You’re standing in one corner of the room, facing off against your opponent. Aussies don’t back down from a challenge. Even if the odds aren’t great, we never give up. You’ve got this.

In the opposite corner is your adversary. It has a hard shiny exterior, a lot of black and white teeth and between three to six legs. Depending on the model, it’ll be standing upright or in a squatting position. You know this beast better as ‘your piano.’ Today, it has to be moved.

It’s just a piano, right? You don’t need to pay piano movers to do the job. You dust off your hands, confident you’ll show this piano who’s boss. After all, you’ve already disposed of its friend, a lightweight, better known as the piano stool.

Before you attempt to grapple this seemingly harmless opponent, there are a few things you need to know. The smallest upright piano weighs approximately 180 kilograms and stand 100 centimetres tall. The weight comes from the heavy cast iron harp inside. If you’re the proud owner of a large or grand piano, they don’t stand as tall, but can weigh as much as half a ton.

That’s right, your piano weighs the same as one to two adult crocodiles. While wrestling your piano is preferable to a croc, if not done right, like the croc, it becomes an instrument of doom.

It isn’t just the size and weight of the piano that makes it tricky to move. They’re also difficult to balance while carried as many pianos are ‘back heavy.’ Try carrying an empty box on one arm and a box full of books on the other and you’ll see what we mean.

While it may be appealing to save a few dollars moving the piano yourself, the cost of an injured back will be much greater. Did we also mention the risk of injury to shoulders, hips, knees, hands, ankles, feet and toes? Imagine a piano on your toe. Ouch.

Let’s not forget the piano here. The cost of repairing a dropped piano will also make your eyes water. Certain pianos, such as four legged models, need to be moved a few steps at a time to prevent damage.

So before you cross the room to take on this harmless looking object used to tinkle out tunes, it’ll definitely be easier and probably cost you less to get piano movers to do the job. Your time is better spent playing the piano than trying to move it.