# How to get rid of an old piano? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 30, 2022, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-rid-of-an-old-piano/967159 "2022-06-30T01:15:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-rid-of-an-old-piano/967159/41 "2022-07-03T18:31:22Z")
About 50 years ago when I was at Baker House at MIT someone on our floor had a piano to dispose of. So, it was taken to the roof. Some people did crowd control on the alley next to the dorm. The Campus Police came to see what was going on. When they turned their backs to confer, off went the piano. I have pictures of the piano on the roof and I scampered down and have a picture of it in the air. Souvenir hunters took all of it except the cover, which we converted into a big cribbage board. It became a tradition, which continues. > **[Just drop it: Baker House Piano Drop](https://news.mit.edu/2018/just-drop-it-mit-baker-house-piano-drop-0524)** > > In a tradition that started nearly 50 years ago, MIT students drop a donated, nonworking, and irreparable piano off the roof to mark "Drop Day." During reunions one of the alumni engineering games involves building something to shoot a little piano at a replica of Baker House. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-rid-of-an-old-piano/967159/42 "2022-07-03T18:56:23Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > break the whole thing up into small enough pieces to pass through a wedding ring. Wedding ring ?!! I googled, and the first 5 hits said it had to pass through :- - a letterbox - a 20cm hoop - a 2 inch hoop - a 9 inch hoop - a car tire. respectively. I guess rules vary according to time available or something ! ---
**Author:** ![a6ka97](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@a6ka97](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a6ka97)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-rid-of-an-old-piano/967159/43 "2022-07-03T19:42:41Z")
In a town I used to live in there were several bars downtown in a 2 block area, the BARmuda Triangle. One of the bars would get an upright piano and place it on the sidewalk in front for people walking from bar to bar to stop and play or maybe stay for a moment if somebody that was a good piano player was playing. They would attempt to cover it up at night but by the end of summer the piano was pretty beat up due to the elements and was then busted up and thrown in the dumpster out back after the weather started getting cold. The following year the would find a cheap (or free!) piano to takes it place. ---
**Author:** ![X.L.Lent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a5b964/32.png) [@X.L.Lent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X.L.Lent)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2022, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-rid-of-an-old-piano/967159/44 "2022-07-04T00:09:56Z")
Looks like fun but I thought the sound of it hitting the ground would be more musical sounding not just a loud “THUNK”. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2022, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-rid-of-an-old-piano/967159/45 "2022-07-04T00:30:07Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/YpKT_eeCVNI/hqdefault.jpg "Yosuke Yamashita, Burning Piano 2008") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpKT_eeCVNI) ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2022, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-rid-of-an-old-piano/967159/46 "2022-07-04T01:22:11Z")
Didn’t Northern Exposure also have a funeral involving a trebuchet? One thing I learned from a [Nova episode](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVO8VznqMeQ) was that if you’re really serious about using a treb, put it on wheels because the recoil can be pretty destructive. Back to the OP… We got some of these straps to move heavy things. Not to say we moved a piano with them, but they do help quite a bit. And when we hired some guys to move some very heavy things, we learned they use them a lot. ISTM they’re lifting with their legs instead of their arms. > **[Amazon.com: Adjustable Moving Straps, 2-Person Shoulder Lifting and Moving...](https://www.amazon.com/Adjustable-2-Person-Furniture-Appliances-Mattresses/dp/B0B3CKG11G)** > > Buy Adjustable Moving Straps, 2-Person Shoulder Lifting and Moving System for Carry Furniture, Appliances, Mattresses, Heavy Objects up to 800 lbs(Black): Forklifts - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2022, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-rid-of-an-old-piano/967159/47 "2022-07-04T02:43:45Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > Didn’t Northern Exposure also have a funeral involving a trebuchet? My link was to the Northern Exposure episode. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2022, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-rid-of-an-old-piano/967159/48 "2022-07-04T02:47:31Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > My link was to the Northern Exposure episode. Sorry, I’m not connecting. I thought I remembered the treb flinging a sealed coffin into a lake? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2022, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-rid-of-an-old-piano/967159/49 "2022-07-04T02:57:11Z")
