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Thread: Need advice on plywood cart

  1. #1

    Need advice on plywood cart

    I would like to have a plywood cart for my shop. When I get a delivery of plywood, the truck unloads about 30' from my overhead door and where I store the plywood, then when I use the plywood, it has to go another 30' to the table saw. It would be a lot easier for my back if I could unload a dozen sheets off the truck and onto the cart, store the cart and sheets in my usual spot, and then cart them to the saw when I'm ready to cut.

    I use 5' x 5' sheets, and I only have room for a 24" wide cart in my storage spot.

    I'm thinking of an A-frame cart, 24" x 48" base size, with 48" tall center supports all made of channel steel and welded. Hardwood "shims" attached to the channel steel at the bottom and on each side of the center support to provide the angle (10 degree). 8" polyurethane rubber covered steel casters, two swivel and two fixed.

    Figure 1000 lbs., 70" tall, 24" wide base on solid casters. Weight evenly distributed on both sides of the "A".

    My question is, will this unit be tippy?

    Greg

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
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    Look at a drywall cart and see if that will work for you I have 2 and they come in handy for moving plywood around.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Jerome Stanek View Post
    Look at a drywall cart and see if that will work for you I have 2 and they come in handy for moving plywood around.
    I know, that would be easy but . . .

    I found all kinds of drywall and plywood carts for sale on the internet, but none of them are as well built and sturdy as the one I would build. None of them are designed for 60" x 60" material.

    Greg

  4. #4
    5x5s stored on opposing sides of a 24" wide cart are going to be awfully close to vertical. Once you account for the width of the center divider and the outside lip on the bottom, with 5 sheets on each side, you won't be tilting the sheets enough to move them safely. Typically the type of cart you have in mind needs to be closer to 4" wide.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by johnny means View Post
    5x5s stored on opposing sides of a 24" wide cart are going to be awfully close to vertical. Once you account for the width of the center divider and the outside lip on the bottom, with 5 sheets on each side, you won't be tilting the sheets enough to move them safely. Typically the type of cart you have in mind needs to be closer to 4" wide.
    Thanks, I really need some advice on this.

    The sheets would sit at a 10 degree angle, I don't think the sheets would tip off the center support. Actually I'm quite sure they wouldn't tip off the cart unless the cart was going over.

    That's what I'm more concerned about, is moving a 24" cart around with 1000 lbs on it of 60" tall sheets, and having it be tippy.

    Of course, if you look at the drywall carts, they are not very wide either, and they rate those for 2,000 or 3,000 lbs.! So I don't know. Need help.

    Greg

  6. #6
    Join Date
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    This is 1 of the carts I have It is called a door hugger as there is a cut out in the back of the frame. I worked for a drywall supply company years ago and this was the preferred cart very heavy duty and I think you would be happy with it.

    http://constructioncomplete.com/Cata...d-Drywall-Cart

  7. #7
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    A lot depends on space availability, and on the quantities of sheets/panels you need to handle Greg. I'm no expert, but i looked at this problem recently, and concluded that i couldn't afford the floor space taken up by a cart - but bear in mind i don't use a lot of plywood, only the odd few sheets now and then.

    One issue with 'leaned over' storage is that it can very quickly get next to impossible to get out sheets buried in the sandwich. Sheets may warp if not well supported by a flat surface too.

    I've gone for a wall mounted 'stood on end' (8ft high x 4ft wide) rack to minimise the footprint, have bought a 'Gorilla Gripper' http://www.gorillagripper.com/ (which works very well) for single sheet handling, and will build a small single panel 'roller skate' like this if needed: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=5188

    One rack idea i've gone for that may work for your cart (instead of leaning the sheets against both sides of a central pillar, which makes removal of inner sheets very difficult, and makes it easy for the sheets to fall outwards) is to place sloped support pillars at both sides of the rack floor - so that the sheets while leaning outwards against the pillars sit in the central channel they form with the floor.

    The sheets can't fall out, but can easily be removed from the ends. The big benefit (provided you don't fill the rack past the mid point of the floor) is that you can 'walk' sheets from one side to the other - to get access to buried sheets.

    To save space, and to make it easy to move sheets I went for a very shallow 4 deg slope on the pillars since my rack is fixed, and made the central floor from slippery PET plastic bent upwards along the centre line in a 'V' making a 90 deg angle with the sides. You may need more of a slope on the sides for a cart though.

    I made the pillars/sides in ladder form so that sheets lying against them can't sag and warp.

    The plastic floor is gilding the lily a bit (i've a friend in the plastics fab business), but the floor arrangement is worth thinking about to ease handling, and reduce the risk of splitting veneers away when sliding ply sheets in and out on edge.

