The same thing happened to me once. Luckily I was just on the first step but it tipped back pulling me over the game. I'm way more careful about pulling it lower now when using it.

I’m 6’2 and it’s awkward for me to lean hunched over and hold on to the stair climber when going down a set of stairs so after the first step or two I always sit down on the step and take it down moving myself down as I go.

YouTube gold if it was filmed

Yikes. Were you going up or down?

I always overbalance on my escala going upstairs I'm pushing down on the handles while basically holding them up stiff armed I also have an assistant coming up the stairs behind me and they have their palms of their hands flat on the back box and I mentioned to them about the overbalance and how just to make sure that it doesn't push up and over

I think just making sure you're balanced and in proper position before hitting each step is all that's required, but I feel you - I definitely don't like that balance shift climbing each step...

Makes me want to rig up a strap or something to the railing on my stairs to help prevent losing control up and over like that, not sure if that could work, probably not.

Glad you are Okay.

So when you get thrown head over heals over the game and down the stairs. Here comes the railing torn off the wall to clobber you too.

When you do this. Please video tape it and put it on Youtube later.

LTG : )

Did it look like this?

holy crap! man, i'm glad you're ok!! i'm cringing just thinking about the idea of being flipped over the machine and having it fall over on top of me. i don't trust those things at all. i had a friend loan me one once, and before i moved the machine even a few feet, i tossed it to the side and did it the old fashioned way. all the risk negates all the benefits IMO.

Yes, great no hospital visit. Still not clear how this happened. Were you higher on the stairs than the game? Holding top of dolly, which pulled you down with it when it went?

I was moving a game on a four wheel dolly once when it tipped and took out my nice TV. I'm skinny, so I didn't even try to save it once I saw it tipping. TV was destroyed, game was hardly scratched. Sounds like you didn't get a chance to decide.

For me, I go really slow when first engaging the stair tread, making sure I have proper balance established. Only time it's been 'close' for me is when I go too fast during that phase.

Dude. If you're 6'2, 240lbs and strong, you don't need a a damn Escalera. You don't even need a dolly. Throw it on yer shoulder and dance up those stairs like the bad boy you are.

No tips but I feel ya. I was moving a doublestack washer and dryer down the stairs with a friend below guiding and a miscommunication cause the hand truck to suddenly keep going after the 3rd or 4th stair down. That thing took off so damn fast- straight down the last 10 steps in under a second.. my friend reacted ridiculously quick and was able to backup and somehow get around the corner before the machine. It slammed into floor and 100mph and after a second we both just started cracking up. Had he not been so quick.. def not laughing anymore, it woulda been a hospital trip at best to a Hearst at worst.

Heavy shit going up and down stairs is no joke. I hate moving pins up and down, yet still have to do it.

I’ve never had even a close call with mine. Glad you’re ok! It’s all about the angle with the Escalera. Going up is usually easier than down for me.

You must be young. Enjoy it while it lasts. This would have probably killed me and half of the pinsiders on this forum.

I have a long straight set of stairs I have to move all my games up and down. The eski is worth it’s weight in gold, but position is key. Going up, I’ve never had any trouble. Going downstairs (especially the first couple stairs), that I’ve had a few less than smooth moments. Certainly nothing like you describe. Very happy to hear no one was injured. Always make sure to slowly roll right up to the edge of the stair, confirm the game is square with the edge and the wheel is right up to the edge, then engage the left, the angle should be such that the bumpers on the eski bump the stair and softly lower the wheels to the next step. Again, angle is key. It can’t be too high or low of an angle or you’ll have issues. Going up it’s basically just making sure you are square before engaging with the bumpers resting against the next stair. I always pause briefly to confirm I’m ready before the next engagement of the lift mechs.

Not true. I’m a strong guy, definitely moved plenty of pins up and down stairs w/o and eski. I remember pulling a Dale Jr up my 15 stairs on a standard appliance dolly. Something about that cabinet was insanely heavy. Work smarter, not harder.

+1 for sitting down while moving up a large flight up steps.

This will happen when you don't have the Escalara leaned back far enough when you you engage the step. The fulcrum point changes when the foot engages the step, and you need to have it balanced back toward the step to compensate. It's always a bit of a butt pucker moment when I use mine.

"My child those were my footprints carrying you"
--Dale Sr

Man, that’s crazy. Glad you and your family are okay!

No idea how you managed that going up. I find it much easier, but I basically brace with my feet and move my ass up one step at a time as the game moves up the stairs. It's going down that things get hectic and it does take a bit of practice to know what angle to tip it when you're hitting that first step. Once you get going you get the hang of it and get into a rhythm.

Still better than a hernia.

