Thread: Breaking Down Long Boards for Moving

Multiples plus 10% of the sizes you will mostly use would be my choice. Building a 1.8m table with 600 offcuts is a waste. If they were 800 at least they could be use for the legs or cross members.

Have fun

Rob

I hate cutting things short for the sake of cutting things short. It just doesn't sit well with me because "what if i need a longer length and I was silly enough to cut it in half!!!!????!!!!!" .

I would just suck it up and eat my weeties in the morning and physically man handle them into position. Where there is a will, there is a way. One end on a dolly, drag the other end, engine crane etc etc.

Originally Posted by Kuffy

I hate cutting things short for the sake of cutting things short. It just doesn't sit well with me...

Believe me, I don't want to do it. I have some boards that are truly unbelievable, and cutting them in half makes them way more believable. That said, anxiety about the "maybe" aside, have you ever actually found yourself in a position where you were unable to continue a project because you'd cut something too short for storage? Not being contradictory, just genuinely curious.

Cheers,
Luke

Can you cut this timber once you arrive if after 'x' days you cant find suitable help ? What about airtasker/gumtree/craigslist to find someone to help you carry it ? How many days do you have to unpack the container ?

Originally Posted by Sam

Can you cut this timber once you arrive if after 'x' days you cant find suitable help ? What about airtasker/gumtree/craigslist to find someone to help you carry it ? How many days do you have to unpack the container ?

These are all unknowns. Presumably, I'll have maybe a week or so to unpack? But it could end up being a couple of days, after which it gets consigned to a warehouse where I have to pay more money. I honestly have no idea, but I'm working with the expectation that I will have somewhat short notice and need to do it very quickly.

Jose the yard maintenance guy always knows HoseB with a truck and a crew who'll work cheap for cash.

Don't cut the boards, that's just wrong. If you're that worried you have to do something then rip, don't dock. You can always join them together again that way.

I haven't docked anything short for the sake of storage, other than docking 100mm off the length of a rogue piece of timber sticking out the back of my ute which the cops don't appreciate. I doubt you won't have enough material to finish your job. It's mostly to do with how long will the offcuts be once your job's components have been rough cut to length.

by cutting a long length in half just for the sake of it, basically whatever you plan to do with the timber in the future, you will end up with two offcuts. You might get lucky and each offcut is only short because you needed lengths at 2050mm long. But if you needed 800mm lengths for example, you end up with two 500mm offcuts instead of one fantastic 1000mm offcut. The argument would of course be, "i can make stuff out of 500mm lengths", but I'll just say "great, I'd like a tallboy 1000mm wide please"

I probably worked in timber truss plants too long and mastered the art of losing only ~75mm as offcut after cutting several pieces from 6000mm set lengths.

Hi Luke

This is hard. If the situation was mine, I'd try to make the least number of cuts as possible. Whatever can go full length (determined by the size of your container) goes full length. If it cannot, I'd go through every board that is over length and decide where they would best be docked. Look at the figure in the board and decide where it usefully begins and ends, such as if you were going to use it in a book matched panel. The length then does not matter; what matters is that what you have can be used optimally.

Tough decisions.

Travel well.

Regards from Perth

Derek

You can move a fair bit of weight with a wheeled dolly at one end (or in the middle).

I would keep the lengths intact as much as possible, then if you have to cut them, do it when unloading at the destination.

Don't cut them this end but if you are stuck for help when unloading cut them then. Me, I would be seeing if one of the local wood work forums could be of assistance finding someone to help. SMC would seem a logical place to start.

As above, or budget for one or two guys as casuals for a day or two to do the muscle work. Two guys might be better as if they are doing the grunt work, you can be organising the stacks etc to ensure that it ends up stacked properly, first time. That saves you having to work on your own emptying the container and then restacking later to get everything stored properly. I have all my gear from an 1200m3 barn stacked at the moment pending re-erecting the barn at a new site, it is damn difficult unloading everything and getting it stacked how you eventually want it as it comes out of a container or van, if you are the one doing the unloading.

If you really can't find anybody to help, a hand trolley is quite good at moving long planks. just strap the trolley at one end of your planks so that the handles are directly under the planks and secure the handles to the plank with clamps or ropes you will now be wheel it down a driveway.

Yeah, ok. It's good to know that the entire community backs the devil on my shoulder that says "Be greedy! Take it all!"

I've decided to ship them long. I've already recorded them as such in my official shipping manifest.

You only get one chance at this life. Can't live it in 2.4m lengths.

Thanks for all of the affirmations of exactly what I already knew was the right choice

Cheers,
Luke

Luke

when your wood arrives, go to your local U-Haul outlet or self storage place and read the ads offering moving help.
I'm sure there will be lots of adds offering "strong backs" to help with moving. Where I live the going rate is around $100 to move the contents of a standard garage storage unit.