Yes unfortunately, I have stairs going to my game room in the basement. Add to that a turn in the middle and it's a real PITA to get down there with a game.

However, once I get it down there and knowing what it would take to get it back up, has made me less likely to sell a game

does a porch and doorway count as stairs? I took it up 5-6 stairs counting the doorway, but had to move it out of the guy's basement in the first place. Made me decide that the dining room that we never use would be much better than the basement which could flood.

Yuppers. Get a fridge cart with strap and lower rear tracks. Cost me $90, and then you only deal with assisting the movement of the cart up and down each stair. MUCH easier, especially when you go through 20-30 a year like me

My game room is upstairs - and like nutshell, my stairs have a 180 turn in the middle. I have four pins up there. If you take off the legs and head - it's really not hard to get 'em up there. I had one (High Speed) that I struggled to get the head off (connections seemed like they were glued together)....so I just said 'screw it' and hauled it up with the head on. It was a bitch, but with two of us it went pretty quickly.

Lucky for me, no stairs But, every time I buy a new pin, it seems that I always have to bring it out of someone else's house with lots of stairs. I'm willing to bet most have stairs because of my experience..lol

So far I have been lucky and all the pins I have moved, eithe mine or my buddies, have been first floor. However, a house we are looking at this weekend that has potential, may end up with the game room on the third floor.

I am in a second floor apt. I can carry the game up with another guy, but usually I take the head off to fit it in my hatchback. When that happens I just pull the playfield and it take up the cabinet with my fiance.

I have 8 stairs up to the first floor from ground level. Fortunately I have a 4 post lift in the garage for storing cars. Since it is right next to the landing, I modified part of the railing to make it removable and built a bridge to span the 12 inch distance to the lift. Now I can roll the pin onto the lift, and then use it as a cargo elevator to bring it up to the landing and into the house.

+1 This is the reason I am less likely to swap out games. It's the only real downside to a basement gameroom, that and the possibility of flooding.

I have six large steps up to my front door from the roadway. Bringing pins in and out of the house is a right pain. I've got myself a tri-wheel stair climbing sackbarrow to assist moving pins now. Often I will break down a machine into managable parts, removing the head and sometimes even removing the playfield to get it into/out of the house.

I have a couple of pins upstairs in a spare bedroom as well. The staircase has a nasty 90 degree turn two thirds up it just to make things interesting. Only the lighter pins go upstairs, such as the 1970's Bally games.

Stairs are tough.... my previous home had a small entrance way and in immediate turn to the left which then went straight down.... the issue was that their was no flat spot to move the pin into the stairway as the stairs turned.... so I built a platform out of plywood and some 1x8s that gave me a flat surface to move into the stairway.... much better after that!

The first step down the stairs was the equivalet of two steps in height, but so much easier then trying to turn the pin in the air, with no room to do it!

current house is a straight shot down and up, not too bad with an appliance dolly. But for a two person job, just not worth the risk doing it myself.

Walk in basement for the win.

I told my real estate agent, don't show me any house that does not have a straight shot from the outside to the basement. No turns, no landings or no sale. Too many heavy toys to play around with 180° stairs, or one step in then a 90° landing. Who designs these terrible floor plans?

But even if you have a straight shot, you can rent a electric stair climbing dolly for $30 like the pros use for vending machines:

http://handtrucks2go.com/Escalera-Electric-Stair-Climber.html

I've been fortunate so far since I live in a modern apartment building with a large elevator. Makes moving pins in a snap as TG discovered when he delivered IJ to me!

Next year I'm thinking of house hunting. When I do, as vid1900 mentioned, a requirement will be a walk-in basement either from the outside of the house or a straight shot from the garage. I won't even bother looking at anything else.

The fact that all my pins are in the basement is the main reason I didn't bring any to Expo. Like others, I have two sets of stairs with a 180° turn in the middle. It's just such a pain in the a** to get them in and out.

Stairs suck. I wish I had a stair climbing dolly

Make sure the door width is at least 30 inches or you will have to do some finagling with the B/W backboxes to get it thru. Even though I have a walk in with a sliding glass door, the opening is only 28" with the door removed. Argh!

I guess I got the best of both worlds. Some pins are on the first floor, but then I got a basement pin because I couldn't decide which one to get rid of. This led me to finishing up a room down there and adding more pins. I did all 36 inch doors to make the moves a bit easier and use an appliance dolly with the strap to move them in and out, works pretty good, that a couple of friends and a few beers!

_{Post edited by jsandjs : I can't type lol!}

Something tells me that TZ and STTNG will never leave. Those would be brutal to get out of there!

Same here. I can move them in and out by myself. Okay, I have a little help to move them out.

http://kcpins.com/archives/116

Hired the neighbours son to help me out. Holy crap was that thing heavy and ackward, used an appliance dolly. When we move, pin stays with house. He was sweating more than me and he was 25 years younger. Told him a couple times if you dont start to lift I am going to let it go. lol.

Seriously, don't hurt yourself over pinball. Once you hurt your back, it stays hurt forever.

Either rent an electric stair climbing dolly, or hire a coin op company or piano mover. If your game cab is all scratched up, hell, just hire 2 Men and a Truck.

Hey,

I bought a dolly with what I believe to be 13 inch wheels on it. Makes rolling over stairs a bunch easier. Doesn't make landings and whatnot any easier, but it helps a ton over the stairs themselves.

Luke

I use shoulder harnesses like the movers use. All the weight is distributed to your shoulders. 2 people and they go down the stairs really slick.