I don’t remember that. Chris wanted to fling a cow, but people thought that wouldn’t be nice. He objected to their attitudes because flinging a cow was his Artist’s Vision. Then his Vision changed to the piano. (I can’t help but say ‘pie-annie’.) ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2022, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-rid-of-an-old-piano/967159/50 "2022-07-04T06:43:38Z")
A neighbor donated their old (but serviceable) piano to our town hall some years ago. I was glad to have it, as it made our community room more useful and versatile. Unfortunately, our town chairman didn’t agree, and banished it to a storeroom. Since no one knows it’s there, no one uses it. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2022, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-rid-of-an-old-piano/967159/51 "2022-07-04T16:18:06Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Chris wanted to fling a cow, but people thought that wouldn’t be nice. He objected to their attitudes because flinging a cow was his Artist’s Vision. Then his Vision changed to the piano. IIRC, he changed his mind because someone told him that Monty Python had already done it with a cow. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2022, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-rid-of-an-old-piano/967159/52 "2022-07-04T16:53:54Z")
That’s right. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2022, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-rid-of-an-old-piano/967159/53 "2022-07-04T17:23:50Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > I thought I remembered the treb flinging a sealed coffin into a lake? You remember correctly. Season 4, episode 4: [![](https://i.vimeocdn.com/video/865660297-6e07c21e2c6c664115dba58b56cda6b79d27f0d83fa4c15e2c1e8c12aeae78ca-d?f=webp "Northern Exposure Funeral") ](https://vimeo.com/398144808) ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2022, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-rid-of-an-old-piano/967159/54 "2022-07-04T21:17:14Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > You remember correctly. Season 4, episode 4: Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2022, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-rid-of-an-old-piano/967159/55 "2022-07-05T17:35:31Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > One thing I learned from a [Nova episode](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVO8VznqMeQ) was that if you’re really serious about using a treb, put it on wheels because the recoil can be pretty destructive. True, that. One of the things that took me out of the moment in the LOTR movies were the fixed-in-place trebs in Gondor. They’d tear themselves to pieces in a couple shots. They did look cool, though. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2022, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-rid-of-an-old-piano/967159/56 "2022-07-05T17:59:25Z")
> [@tofor](#): > > I am currently in the process of attempting to put together a crew of friends to help me move a piano to my house that I found for free on craigslist. The quote for a professional move was \>$1000. I know it can be done, since there were no professionals involved in moving the full size tall upright that was in my house as a kid, and this piano is quite a bit smaller. It took some doing in the logistics department, but I successfully moved my new piano into my house over the weekend. It’s a “Furniture Console”, 43" high and it was reasonably easy to move with 4 people and a minivan. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-rid-of-an-old-piano/967159/58 "2022-07-10T23:26:03Z")
> [@LH75](#): > > The people that run the sales say that pianos and pool tables are teh hardest things to get rid of This is disheartening. I have a piano, a pool table, AND a grandfather clock to get rid of. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-rid-of-an-old-piano/967159/59 "2022-07-10T23:29:52Z")
**How to get rid of an old piano?** Isn’t the approved method to wait until Wile E. Coyote is walking by underneath and then push it out from a second story window? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-rid-of-an-old-piano/967159/60 "2022-07-10T23:30:05Z")
Gramdfather clocks creep me right the f\_\_\_ out, man. Anyway, does anyone else want to pronounce the subject of this thread ‘pie-annie’? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-rid-of-an-old-piano/967159/61 "2022-07-10T23:38:18Z")
You should never put a GF clock at the top of a staircase because it might run down. 🤪 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-rid-of-an-old-piano/967159.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-get-rid-of-an-old-piano/967159.md?page=4)