Can radiators be transported downstairs with a handtruck without cracking the cast iron?

branimal

I'm worried the repeated banging on each stair could crack the rad.

ethicalpaul

Don’t bang it then, but I doubt it would hurt it

bobbob

Try to find an appliance dolly. They have small wheels and special "caterpillar tracks" on the back side. Made to go up and down stairs alot more smoothly.

Hap_Hazzard

If your handtruck has pneumatic tires they will absorb the shock from bumping down the stairs. I've moved several of mine. Your real concern is to avoid bumping into walls and tearing out great chunks of plaster or damaging your woodwork. I recommend putting a board on each side of the radiator with holes cut out for the fittings so they don't stick out and gouge your walls or ballusters—or your ankles.

reggi

What everyone said plus tie off the hand truck behind you if possible to control the momentum when gravity wants to take over after the first drop.. g/l

Jamie Hall

And never, ever, stand below the hand truck. Just don't do it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgqXVeIPSzA

STEVEusaPA

Lay two 2x8's on there side, carefully slide down steps. Or electric stair climber.

ScottSecor

We've done it many times with cast iron radiators,  never damaged a radiator.  However,  stairs (risers and treads) can easily get banged up, crack,  chip, etc.  Also, might want to shove a rag in the opening(s), not good when rusty water starts to drool out.

EBEBRATT-Ed

LOL, It's not the cast iron that will crack, just your back

mattmia2

I'd be far more concerned about the stairs than about the radiator

rcrit

You haven't lived until you've ridden a radiator down the stairs.

BobC

Radiator luging should be an Olympic sport, more points if you get the radiator to go through the wall at the foot of the stairs.

Bob

ScottSecor

Not directly related but a similar sport to consider....I had a employee that lost control of a Weil McLain 80 intermediate cast iron section (light commercial) on a very large set of stairs that led to the church basement. He is a good snowboard, he surfed that section like it was nothing. Definitely at least a Silver metal ride, perhaps Gold. Somehow the section survived (still in place and functioning some twenty years later). Employee was fine, might have actually improved his snowboarding skills!

branimal

Got the radiator down the stairs. I put a block of wood underneath it, and ratchet strapped it to my handtruck. Thanks guys.

reggi

branimal said:

Got the radiator down the stairs. I put a block of wood underneath it, and ratchet strapped it to my handtruck. Thanks guys.

Too late now but size does (did) matter..
Glad you made it safe with no damage.. How's it going back up ?

dopey27177

The best way to get it up the stairs is to hire the Hulk and have the green man carry it up for you.

Get it up the stairs the same way you took it down, but do it with two people.

Jake

SteamingatMohawk

Depending on the condition of the outside of the radiator, layers and layers of paint and dust mixed in, you might want to have it blasted and painted. It will cost a bit, but it will look great for a long time and maybe even work better. Use paint rated for at least 250F.

Hap_Hazzard

It's been a few years, but as I recall, it didn't take a lot more effort to haul a radiator up the stairs than it took to take it down. Lowering a radiator carefully from step to step takes almost as much force as lifting it up one step at a time.

SteamingatMohawk

In the late 70's, my wife and I decided to add a wood fired boiler to our baseboard hot water system. There is no external entrance to the basement so we had to take it down the stairs through the kitchen.

Fortunately, the doorway faces the kitchen table, which has an adjacent window. I drove my station wagon into the back yard, opened the window and ran a rope from the wagon to the boiler as a safety measure. Then with a couple extra guys helping, we gently lowered it down the steps, without incident.

Jamie Hall

That, @SteamingatMohawk is a delightful red neck approach! Good for you!

eclecticmn

never done it but I learned of LP INTERNATIONAL

Model: M-1 POWERMATE electric stair climbers. Some places rent them. See also youtube.