load will pull away from you while climbing steps momentarily at the start of each step as the load shifts. The more angled the load is, the less this lurching will hinder you (as your center of gravity will be further back).

The second biggest risk is coming off the step because the foot slipped or was not fully on the step in the first place. If this were to happen, the biggest problem is the weight moving/pulling on you and controlling it vs having it rip out of your hands. The cart would likely just fall back to the lower step, so only dropping like 8".. which is not a huge deal. The problem is the lack of control which could lead to a runaway. This you minimize by 1) ensuring you are all the way back against a step (technique) and 2) if there is concern about the step shapes/materials.. test run first. You'll find going down harder than up for this reason of finding the edge... but don't fear... if you are short, the cart can go down like a normal appliance cart on runners. Going TOO far really is the main concern (this is what the step edge detect add-on aides).

Coming off the step is really the primary risk, but it should not happen unless you are doing really sketchy things or are haphazard. Safety would tell you, if this happens, sacrifice the load, not yourself... and don't have people below the load.

For that reason, you really don't need/want someone pushing because you never want anyone underneath your load. Inexperienced people will find a second person helpful because of the extra set of eyes to see where you are on steps and to provide some aid (from the side!) if the lurching were to catch you off guard. The second person is really a comfort factor, they don't help much for the actual work portion.

Battery won't fail except run out of juice.. and that you know long before it goes to zero. Then it's more of a heavy appliance cart
The lifting chains are beefy... the climbing feet do wear out over time.. replace the rubber feet when they start breaking up.

I move games all the time by myself with mine... I only really need a second person more for what I call 'tilt patrol' to make sure the load doesn't tip over sideways when going through the uneven yard. When it comes to climbing... they don't add anything once you are familiar with how the tool operates.

Just run it up and down your steps without a load to get used to it. You might have issues with dirt/grease on the carpet steps depending on the carpet material. you might find the stick-on plastic runner construction crews use helpful.

I have had mine for YEARS and use a simple sealed battery. I don't charge it after every use.. nor leave it on trickle. The capacity of the battery is good enough unless you are climbing like 5 stories each time.. you aren't putting a major dent in the charge. If I've used it alot, I charge it, and then leave it.

I believe the OG battery claims to be able to do 70 steps on a single charge. So I think you either have a really undersized battery or one that is on its way out.

Mine is just a sealed AGM I bought because I bought my unit second hand. Battery is from 2018 too.

other tip is to use the climbing feet as foot pegs to keep it stable when unloaded. Basically rotate the feet till they prop it up from the backside.. then it won't tip, runaway, etc. Useful when working on sloped surfaces too