Quoted from Hippochrome

And it split two of his bull-noses....after that move I still prefer the good old fashion "inflatable big wheeled" dollys

Ughh - I'd say its defective!

Quoted Text

  "inflatable big wheeled" dollys

I have one of these. It is easier on your stairs but when going around the landing down the basement I just cant swing it around the corner due to it being too big with the fat wheels. Usually, with a bit of acrobatics/contortion, I remove the cotter pin and bang out the wheels on the dolly when I get to the landing. Then it is possible to remove the dolly from under the pin, turn the pin around 90 degrees, reassemble the dolly and then proceed going straight down the main flight of stairs.

Last few, I removed the head from the machine, used the dolly to the landing, removed the dolly  and then slid the machine down the main flight. Fortunately/unfortunately I have gained a bit of weight in recent years giving me the leverage to slowly ease the machine down instead of letting it crash down.

Dave Astill told me a story about sliding a P2K down his stairs once and needless to say we are lucky he is still around  

Quoted from jonny_eh

They didn't on mine. Is mine defective?

Sounds defective (or really stiff?).  They are supposed to roll when going down/up stairs.

Quoted from Tuborg

Ughh - I'd say its defective!

So you used one and the rubber things are supposed to turn?

Quoted from jonny_eh

So you used one and the rubber things are supposed to turn?

I have a similar dolly and mine turn. I also have a dolly with the fat wheels, but I find it a pain to use up and down stairs and don't use it much.

Duane

Quoted from jonny_eh

I picked one up too. I used it to move my 5 pins into my new place. Worked great except that the rubber bumper things above the wheels ate into edge of my laminate stairs, they're gonna need to be replace. Are those rubber things supposed to turn? They didn't on mine. Is mine defective?

THey are supposed to turn, but the manufacturing quality of the CT product is not that good (typical Chinese junk).  I took mine apart and re-engineered and silicone greased the correct bearing surfaces and it turns fine.

However, the stair gliders are just that, they are supposed to turn and carry the weight on the bullnose down to the next step.  If the Bullnoses are coming off and the house is new, all i can say is that likely the stairs are of an inferior quality or weren't glued in addition to nailed (and likely air nailed).  But when you think about it 5 x 200lb weight concentrated onto two square inch or less points equals a lot of pressure.

The fat wheel dollys are good for some circumstances, particularly if you want to take some air out to give them some bounce...particularly along uneven or wet ground.  But they don't work all that well on stairs because you have to "wheel" them up the stair riser.  With an appliance dolly you wheel the item up to the stair, lean it back on the stair riser like a fulcrum, and then lift it up to the next stair.  Wheel along the tread a little to the back and repeat.

The fat tires are also harder to control if you can't "make" a stair for what ever reason, they jsut keep going down... where as the stair riser can be stopped by lifting the item so the smaller wheels come to rest on the stair below.

So should I return the dolly and try for another one, or should I "re-engineer" the one I just bought? (whatever that means)

Quoted from jonny_eh

So should I return the dolly and try for another one, or should I "re-engineer" the one I just bought? (whatever that means)

I'd return it to the store and complain to the manager that it chewed up your stairs.. you may be able to get a few gift certs out of it or something, considering now you have to pay to repair your stairs.

I use a fat wheeled dolly, which is hard to maneuver down my spiral staircase. I also have a narrow door to pass through into my slotcar room. At first i used to remove the heads but now i remove the door jambs and trim, hinges on door, then put it all back.

It sucks. maybe i should look into this crappy tire dolly?

The dollys are good ,but don't get close to the max weight as the wheels will buckle.I assembled them at canadian tire and many were returned because of wheel failure.
Peter

I have one word for all of you, hauling pins up and down stairs:

ROTACASTER

Seriously... look it up. I got a standard dolly converted to Rotacaster stair climber axles. I use it to go up stairs. It is great. And I use the other dolly I have with the balloon tires to go down (cushions better...).