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Pallet Dolly Experiment

Cannonmn

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Jun 25, 2016
I’ve slapped together my first pallet dolly. We have excess pallets, plywood, casters, etc but always need just one more dolly to move stuff around our limited floor space. We didn’t analyze the load capacity of the caster sets nor pick the best pallet, just grabbed what was nearby, like a pallet that already had plywood nailed to it. Seems to work fine so far. We put pivot casters in front and non-pivot in back, and a rope leash to move it. The arrow points to end with pivot casters because obviously you want to travel in direction of the arrow. I tried pivot casters on all 4 corners but that makes it very difficult to move dolly from one location to another due to dolly refusing to move in a straight line. Anyone else make pallet dollies? Suggestions?

76DAB28-FEEC-4EAA-B145-FFB1515F6DEF | Intel

B2F794A-C28A-4533-B5A5-5CD43498C6C4 | Intel

91848A-5D5B-47BF-8911-35E4A9DFDEE2 | Intel
 
I think that's what pallet jacks are for.

Yes we’ve got one electric and many manual PJ’s, but the pallet dolly fills the same roles as the platform truck, but doesn’t cost $250. Plus shipping. Also the pallet dolly can still be forked if desired. Now only our large, heavy-duty (expensive) platform trucks have the extra structure underneath to allow forklifting from the end.

Wood Platform Truck - 3 x 6" H-1192 - Uline
 
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Cool. We tried something like that years ago, but it was a complete failure. We failed to put the big green arrow on it, and all the guys were standing around scratching their head trying to figure out how to push the rope. :scratchchin:

Chip
 
Pulling is frowned upon in industry, as it's hard on the back.

That's why there are so many "PUSH CARTS" available.

Also the rope doesn't offer any control of direction nor braking.
 
I’ve slapped together my first pallet dolly. We have excess pallets, plywood, casters, etc but always need just one more dolly to move stuff around our limited floor space. We didn’t analyze the load capacity of the caster sets nor pick the best pallet, just grabbed what was nearby, like a pallet that already had plywood nailed to it. Seems to work fine so far. We put pivot casters in front and non-pivot in back, and a rope leash to move it. The arrow points to end with pivot casters because obviously you want to travel in direction of the arrow. I tried pivot casters on all 4 corners but that makes it very difficult to move dolly from one location to another due to dolly refusing to move in a straight line. Anyone else make pallet dollies? Suggestions?

76DAB28-FEEC-4EAA-B145-FFB1515F6DEF | Intel

B2F794A-C28A-4533-B5A5-5CD43498C6C4 | Intel

91848A-5D5B-47BF-8911-35E4A9DFDEE2 | Intel
I move lot of pallets in small room, and use a pallet
jack that works great, and have a wheeled wooden base like the u-line,load about 800 lbs, and push from outside the shop and stores under a 6030 fadal, a pallet jack and a cart work great because the tall handle you push and steer using your body.
 
Cool. We tried something like that years ago, but it was a complete failure. We failed to put the big green arrow on it, and all the guys were standing around scratching their head trying to figure out how to push the rope. :scratchchin:

Chip

At one factory the shop guys put the arrow on at right angles to the rolling direction. It took the warehouse guys months to figure it out! Those scamps...
 
Interesting comments. Since we have lots more of the components, as soon as I get a little free time I’ll slap together the new improved model.
 
2E944E85-CBC8-4DAD-912E-E2B737AE369F.jpg78BB50D0-A304-4636-A245-F5004AF058C3.jpgExperimental pallet-vehicle #2, 4x6 feet. Only had swivel casters of that size so used them on all 4 corners. Leash is a cable-pulling strap, since we’ll never use it for pulling cables and it won’t make a good lifting strap like we thought it would when bought 2nd hand. If the rear wheels swiveling proves too much of a hassle, we’ll make a U-shaped steel strap out of 1/4” plate so one end fits over the pair of carriage bolts and other end sticks thru top of wheel bracket to lock the swivel. Empty vehicle wanders right and left when towed but I think loaded-down, it’ll be easier to control.
 
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Experimental Pallet Vehicle #3: This steel table with junk on and under it weighs over a ton I'm sure. Yesterday I needed to get it out of the way but had no desire to put the junk on and under it anywhere else at that moment, so it got wheels. Fortunately it was already on a skid so I lifted it up about a foot and put small 4-wheel “mover’s dollies” under each corner. The outside end of each dolly was placed directly under the bottom end slat of the pallet. Since the inside end of the dolly lacked any pallet surface to contact, two 2x4 lengths were cut to pallet width and one laid across each pair of dolly inside ends, and still-loaded pallet was lowered onto the four dollies. Now the loaded table can be pushed around the floor by hand, although not as easily as I’d like, there was some grunting and groaning. It takes a lot of force to get the sixteen lil’ swivel casters lined up when first pushed in a new direction. The dollies were bought recently on sale for about $8 each, but I hadn’t yet sprayed lith grease on swivel bearings as I usually do with new casters.84F0FA87-3357-456B-81BD-ADA6520951F9.jpg9E77B766-4763-411D-A5DE-0166BF1F3650.jpg
 
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Rope is a bad deal, no control when it comes time to stop or going down hill. If that lash up hits someone in the ankle or manages a big cut in the achilles tendon the price of proper push carts will be nothing compared to the medical / lawsuit costs.
 
