Escalera Stair Climbing Hand Truck

[Ads Nems]

Has anyone got or ever used one of these to move pins up and down stairs ?

They any good?

 

[Ads Nems]

bump . If anyone has prior experience with one of these would be grateful for feedback. Looking to put some machines in the basement and thinking of this as an option

 

[Spandangler]

Does anywhere in the UK sell them? Be surprised if anyone has one

 

[Ads Nems]

That’s a good point!, haven’t yet checked their availability on this side of the pond. If not this model something similar by a different manufacturer. I can bring items over the USA fairly cheap if needed

 

[Deleted member 2463]

you can get them here but not cheap. I’ve seen one being used to climb stairs and its pretty good. If I had stairs I’d have one For sure although it’s slow.

 

[DRD]

I used a battery powered stair climber sack barrow hired from Speedy Hire a few years back to move my TAF. Was slow, but climbed very effectively and felt under control.

You can obviously practice with zero load on it to get used to the thing.

It did not have the lift facility of the truck in the video.

What about removal guys ? They are very strong and know how to shift stuff in very tight spaces

 

[Martin Riley]

I've got an Escalera Staircat. They are pricey if you get them brand new but they come up reasonably regularly on Ebay. I got mine for £500 which was fully working but with a fair few dents and scratches. They are built to last though (designed for industrial use) so although it doesn't look pretty, it still performs well. They are also relatively simple - the electrical/control side consists of a car battery, a switch, a circuit breaker and a motor and there is an authorised parts dealer in the UK should you need to replace anything. The only thing I needed to replace was the feet which were a bit worn. I'll never have to change them again though. As Neil says, they aren't fast but that's because they are geared to carry up to 1,200 pounds / 500+kg. They are therefore way over spec for even the heaviest of pinball machines. There are older models that were made for 700 pounds / 300+kg. I've not seen any on Ebay but these might be a bit faster / lighter and still well over spec for a pinball machine if you can find one.

They take a bit of getting used to as you have to compensate for the fact that the truck is going to try to tip away from you as it moves but once you get the hang of it, it's easy enough (and I'm speaking as a short ar$e office worker). The biggest trick I learned is if you need to take a break halfway up/down, don't take a break with the wheels on a step as you will still need to exert effort to stop it moving on it's wheels. Instead, take a break when the truck is between steps supported by it's feet. Sounds counterintuitive but it's easy to balance it in this position with very little effort and it won't slide anywhere. My staircase is an external galvanised one so not disimilar to what it's designed for in a warehouse type environment. I've seen pinball related videos suggesting they work well indoors on wooden or carpeted stairs though. I'd suggest trying to get one of the shorter models for indoor use though as the 72" model is rather tall.

 

[AlanJ]

budget £1500 + for a decent second hand unit. the chinese ****tte is just that.

 

[Ads Nems]

I've got an Escalera Staircat. They are pricey if you get them brand new but they come up reasonably regularly on Ebay. I got mine for £500 which was fully working but with a fair few dents and scratches. They are built to last though (designed for industrial use) so although it doesn't look pretty, it still performs well. They are also relatively simple - the electrical/control side consists of a car battery, a switch, a circuit breaker and a motor and there is an authorised parts dealer in the UK should you need to replace anything. The only thing I needed to replace was the feet which were a bit worn. I'll never have to change them again though. As Neil says, they aren't fast but that's because they are geared to carry up to 1,200 pounds / 500+kg. They are therefore way over spec for even the heaviest of pinball machines. There are older models that were made for 700 pounds / 300+kg. I've not seen any on Ebay but these might be a bit faster / lighter and still well over spec for a pinball machine if you can find one.

They take a bit of getting used to as you have to compensate for the fact that the truck is going to try to tip away from you as it moves but once you get the hang of it, it's easy enough (and I'm speaking as a short ar$e office worker). The biggest trick I learned is if you need to take a break halfway up/down, don't take a break with the wheels on a step as you will still need to exert effort to stop it moving on it's wheels. Instead, take a break when the truck is between steps supported by it's feet. Sounds counterintuitive but it's easy to balance it in this position with very little effort and it won't slide anywhere. My staircase is an external galvanised one so not disimilar to what it's designed for in a warehouse type environment. I've seen pinball related videos suggesting they work well indoors on wooden or carpeted stairs though. I'd suggest trying to get one of the shorter models for indoor use though as the 72" model is rather tall.

Thanks Martin for the detailed run down on them. I’ll wait and see if anything pops up on the bay!