So you sit as you come up the stairs?

I had a similar, but less serious, experience going down the stairs with a game where the weight shifted it forward (I don't know if it got caught on the lip of a stair or not). Once it gets past a certain balance point, it is near impossible for one person to tilt it back. I was only a few stairs from the bottom and instinctively had one hand grabbing the Escalera and one holding the railing to prevent myself from falling. Once I realized I valued my shoulder more than the game, I had to let it go and it went forward down two stairs. It put a nice hole in my drywall, but the game was undamaged.

Ever since, I don't use the automatic feature to go down stairs--only up. I find that I can use it more safely going down stairs as a regular dolly. With that being said, I don't move games alone anymore. If I had a person below the game, I would have been able to right it. I have moved probably 10 games down and 5 games up the stairs without incident. It is important when going up stairs to make sure you keep it around a 45 degree angle and go one step at a time, moving the escalera to the back of each stair in between steps before using the lift feature.

It’s unfortunate that this happened. I’m glad no one was injured. I’ve been using mine for at least 10 years with out injury or incident….knock on wood. It’s honestly all about the correct balance point and angle as others have mentioned. There is a learning curve for sure. I tend to sit down going up and down as it helps me to keep the correct balance point. Also, no hunching forward. If you find the right point it takes zero effort. I even stopped halfway and taken some calls. Lol. Probably not a good idea. Anyway, accidents can happen to anyone at anytime. It was very smart of you not to have anyone on the low side. There is a warning label on mine that states just that.

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Yep. Really guarantees that getting launched over your game or dropping it never happens. If it slips off the step for whatever reason, I'm braced against the stairs with my feet and butt a couple steps up and can keep it from going any lower than a one-step drop. I may look like an asshole doing it, but it feels really stable and I haven't had an incident yet.

I also have an escalera.
Two things. I always get extremely low(my body) and almost as if your sitting on the stairs as you go up. Do this on each stair, and each stair as you go up, the escalera naturally pulls you forward for a split second. If the machine’s center of gravity is too forward when you initially start up a stair it can be a problem. But you’re a bigger guy like me but I’m not quite as tall though. I’m about 6’0’ 220. So… I think the number one problem why people flip over is simple. It’s usually not paying attention or rushing a little bit(this is very common when moving multiple machines because the more tired you get, you forget to start out with your body in a lower position on each stair AND brace yourself with your core for that split second on each stair when the machine jerks you a little forward.

Glad you came out okay though. I know it feels counterintuitive but if that game starts to pull too far forward where you can’t control it, you’ve gotta let the machine strapped to the escalera flip down the stairs. The machine and your walls may take a hit but you won’t!

ESCUELA SAFETY

Really glad your child wasn't hurt and that you are ok. Appreciate you sharing because it reminds us to work safely - I'm listening so thanks!

-Rob
-visit https://www.kahr.us to get my daughterboard that helps fix WPC pinball resets or my replacement Type 1 sound board for Williams 3-6 games

One word of caution on older homes is to also check condition of stairs and associated supports before moving heavy equipment.
Some older homes may have cracked wood or compromised support on stairs.
You have 2 people,game and dolly navigating 100+year old stairs.

Good thread, my only O SHIT moment was at the top of the landing of my steps. Its too tight for me to turn a game with the dolly strapped to it, so I need to put it down on something, rotate it, and then strap it back to the dolly. The blanket I used to protect my floor got wrapped up on the wheel 2 steps down. Fortunately I was able to back back out to remove the blanket.

Anyways, to your point I can see that easily happening. When going down the right angle is critical. Being tall myself (6'4) I also am damn near sitting on the step to keep a proper angle. Going up seems way easier.

These days, my present home is ground level on slab so all I have to contend with is rolling over a doorway weather seal. One of the reasons I purchased this house.

But I kept my escalera because it has so many other uses especially with the big wheels and toe attachment.

My safety tip for Escalera comes from a friend of mine who I had loaned it to after he bought my Fathom.

He was tired after moving several machines into his basement and decided to leave the Fathom for last and move it the next morning. With Fathom sitting in his garage, the last thing he did before shutting the light off, was to slide the escalera under the game, in standing position, ready for the next day.

The next morning, anxious to get to it, he grabs the top handles of the escalera with both both hands and threw his weight into tilting the machine backward into hauling position.

The game raised up, tilted away from him and then fell forward crashing onto the concrete. He just stood there watching helpless with the escalera still in his grip. - He had forgotten to secure the game with the seatbelt around it.

Only lost the back glass which he was able to replace from another friend and some minor cabinet head repair.

Lets be careful out there.