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More control, braking (lower pallet), higher load capacity (typical is 5k lbs), only need 1 for many pallets of junk, pallet still forkliftable as well.
 
Didn't get much sleep last night, just got back on PM and saw this thread on top again, but the first time I read the title I swear it said "Dolly Parton Experiment".

I was terribly disappointed when I opened it and discovered the truth...
 
Rope is a bad deal, no control when it comes time to stop or going down hill. If that lash up hits someone in the ankle or manages a big cut in the achilles tendon the price of proper push carts will be nothing compared to the medical / lawsuit costs.

Thanks good thoughts, fortunately all our floors are flat. We use pallet jacks too but I like just pushing one of these things out of my way avoiding a search mission to find one of the pallet jacks then discovering that pallet is one of the dual-keel ones most of our pallet jacks don’t fit. Yes sometimes I remember to check before searching. Yes everybody should put pallet jacks back in the same place. But in reality people here including myself focus on one task at hand not the next one or the next person. Personally I think sharp screwdrivers are more dangerous than runaway wheeled pallets.
 
44F151D5-6E61-4F04-869D-E1EBA4358722.jpgD94EA534-10BC-4BA3-A054-20EBF2C6B0DF.jpgI think I just like casters and rolling things. Had to move some skids via trailer and put skate wheel conveyors in the trailer to make it easy to get skids in and out with forklift. If I had a flatbed trailer I’d have fork access to all the skids, but I don’t. This is a real timesaver when I have to move skids in-town at low speeds and have no help or maybe one helper. Loading the 12’ trailer with three skids isn’t a problem without the conveyors, you just push the first skid further in with the next skid and so on, but unloading the trailer goes a lot faster when you can just roll the skids to the rear by hand. I wouldn’t do this on highway trips.
 
Thanks good thoughts, fortunately all our floors are flat. We use pallet jacks too but I like just pushing one of these things out of my way avoiding a search mission to find one of the pallet jacks then discovering that pallet is one of the dual-keel ones most of our pallet jacks don’t fit. Yes sometimes I remember to check before searching. Yes everybody should put pallet jacks back in the same place. But in reality people here including myself focus on one task at hand not the next one or the next person. Personally I think sharp screwdrivers are more dangerous than runaway wheeled pallets.

I have seen what you are doing will do to the back of your leg just above the ankle. The floors were flat there as well. You have been warned, you have brushed it off, whatever. When someone gets hurt you can bet their ambulance chaser's research staff will find your posts and the replies.
 
I have seen what you are doing will do to the back of your leg just above the ankle. The floors were flat there as well. You have been warned, you have brushed it off, whatever. When someone gets hurt you can bet their ambulance chaser's research staff will find your posts and the replies.

You write a logical and truthful reply, however . . . I don't think logic enters into it for the OP.

Cannonmn in busy creating dangerous solutions to self-imposed problems.

It's sad to observe. I hope no innocents are injured in the process.
 
I’m thinking the hazard you mention would certainly exist if our three devices had been built with more efficient wheel bearings so they’d continue to roll when the pulling force was removed. Only one I’ve moved under load recently enuf to remember is one with 4 mover’s dollies and it takes around 80 lbs force to break static friction to move at all, then not a lot less to keep it in motion. No way it rolls anywhere on its own. If I get time tomorrow I’ll load and check the others which use higher quality bearings. If either is a hazard, it will be mitigated. Our present shop is so crowded these things have to be done-I’m thinking if our little place was subject to OSHA inspections they’d shut us down just due to the crowding. But the just-rented annex a block away will fix the crowding when the moving is done. I do try and be safe as possible under circumstances, for example we bought steel-toe safety shoes for both temps, they wore them one day then never again. We bought a mancage to put on the forklift when someone has to go high up, and neither will go near it, I think they still go pallet surfing when I’m not around, just two old guys with attitudes that no one’s going to change. We have hardhats for head-hazard situations; they’ll never wear ‘em. They do wear the face shields we have when they use the grinder or wire wheels, the only pieces of our safety equipment they’ll use. No idea why that and no other, go figure.
 








 
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