Jump to content

Real-world puzzle - moving 400lb box 200'


Scruit

Recommended Posts

I ordered a big go-kart for my son. It will arrive tuesday morning.

I found out from the seller that the go-kart arrives mostly disassembled and in a box that is a little less than 5'x4'x2' and weighs 385lbs. I also called the shipper (UPS Freight) and found they are going to be bringing it on a semi with a liftgate - which means they will drop the thing at the end of my driveway and drive away.

I have to get the ~400lb box about 200' from the road to the workshop where I can assemble it. Half of that is loose gravel about 2" deep on top of hard-packed gravel which is like concrete. The other half of the distance is tarmac.

Plan A: I originally reserved a u-haul trailer from a location about a mile from me, thinking we could just push the box from the liftgate onto the trailer and I could just drive down the driveway. They just called and said that they won't have a trailer available at my location so I have to drive 45 minutes get the next nearest one, same again to return, and pay for a second day. They were surprised when I cancelled.

Plan B: I have a call in to Sunbelt - I can rent from there Tuesday morning and their location is only 10 mins away. They may or may not have one available, will find out tomorrow night (giving me no chance to come up with a plan C unless I plan that now)

Plan C: Anything you guys can help me come up with.

I have:

4 1000# rated wheel dollies with 3" metal wheels

Hand truck with 8" rubber wheels, 400lb rated

A few 4x4 posts

Plenty of ratchet straps

A lawn tractor

A couple of trolley jacks

engine hoist

Motorcycle jack

And plenty of other things, like chain, misc hardware and fasteners etc.

I guess I *could* just try to use the hand truck. Anyone here ever tried to move 400lbs with a hand truck? I'm not a small guy, 6'2" and over 200lbs. I worry most about setting it back down again - that's a lot of weight liekly to be on my back as I put it down. Maybe I can set up the engine hoist in the workshop so after wheeling the thing into the workshop I can just hook the handle of the hand truck to the raised hook of the hoist and use the hoise to safely lower the box.

Plan Z is to use the 4x4 posts and wheel dollies together to make low rolling platform. Then we could slide the go-kart from the liftgate onto the platform, and I could tow the platform with the lawn tractor... Maybe scraping the gravel to the size with a shovel to reveal the concrete-hard layer beneath for easier rolling. The gravel would make it too difficult to push or pull by hand.

Any better ideas?

Edited by Scruit
Link to comment
Share on other sites

But 2 sheets of ply wood cut them into strips the width of the dolly and roll the box on the ply wood. You can just lift the previous ply wood strips and place them along the path in front of you.

Or call the company you bout if from and see if they can have ups freight back into your drive way far enough to drop it on solid ground. There is no reason they should be able to do this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But 2 sheets of ply wood cut them into strips the width of the dolly and roll the box on the ply wood. You can just lift the previous ply wood strips and place them along the path in front of you.

Or call the company you bout if from and see if they can have ups freight back into your drive way far enough to drop it on solid ground. There is no reason they should be able to do this.

I like the plywood idea. It's coming on a 45' semi - they can't back that down my driveway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

use the straps to secure the dolly on the front side of the box. Throw the 4x4 on top of the box(may want to screw it on) right in front of the dolly so it spans the bars. Use another strap to loop around the 4x4 and go through the dolly....attach it to a hitch or the tow loop on a car. Slowly drag the box.

you could skip the 4x4 if you really dont care about damaging the dolly....just strap directly to it at a height slightly above the box.

Edited by RHill
Link to comment
Share on other sites

depending on how loose the gravel is it may become a plow haha

actually if you could cut a chunk of 2x4 as wide as the dolly and place it under the box on the tongue of the dolly, I'd think this would work without displacing much gravel at all

once you get to the harder surface you can throw the wheel dollies under the trailing side to avoid marking the surface

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd definitely use the mower to tug it, but I'd stand the crate upright and strap the longest 4x4 you've got to the underside of the crate leaving the long end towards the direction you want it to go. drill the long end for a long bolt or pin to hitch it onto the mower, then drag it to the workshop? That way you're only dragging less than 4" wide scrape and it's all the way at the other end so not much of the gravel would get moved aside

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Find another hand truck with 8 inch wheels, and put one on each end strapped on tight. Jam some wood between the trucks and the box so they tilt back a little bit and put the wheels on the ground. Push or tow with helpers to keep it balanced.