A couple guys around me all the have same stair climbing dolly. Not escalera but brand escapes me. Even though it says "no one under the load" everyone with that dolly always has a bottom person to watch the steps, specially if dark, and to more importantly be there to if it catches the lip of of step and wants to tip over down the steps. Very easy for the bottom person to tilt the game back safely where the center of gravity is. The "no one on the bottom" warning is a probably a liability message for idiots. Pins might be different than a safe too.

Yes this! The steps to my basement is two long angled wood beams with notches cut to hold the steps. The two beams where bowed out in the middle to the point some of steps where starting hang on by small lip. My dad had some really huge clamps, pulled the steps back together and reinforced with 2x4s to hold them together. Also reinforced the step boards for good measure. I am glad I noticed one day they where pulling apart. Might be the really heavy pins banging up and down the steps helped pull them apart.

I love my Escalera, but it is easy to get yourself into a bad spot if you don't know the potential problems.

The handles will try to pull away from you, trying to pull you into the dolly, at varying degrees of strength depending on what stage you are in for the stair climb. It is not a constant pull, you need to adjusting the balance of the dolly.

When going up stairs the most pull is right when it starts to climb new step.

When going down stairs the most pull is right before it gets to the top of the next stair.

The worst is on steep stairways when you can't lean the cart back enough to get it to balance. The very steep Bilco style doors that go into basements are the worst, some of those can almost be as steep as a ladder.

Going down one of those steep stairways is where I got as close to being thrown over the top like the OP. I was moving an ~550 lbs cast iron furnace down into a basement. The first two steps were fine, I was still on the ground and the cart had not yet gotten almost vertical as I went down the step stairs. The problem came when the cart was going towards vertical going down the steep stairs, I just did not have the weight to keep it from tipping forward. It was not a strength issue, it was a how much weight could I push down the handles because I could not tip it back enough to balance it. Luckily I had a helper to add his weight and we made it down, but without him I would have flipped over the cart, let it go or maybe if I was lucky try to reverse direction before I totally lost control.

It is like being on a teeter totter. It is not about strength, it is a weight issue when you get onto steep stairs.

Glad you are ok! That's not fun at all.

Escaleras are great and while they do make moving pinball machines easy to use they can also be dangerous to operate if you lose the balance point. Going downstairs with a game using an Escalera still makes me nervous. My tips, wear shoes + retie them to get a good grip, when going down the stairs have one or both legs slightly angled to the side on steps (almost acts as a brace versus being straight ahead), and above all take your time. Once I get downstairs with a game I have a beer as a bit of a victory celebration lol.

Having someone below can be helpful, but it can also be a disaster if they don't know what they are doing.

I had a person at the bottom of the stairs push too much vertically instead of at the same angle as the stairs. He lifted the game up and off of the foot of the dolly so that I was only holding the weight of the dolly and could not help him at all, the game was sliding forward, over the foot of the dolly, and off of the dolly at that point. The game was strapped onto the dolly, but only at the top, it still lifted up enough at the bottom to hop over the dolly foot.

This a problem regardless of type of cart you are using.

If you are going to have someone helping you at the bottom of the stairs, you must put a strap around the bottom edge of the item being moved, very close to the foot of the dolly to keep it from being lifted off by the person at the bottom. A single strap near the middle or the top is not enough.

bottom person shouldnt put any force on the game unless it starts to tilt towards them. Basically there to save if the center of gravity starts tipping down the steps, it is a lot easier for the bottom person to correct then a person on the dolly bar. That and to spot steps "you went too far." "that's good"

I have some LED tape running the basement stairs near your feet. Being able to see clearly is critical too. We had to get a bunch of games out of a dark basement staircase and it was tough just because you couldn't see well.

5095F5A7-DEC6-4792-B389-D2C85D6EF957 (resized).jpeg

Do you have the 60 or 66? If you are taller and have the 60 I could see how it would be hard to keep it balanced when using. I have the 66 and it is easier to keep it balanced when going up/down on stairs. Dad has the 60 and it is harder to keep it balanced.

Before I learned the tipping/balance point for my Escalera, I was moving a TZ up a flight of stairs and leaned it too far backwards in an attempt to compensate for it pulling me forward. (It would not have been too far for a normal dolly which I was used to but I learned the Escalera operates differently.)

Leaned back with no typical dolly stair crawlers to catch against the step, it took off down the stairs like a toboggin and I about tore my legs out of their sockets trying not to get dragged all the way down with it. There was no stopping it once it got going! Fortunately, no damage to TZ but I had leg and knee pain for a week or two afterward. I'm grateful for my Escalera when I need it, but confess I don't really like it and will avoid using it if I can get a helper.