Carrying 8'x4' sheets ... solo ...

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Hey

Quick heads up: you prob all know this already, but only just found it out! This is the best little home made tool ever ... thought I'd share ... it basically allows you to carry a big sheet of timber on your own.

Found some American on YouTube who was going through all the ways using rope etc., but then at the end he mentioned this which took me 5 mins to make and has been a real help ever since.

(you slot the sheet on, so allowing you to hold it from the bottom with one hand, while steadying the top of it with your other - genius)

 
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great idea. possible improvement would be a baton at the top to give your fingers room.
 
i made mine from 2x2" planed
"T" shaft and handle shaft about 2ft long handle about 6" across behind the shaft
the hook at the bottom is another bit off 2x2 on a ply bracket with a 20mm x6mm rebate along its length on the front off the shaft

as above its a one handed lift so when you stand upright the lift is about 2" off the floor and the board about 3 1/2" off the ground
a well balanced board will be supported by your arm to body gap on the top
 
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If we are carrying heavier sheets of ply around on site i.e. outdoors, we hoik them up on our backs, arms facing backwards and trudge around like turtles! :D

You hardly feel the weight of the sheet this way.
 
Ah ... I knew there must be a product out there ... the slight curve is a good idea. But it's nice to knock up your own and have a personalized grip!

Turtle option is a little hard when negotiating tight corridors ... also with 25mm MDF on board is quite an ask!
 
Never needed one myself , can reach both sides of a 4ft sheet with my hands.
 
Please foxhole post a link to a video of you walking 15 metres solo with a shiny brand new piece of 8'x4' 25mm ... from a standing start .... intrigued!
 
My record was carrying 2 '8 x 4' sheets of 18mm MDF

Couldn't do it now.

Andy

We were all stronger "back then" from picking up those hundredweight bags of cement! :)

We used to carry sheets of steel with handles that were similar in principle, but just long hooks bent up from bar.
 
Original bags were 2 hundred weight down on the farm in the ole days.
All hand balled.

My record off a lift was rolling a Volkswagen jetta with a mate inside it. :LOL:
Over unto its roof , back unto its wheels and we drove off.
 
2 cwt. bags they were. Before my time though. My dad told me about doing overtime at the "Sugar Beet" outside Kidderminster after WWII, stacking 2 cwt bags of sugar. Must have been hard graft.
I was pretty strong when I was young. Dunno about rolling a Jetta, but I had my moments.. I've got a dodgy shoulder and a bad back to show for it! :)
 
On the other side of the coin I've worked on sites where nobody was allowed to carry an 8x4 sheet on their own , indeed anything over 6ft was deemed a two person carry. However , before you all think that it was H&S gone mad the reason was to prevent accidental damage to the building fabric which was the result of someone hitting something with a scaffold plank.
 
used to love the old site inductions when the limit of 25kg's was 1st bought in,under no circumstances was anyone allowed to lift anything heavier then this blah blah blah..........
oh chips your 1st job is on the roof installing the hip......
ok so who's helping me then?
why! coz the bloody thing weighs more then 25kg thats why,oh hadnt thought of that AND theres the flaw in site inductions :rolleyes:
 

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