So, why is this a struggle?

[kay-lister]

I’m in pretty good shape, do the weight thing and exercise, weigh 127 lbs, SO . . . why can’t I haul on this harp by myself!?

[Jerusha Amado]

Hi Kay,

I feel like a weakling too!

[sherry-lenox]

I think in an emergency I could just barely handle my 85P but I truthfully wouldn’t want to try it. I also have the advantage of a really good loading vehicle and a tricky cart that was designed by my husband.

We usually move the harp together. I also have NO IDEA how it will work when we have to transport the Wurlitzer, which is no too much heavier but a few inches taller.

Maybe it’s like the frog in the hot water- when the water is heated by just a degree or two an hour, the frog will happily sit there ’till he’s soup.

So maybe if you grow up hauling a harp, you just gradually get used to it and don’t mind the schlepping.

Still looking forward to a lighter pedal harp that sounds as good as a heavy one!

[Tacye]

I haul my 85CG around with a reasonable amount of abandon on a 3 wheel trolley- when I lived up one flight of domestic stairs I got it up and down by myself.

[kay-lister]

Tracye,

I like your suggestion of a practice haul with a weight other than the harp.

[Jerusha Amado]

This is just basic bending procedure, but to add to Tacye’s remark, always keep your back straight when you bend your knees so that you don’t injure your spine.

[shelby-m]

To quote Disney’s Hercules movie… “Lift with your knees, not your back!”
Another factor might be balance.

[diana-lincoln]

Harps are not the same as dead weight because shape and weight effect center of gravity. When we start picking them up and moving around it effects our own center of gravity, especially as our angles change on stairs. Muscling through is one way to deal with this everyday challenge but maybe some one out there with experience in ergonomics has some clever ideas. There are many of us 50+ encountering this problem. I’ve noticed people who use a type of moving strap with heavy or oddly shaped items but this requires two people…

[Philippa mcauliffe]

I dont think that it is that easy and I deal with a relatively light Camac Atlantide stuck onto the spike on its own trolley leaving me quite free – possibly because I came to it in my 40s but I am fit too and have done Olympic distance triathlons.

[Tacye]

I have been thinking back to when I became comfortable moving my harp up steps and things and think practice and learning exactly how to apply the force had a big part.

[Sherj DeSantis]

Kay, for what it’s worth, you are

[patricia-jaeger]

Kay, Carl Swanson, with text and many pictures, has six pages of advice on how to carry and how to transport a pedal harp, in his book: A Guide For Harpists: Care, Maintenance, and Repair of the Pedal Harp. My copy is copyright 1984, published by Boston Editions, P.O. Box 1086, Boston Massachusetts 02146.

[rod-wagoner]

Kay, Carl’s book is sold through Vanderbilt Music.

[carl-swanson]

Vanderbilt now holds the copyright on my book and they are the sole distributors of it.

[David Ice]

It is worth the money to check with a qualified physical therapist to help you learn now to properly load/unload a harp into a vehicle.

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