Dolly 10' Long

[cabinetman]

I have to make a dolly about 10' long or longer. It will be for my hurricane storm panels. They are about 13" wide, and there are 20 that are 10' or longer, the longest are 4 @ 140". They are galvanized steel.

They will all stack flat (they fit into each other), one on top of each other, about 40 panels in all. Height is about 8", and the weight will be about 900 LBS.

I need to get this stack to the windows when I need to install. Right now they are stacked on my 8' trailer next to my shed. I need to roll them about 120' - 150', over grassy areas and some sandy areas.

I'm thinking a simple frame of 10' or longer 2x4's or 2x6's, with some cross rails, and some type of caster or full swivel wheels, maybe 6. The wheels would have to work well in grass, and be suitable to be left outside. Any suggestions?
.

[pelligrini]

I've got a knockdown design that I did for some dart standard carts. These standards are about 14' x 32" out of 1" steel tube. They weigh about 90lbs each and the cart would hold 6. The frame was mostly 2x4s, with some short 2x8s and some ply. You might have to adapt some other type of casters for the grass.

[Mr__Bill]

My first question is, how are you going to roll this over the lawn?

Assuming it's with a truck or lawn tractor.....
I would make wagon with a welded steel frame and large tires like a wheel barrow uses only the kind that don't go flat.


Bill
over here on the big ocean.

[sweensdv]

+1 Mr Bill's idea. While small 4" or 6" wheels may work somewhat on the grass I doubt if they'll work very well in the sand given that you're talking about 900lbs here. Big wheels, the wider the better.

[pelligrini]

If you could find something like these but solid, or maybe add some tubes, they should get over most surfaces.
http://www.harborfreight.com/10-inch...ter-38944.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/10-inch...ter-38943.html

[Uncle Cracker]

HF does sell some solid hand-truck wheels (knobbys), and they go on sale cheap sometimes... I don't know the weight rating, but just use enough to distribute the load. You'll need this type of wheel on the lawn or on sand.

[eezlock]

dolly 10' long

If you have a lawn/garden tractor...why not buy an inexpensive flat bed
trailer from HF? This would be a lot easier way to move them around and
move them out of them way when that time comes as well. Stack them on the trailer and cover them with a tarp, park it in the back yard until needed.

[cabinetman]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. The panels are sitting on my 4'x8' trailer now. It's too wide to fit through the gate on one side of the house.

As for casters/wheels, I agree they have to be rough terrain type. I don't want pneumatic as they are prone to losing air. DAMHIKT. Physically, I was thinking of maybe a short frame for the wheels, so it would maneuver easily. Six wheels may bear more load, but the center pair may be inhibiting.

If the frame is short, a long railed bed might support the load. The other problem I'm pondering is that if made narrow, even though the center of gravity is low, it may be tipsy. So, these are some of the parameters that have to be worked out.

There is somewhat of a rush on this as our hurricane season has already started, and I won't have much notice to prepare.
.

[Mr__Bill]

There is somewhat of a rush on this as our hurricane season has already started, and I won't have much notice to prepare.
.

So...... why didn't you leave them on the ground under the windows when you took them off last year?

If you wait until it's raining hard a skiff may be better than a wagon....

I would put the wheels out-board of the frame rather than under it and space them so that it is wider than the load but with room to spare at the garden gate. As for wheels if you feel that a large caster will not sink in the lawn when it's wet, say a day or two into the rain then casters is the easiest way to go. You may need a flotation type of tire and that changes things.

I agree 4 tires not 6 will make it easier to maneuver over the lawn.

It might be easier to widen the gate....

Bill

[ironhat]

First, fill the tires with foam. Voila', no more flats. As far as the tipsy goes, make the wheelbase wide enough to handle two panel widths and that should make it less tipsy. If not stable widen the wheelbase until it is.

[burrellski]

You may want to consider a setup with two middle wheels (one in the middle of each long side) and then a single on each end. You could run a solid axle across the middle and mount some large turf type tires that would roll on the grass well. Then a swivel caster front and rear. This will get you the maneuverability you want and better support the long / heavy load.

_______W______
|.........................|
W........................W
|_______W______|

(ignore the periods. i couldn't get my elaborate diagram to come out right. you get the idea.)

[Shep]

Why not design the cart around the same lines as a cart you would see at HD on Lowes? By this I mean you have 6 casters, with the two middle wheels slightly larger than the 4 on the corners. This would help to move over the ground, and give support where needed.

[cabinetman]

Why not design the cart around the same lines as a cart you would see at HD on Lowes? By this I mean you have 6 casters, with the two middle wheels slightly larger than the 4 on the corners. This would help to move over the ground, and give support where needed.

I'm familiar with those carts at HD. Similar to the sketch that burrellski typed out. I think a problem with that is that most all the weight would be on two wheels and not be that maneuravable in soft ground.
.

[pelligrini]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. The panels are sitting on my 4'x8' trailer now. It's too wide to fit through the gate on one side of the house.

As for casters/wheels, I agree they have to be rough terrain type. I don't want pneumatic as they are prone to losing air. DAMHIKT. Physically, I was thinking of maybe a short frame for the wheels, so it would maneuver easily. Six wheels may bear more load, but the center pair may be inhibiting.

If the frame is short, a long railed bed might support the load. The other problem I'm pondering is that if made narrow, even though the center of gravity is low, it may be tipsy. So, these are some of the parameters that have to be worked out.

There is somewhat of a rush on this as our hurricane season has already started, and I won't have much notice to prepare.
.

I didn't have to deal with rough terrain for that standard cart I did, but It did have to be narrow to get through a single door. The 5" casters I used had no problems with door thresholds, but all the surfaces were level. It has no problem with being tipsy. If you look at the end view below all of the loads are in between the wheels. The standards I designed it for are rigid, so I really didn't have to support the whole length. The ends of the standards cantilever out beyond the cart. All of the loads bear on the ends of the cart, the 2x4 stretchers just keep it square. I half lapped the stretchers to help with racking.

[Mr__Bill]

How about a small trailer like this:

from" http://www.estatewagons.com/More%204...20Pictures.htm

All the wheels are straight, no swivel making it possible to have them on the outside of the frame giving you a lower center of gravity. 4 flotation tires like the ones garden/lawn tractors use. No axle, the hub mounts to the frame.

An almost off the shelf solution is a small HF trailer. Just cut down the cross pieces and assemble it to your custom width. Then use a trailer dolly for the front. Something like this:


You would only have about $250 invested and not a lot of time either.

900 lb on a wet lawn is a lot for one person to push, are you able to move it with a tractor?

Bill
BTW, is the hurricane there yet?