Most of what goes in a dump trailer is bulky and light. A short list of household items is the opposite: compact, dense, and heavy enough to injure whoever tries to lift it over a four-foot rail. Pianos, safes, cast-iron tubs and radiators, commercial appliances, and slabs of stone all belong on that list.
The first question: does it need to go in the trailer at all?
- Working upright pianos are hard to give away but not impossible; a music program or church may take a decent one
- Safes in working order sell, and locksmiths sometimes buy them
- Cast-iron tubs and radiators are pure scrap metal with real value
- Commercial kitchen equipment is stainless steel, which scrap yards pay for
Anything that leaves on someone else's truck is weight you don't lift and don't pay to dispose of.
Moving it to the trailer
The dangerous part is not the trailer. It's the path from the house to the driveway. A few rules:
- 1Get the trailer as close to the door as the truck can place it, and tell us in advance so the driver plans the placement.
- 2Use a proper appliance dolly or piano dolly with straps. Furniture sliders and a couple of friends are how people end up in urgent care.
- 3Plan the route. Steps, thresholds and soft lawn all stop a dolly.
- 4Open the tailgate and roll the item in flat on the floor. Do not attempt to lift a heavy item over the side.
- 5Position it low and over the axles, then build the rest of the load around it.
Breaking it down
An upright piano comes apart more than people think: the front panels, the keyboard cover, the action and the keys all lift out. What's left — the cast-iron plate and the case — is still heavy but far more manageable and lower. Never try to cut the strings under tension; release them or leave the plate strung.
Safes do not break down. A gun safe goes in whole, on its back, on the trailer floor. Remove the door if you can; it's often half the weight and comes off the hinges once the safe is open.
Weight and the included ton
One ton is included with the rental. A piano, a safe, and a cast-iron tub together will not reach it on their own, but they eat into it, and if the rest of the load is tile or dirt the combination will pass it. Additional weight is $59 per ton on the PCSW scale receipt. Separate the metal items to a scrap pile and they leave the disposal weight altogether.
The rest of the heavy list
- Cast-iron radiators: drain them completely first, then treat them as scrap. A single radiator is a two-person dolly move.
- Cast-iron and stone sinks: scrap or heavy debris respectively. Wrap stone in a blanket for the move so a chip doesn't become a cut.
- Commercial refrigeration and ice machines: refrigerant must be recovered by a licensed technician before disposal. After that they are steel and copper scrap.
- Treadmills and home gym equipment: heavy, awkward, and mostly steel. Take the deck off a treadmill and the motor and frame go to scrap.
- Slabs of granite or quartz: heavy material. Lay them flat on the trailer floor, never on edge, and keep the total within the 5-yard heavy limit.
The common thread is that almost everything on this list is metal, and metal that is separated from the general load is not weighed for disposal. For a job with two or three of these items, the scrap pile beside the trailer can be as big as the load inside it.
Frequently asked questions
Can I put a piano in the trailer?
Yes. Roll it in through the tailgate, lay it on its back, and keep it over the axles. It goes in as general debris.
Will the crew move a safe out of a house?
Yes, provided the route is passable with a dolly. Tell us the approximate weight and where it sits.
What about a hot tub?
Hot tubs are bulky rather than dense, and there's a separate guide for them linked below.
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