I think if it can be tilted up just enough to tow with the tractor, just one hand cart will work ok. You'll have to have enough people to push/lift it onto the hand cart. Lit one end and shove the hand cart under? (And strap it.)

Or open the box and carry it all in, one part at a time.

I used to move skids by hand that had hundreds of pounds on them. Just lift one corner a tiny bit and swing it around. The skid is the lever, with the weight in the middle. Endless amounts of turning it till it gets to where it's going. Won't work too well on gravel.

And.... the proper way is with a J-Bar and dollies.

http://www.paccin.org/content.php?43-Moving-Crates-with-J-bars-Etc

And if it comes on a skid that's open across the bottom. (And it probably will.) Run 2x4s through there and get some help. Just lift it and carry it or use the dollies too. I like this one. It's way quicker.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Or get primitive on it...

travois

smtravios.JPG

http://sonic.net/~yeager/smtravios.JPG

dog_travois_web.jpg

http://www.indiandogs.com/images/dogs/dog_travois_web.jpg

Travois-prototype.JPG

https://www.engineeringforchange.org/news/images/March-2012/Travois-prototype.JPG

Get the hand truck under, strapped to box, with long 2x4s zip tied to the hand truck. Tow with tractor.

Or put 2x4s through the skid, zip tied in place, and just drag it with the tractor.

edit: 10 foot 2x4 would reduce the felt weight (when lifting) by 3 to 1 or better. So 400 pounds would feel like 130 pounds, and that's split on each of two 2x4s.

Edited by ReconRat
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Or get primitive on it...

cut down tall straight tree, cut it into smaller logs, place logs under box, roll box till trailing log comes out, move rear log too front...repeat

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Or get primitive on it...

travois

smtravios.JPG

http://sonic.net/~yeager/smtravios.JPG

dog_travois_web.jpg

http://www.indiandogs.com/images/dogs/dog_travois_web.jpg

Travois-prototype.JPG

https://www.engineeringforchange.org/news/images/March-2012/Travois-prototype.JPG

Get the hand truck under, strapped to box, with long 2x4s zip tied to the hand truck. Tow with tractor.

Or put 2x4s through the skid, zip tied in place, and just drag it with the tractor.

edit: 10 foot 2x4 would reduce the felt weight (when lifting) by 3 to 1 or better. So 400 pounds would feel like 130 pounds, and that's split on each of two 2x4s.

I like the extended handle on the hand truck. I can extend the handle to 8' already, so if turn the box sideways I'll be carrying about 192lbs. Problem is the box will start off flat and wind up flat - so I don't want to lift it up on one end if I can avoid it. I can look to see if I have something I can use to extend the handle further. Or I could try to attach wheels near the handle of the hand truck and just use it as a flat dolly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Take is apart. Sometimes simplest answers are best, instead of trying to build something to move this, just so that you can take it apart, and then actually get around to building the go cart. I can't lift 600# but I can take apart machinery enough to move the smaller parts and have done so multiple times.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Got my solution...

Made a trailer from my hand truck by adding front wheels and a tow hook to the handle so I can tow it with the lawn tractor. I don't have much turning radius, so I have to remember that.

2012-06-10_15-46-00_722.jpg

The liftgate of the semi can be lowered down to the level of the "floor" of this new "trailer", then the box can be easily slid onto the trailer. Then I can roll it away from the liftgate, hook it into the tractor and then tow it to the workshop.

Not pretty, but it will work fine for this one time.

Edited by Scruit
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...