Moving a big tank down stairs

[Steve]

Want to get some advice on what's gonna be the easiest way to get a big tank where it needs to go so figure there has to be some of you guys here that have probably had to move a large tank down some stairs in the past and maybe can offer some ideas on how you did it best without killing yourself or breaking the tank.

Long story short, I'm picking up a 7ft x 2ft x 30"? tank in the next week or so from a member here that probably weighs around 400-450lbs empty. Getting it into the truck won't be a big deal with myself, brother in law and nephew & nieces BF. The real concern for me is once I get home.....it has to go downstairs. It's a straight shot from the door down the stairs, but the stairs and opening where the stairs are only permit room for 1 guy on each end, and once the tank is angled on the stairs all the weight will be on the guy at the bottom.

I've been thinking about going to U-haul or Lowes or somewhere and renting one of those appliance dollies that have the tank thread type rollers on the back for moving appliances up and down stairs. Has anyone ever used one of those before? Besides renting that, and taking the back door off the hinges those are the only two things I can thing of so far to make it easier. Certainly open to any other advice because I'm looking forward to getting the tank, but am not looking forward to getting it down the stairs 

[Regalblue]

It's hard to give advice without seeing the actual stairs. But,  I'd recommend having the biggest, strongest person on the bottom of the stairs & having Somebody down there to help him.

Are there any turns at the bottom? Can you stand the tank up & spin it into position? Are there walls on the stairs for people to lean on? 

If you have the room-. Lay a blanket down,  set the tank on it,  slide it down & then pick it up to put it where it goes.
I don't think those tank weighs as much as you think.

[Steve]

Blair I just snapped a quick pic here ya go. There are walls on both sides but the wall on the left is more of less "fake" as it is just 1/4" wood to basically cover the side room from the stair area. The wall on the right is solid plaster but it stops and is open after about the halfway point. Standing it on end at the bottom won't be doable because of the ceiling height right at the bottom. The ceilings down there are 7ft, but right at the bottom of the stairs it's lower because of the heat duct work. I'm 6'6" and my head just touches the ceiling at the bottom of the stairs till you get about 3ft away from the stairs then it goes to 7ft.

I sure hope you're right about the actual weight being less than expected I'm not all that worried about the weight because myself and one buddy have carried BBC blocks up & down the stairs numerous times over the years without much trouble, but with this being glass as well as long and odd shaped without good hand holds on it, that does have me a bit worried.

[Regalblue]

I say lay it on a blanket, get it down there & go from there

Obviously whoever is at the bottom & is going to lift it out & into the room had better have a good back.

When are you planning on doing this?  I'm off work for the next couple days & will come & help.

[Steve]

Most likely next weekend but not sure if it'll be Sat or Sun, gotta see if my brother in law works Sat or not as well as make sure Tony will be home so we can go out to pick it up. That's a super generous offer Blair I appreciate it, but I wouldn't want to put anyone here out. I'm sure it won't be as hard as I am thinking. Or at least hope not

So you think it'll slide fine on a thick blanket then? Think renting a dolly will not be needed?

[Marty]

This is what I would do:

Just nail a couple of 2 x 4's down at the edges of the stairs nearly as wide as the tank.  Have one guy on the bottom and use a car tow strap looped around the tank with the loose ends held by a couple of guys at the top to guide it down. 

Or if you're leery of nailing them down, take a couple of 7'   2 x 4's and nail a 6" block to the ends of each to form an "L" put them under the tank like skis and slide it down.  You're less likely to damage the bullnose of your treads that way, or worse yet have the tank get jammed up on one of them when you're sliding it down and crack the tank.

The second method is how I moved my 400 gallon glass into the basement.  My stairs are wider though, so I had two guys on the bottom, and 4 guys up top.

[Nick]

Most likely next weekend but not sure if it'll be Sat or Sun, gotta see if my brother in law works Sat or not as well as make sure Tony will be home so we can go out to pick it up. That's a super generous offer Blair I appreciate it, but I wouldn't want to put anyone here out. I'm sure it won't be as hard as I am thinking. Or at least hope not

So you think it'll slide fine on a thick blanket then? Think renting a dolly will not be needed?

It might be my paranoia but I wouldn't use a dolly going down stairs with a large glass tank like that. I'm sure if it was padded correctly and you went very slow it would be fine but the thought of it basically dropping down the stairs one at a time would make me nervous. The pressure points of getting it on the dolly would make me worried too.

Once again it is most likely just my paranoia. Either way I would say using the blanket would be best. That way you can have two guys helping at the bottom. One holding the tank from free sliding and the other with his hand on his back making sure they don't lose balance or slide backwards themselves. Make sure the blanket is big enough though.

[Steve]

This is what I would do:

Just nail a couple of 2 x 4's down at the edges of the stairs nearly as wide as the tank.  Have one guy on the bottom and use a car tow strap looped around the tank with the loose ends held by a couple of guys at the top to guide it down. 

Marty that is an EXCELLENT idea that never even crossed my mind. I like that idea much better than trying to carry it or trying to use a dolly like I was thinking of doing. Plus I already have a few 6" x 20ft HD tow straps in the garage I could use from when I use to go wheelin' with my blazer years ago. I think you just saved me a lot of work and a weeks worth of worry there bud Thanks!

[four_by_ken]

A good furniture/appliance dolly has the bolts on the back that allow you to slide it down the stairs.... kind of conveyor belts on the back...

That way the dolly wheels dont have to go bump bump bump down the stairs.

[GrizzlysDad]

I highly recommend the 2x4 method. In fact that was what I was gonna post until I read Marty beat me to it.
Also, at the bottom of the stairs I would try to have a couple of the low piano dollies so the tank doesn't have to sit on the floor.
This gives you lifting room once the tank is in the basement and you can roll it over to where the stand sits.
Of course, you'll want to take the stand downstairs first and have it in place (I know, stating the obvious, but...).


BTW, either day works for me but if it's Sunday, I'll be busy watching Daytona....but I can come out and say "Hi" real quick LOL.

[linuxrulesusa]

Of course, you'll want to take the stank downstairs first and have it in place (I know, stating the obvious, but...).

This strikes me as funny for some reason. 

You'd be surprised how we sometimes miss the obvious.  One time I was working with two other guys and we were trying to figure out how to flip a metal computer server cabinet upside down so we could haul it across the parking lot on a dolly/cart.  After a few minutes it dawned on me - hey! it has wheels!  So we didn't need to invert it anyway.  We all had a good laugh about this.

[GrizzlysDad]

What strikes me as funny is I originally typed "stank" instead of "stand" 

[Michael Zebrowski]

Gravity is your friend.  Sliding seems to be better than using a dolly, in my experience.  Roping or strapping from above to ease the tank down slowly, with a couple strong guys at the bottom to provide stability and guidance, would be my suggestion.

Mike Z.

[Stan M.]

if you use some scrap carpet upside down it will slide easy.thats what i did for a 150 gal.

[dm3475]

Just got done doing this two days ago and same situation what we did is have two big guys in the front and two guys in the back and slowly walked it down. I have to say it wasnt too bad