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57 of 64 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Works so far, but needs improvement and better instructions, June 15, 2008
We were able to use this product successfully to move a heavy TV set. When we first got the TV, we moved it "by hand" and one of us got a bad muscle strain when the TV started slipping out of our grasp. This time, with the Shoulder Dolly, we were able to move it across a room, out a door, down four steps, and set it on the ground, without much trouble.
Sounds great, right? The problem is, the main carrying strap -- the big 5" wide one that passes underneath the big object -- was too long. To perform our move, we had to fold that strap over and pass it through one of the two harnesses at double thickness. It worked, but it is NOT described in the manual.
Instead, the manual suggests that you contact the company to BUY MORE STRAPS of differing lengths if you face the situation we did. Gee, that's helpful advice to get when you open the package ready to perform a move. And where in this product listing does it mention the need for extra straps? Nowhere.
The strap included in this "Light Duty" kit is 12 feet long. If you follow the directions, you'll feed that strap once through each shoulder harness, and it will be gripped in place. And it does work like that.
But any excess will just hang down toward the ground. If you and your partner only need six feet of strap to pick up an object at an appropriate height, you will have three feet at each end dangling down. Who needs a big cloth strap around one's legs and feet, risking a trip?
By the way, I don't think you should worry about the size of this thing unless you're really small or really huge. Our lifting team is average in size, and the harnesses on us looked pretty much like they do in the photos here (and in the manual).
The manual spends a huge amount of time explaining how to put the harness on your body -- which is pretty much a no-brainer -- but not much time explaining how to position your feet, or how best to raise and lower an item vertically.
So the good news is that the "Shoulder Dolly" will indeed help to move a heavy object while not putting a lot of strain on wrists, elbows and arms. Also, IF you plan ahead with the precise length of the strap, and the height off the ground to which an object has to move (and where it starts), you can move it vertically without much trouble, too.
But it's not self-explanatory, and it takes a lot of thinking to get something that starts out 30" off the ground, carry it laterally, then deposit it directly on the ground. The instructions seem to think that all your moving will be picking objects up from the ground and putting them back down at the same height.
Also Note: the Product Description here says "Heavy lifting capacity: Up to 400 lbs." and "Helps you lift objects that you cannot lift comfortably on your own." Well, the "400 pounds" refers the weight rating of the fabric strapping! It does not give YOU a 400 pound "lifting capacity!"
Right in the manual it says that the product does NOT increase your own inherent lifting ability. So don't expect to lift 400 pound objects if you can't bear that much weight on your back, or by any other form of lifting.
The TV we carried weighed way less than that. So we knew we could lift it -- we just knew that it would be bulky and awkward because of its size and shape. That's what this thing is good for. If you keep that in mind, you can make a better decision about the purchase. It does not give you any more strength, and it does not provide any means for balancing the object being moved. You do have to use your hands for that.
PRO: I'm glad we got it, since we accomplished our immediate goal, and we might be able to use the Shoulder Dolly for other tasks in the future.
The product seems well made, it does have safety tags and warnings in the manual, so the manufacturer does seem safety-conscious.
CONS:
We had to ignore the instructions in order to use the product, which I hate doing, and I did not like the sneaky marketing of accessory products (like different length straps).
My lifting partner was bothered by the lack of padding in the harness straps. I didn't notice it in this one-time move, but in a bigger move with more trips, I might. They could include pads without having to bump the price, seems to me.
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