    A decent radius at each end of the floor is at least advisable, as (in the case of a rack) is raising it a bit above the floor to avoid problems with e.g. water leaks/spills...

    ian

  8. #8
    We have one of these for work that helps us get drywall/plywood around on jobsites. A bit spendy but works great

    it is not tippy with 4'x8' sheets, and i wouldn't expect it to be too much worse with 5'x5'.


    http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/MAR...0Tools-_-3DRF3
    "there is no such thing as a mistake in woodworking, only opportunities to re-assess the design"

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Jerome Stanek View Post
    This is 1 of the carts I have It is called a door hugger as there is a cut out in the back of the frame. I worked for a drywall supply company years ago and this was the preferred cart very heavy duty and I think you would be happy with it.

    http://constructioncomplete.com/Cata...d-Drywall-Cart
    That looks like a nice one. Do you think the 5' tall sheets would upset the balance?

    Greg

  10. #10
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Topeka, KS
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    291

    54" sheetrock

    I would look closely at drywall carts. 54" sheetrock is extremely common and I would imagine that there may be carts that are just a hair taller than normal to accomodate. Either way, sheetrock is very dense, moreso than birch plywood. I think that your weight estimates give you plenty of wiggle room.

    As for casters, I would strongly consider smaller (maybe 4 or 5") to lower the center of gravity. Also, I would put swivels on all four corners. I've made carts and mobile bases with 2 fixed and 2 swivels before and hate them. It is so nice to be able to move in any direction and with a little caution you shouldn't have to worry about tipping.

    Lastly, with tipping being your primary concern, have you considered some sort of outrigger? If you could temporarily widen your frame while moving then fold it back in for storage you could get the best of both worlds.

    Ryan

  11. #11
    Swivel on all four corners. Eliminates the need to turn around to steer into tight spots.
    .
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  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by ian maybury View Post
    A lot depends on space availability, and on the quantities of sheets/panels you need to handle Greg. I'm no expert, but i looked at this problem recently, and concluded that i couldn't afford the floor space taken up by a cart - but bear in mind i don't use a lot of plywood, only the odd few sheets now and then.

    One issue with 'leaned over' storage is that it can very quickly get next to impossible to get out sheets buried in the sandwich. Sheets may warp if not well supported by a flat surface too.

    I've gone for a wall mounted 'stood on end' (8ft high x 4ft wide) rack to minimise the footprint, have bought a 'Gorilla Gripper' http://www.gorillagripper.com/ (which works very well) for single sheet handling, and will build a small single panel 'roller skate' like this if needed: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=5188

    One rack idea i've gone for that may work for your cart (instead of leaning the sheets against both sides of a central pillar, which makes removal of inner sheets very difficult, and makes it easy for the sheets to fall outwards) is to place sloped support pillars at both sides of the rack floor - so that the sheets while leaning outwards against the pillars sit in the central channel they form with the floor.

    The sheets can't fall out, but can easily be removed from the ends. The big benefit (provided you don't fill the rack past the mid point of the floor) is that you can 'walk' sheets from one side to the other - to get access to buried sheets.

    To save space, and to make it easy to move sheets I went for a very shallow 4 deg slope on the pillars since my rack is fixed, and made the central floor from slippery PET plastic bent upwards along the centre line in a 'V' making a 90 deg angle with the sides. You may need more of a slope on the sides for a cart though.

    I made the pillars/sides in ladder form so that sheets lying against them can't sag and warp.

    The plastic floor is gilding the lily a bit (i've a friend in the plastics fab business), but the floor arrangement is worth thinking about to ease handling, and reduce the risk of splitting veneers away when sliding ply sheets in and out on edge.

    A decent radius at each end of the floor is at least advisable, as (in the case of a rack) is raising it a bit above the floor to avoid problems with e.g. water leaks/spills...

    ian
    Thank you for the good information. On the cart idea with the side pillars, I would be concerned that the cart would become even more tippy with sheets leaning towards the outside.

    In my situation, I use only two sizes of material, 3/4" and 1" thick baltic birch in 5' x 5' sheets. I suppose that could change someday, but for now that's it. So getting to sheets behind other sheets is not the concern for me. I'll keep 3/4 on one side of my "A" and 1" on the other.

    The real question for me remains, will a 6' tall by 2' wide cart be tippy. Or too tippy. I know it's going to be subject to tipping if I'm not careful about what I drive it over. But can it be handled safely, or is this just going to be a disaster?

    Greg

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Medina Ohio
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    4,516
    The cart I have has swivel casters on al 4 wheels plus 1 that locks straight or 90%. I have hauled 6 foot tall panels and it is not tipsy. one of mine has the cut out back and the other doesn't. I like the cut out to get around doors and columns.

  14. #14
    Someone once told me that two swivel and two fixed will roll easier than when all four swivel. Less likely for the casters to get locked up working against one another. This would be a safety feature to reduce the chance of tipping the whole cart over.

    Greg

  15. #15
    Not to muddy up the waters, but Keep in mind that a 24" wide cart with 4" casters only has a 20" wide foot print.

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