I’ve mentioned this before but since I just rented one to move my bandsaw I thought I’d post about it again. This is a Lectro-truck battery powered stair climber, i couldn’t find model number but I think it can lift 1200 pounds. It’s powerd by rechargeable batteries and uses an acme rod to move the wheels up and down. There are two buttons on top that move the wheels up or down. Basically you alternate pivotting the dolly on the wheels (which lock) and the bottom of the dolly, where the flat plate is that hold the load.
The bandsaw i moved last weekend weighed about 650 pounds. And there was more stress and anxiety than hard work. The move up the stairs went smoothly. Basically a one man job but having an extra set of hands to watch the load to make sure it had enough purchase on the stairs was needed.
As you can see the dolly also has a flip out tripod which is very helpful for flat surfaces.
Rental cost was $70 for 4 hours, which is more expensive than when I rented about 4-5 years ago. Still, it’s hard to put price on safety. 4 big guys, brute force, and a standard dolly could probably move it but I wouldn’t want to be on the bottom end of 650 pounds of steel.
Hopefully this thread inspires some basement shop woodworkers tosee that a bigger bandsaw (jointer, planer, etc) is possible.