Thread: Sheet Goods On Trailer - Size Ok?

The truck sounds like the best option.
Some years ago I went into our local BBC Hardware Store (remember them) and when I arrived, a gent in a Mitsubishi L300 van with roof racks was loading sheets of chipboard onto the top. He had two sheets on when I arrived and I thought, now that's going to be an interesting drive home.
When I came back out of the store, he had eight sheets - yes eight! - on the top and was going back inside - presumably for more.
Just then, the whole lot collapsed.
The roof racks were the gutter type. How they held seven sheets is anyone's guess.
The sheets didn't fall off the roof but the top of the roof was completely crushed.
There was a collective groan from everyone in the carpark at the time.
Chipboard sheets are very heavy.
Cheers
SG

at the risk of stating the obvious ...
have you driven a truck before?

they drive nothing like a car, and to reverse you MUST use the external mirrors and/or a guide -- a guide is highly recommended

watch your tie downs, the cheap (~1 inch wide) ratchet ones are only rated at about your intended load.

I'm not sure of teh load capacity, but at 3.6 Tonnes of chipboard plus the truck you'll be looking about 6-7 tonnes of mass which you need time and distance to stop

Originally Posted by ian

at the risk of stating the obvious ...
have you driven a truck before?

they drive nothing like a car, and to reverse you MUST use the external mirrors and/or a guide -- a guide is highly recommended

Hi Ian,

I have driven the self move enclosed trucks a number of times and I just take my time on the road to be safe.

I managed to reverse down the rear lane (about 10 blocks long) without incident 3 or 4 times late last year when we moved in ..... even in the dark with the Stinkette as the guide. Again slow and steady.

I have a few straps but as Jim said I will ask at the hire place for some more. I was thinking of strapping the stack of boards together and then making up some side boards to extend the height of the tray sides.

It still may be two trips and I will just have to play it by ear on the day. Good to have any potential issues fleshed out before day however.

Stinky

Originally Posted by Sir Stinkalot

I was thinking of strapping the stack of boards together and then making up some side boards to extend the height of the tray sides.

I would lay the sheets on some 4x2's across the tray, run a ratchet strap around the pack and pull it down tight on the other side.

Extending the tray sides will only make it harder to pull tight, it would probably be better without sides.

Originally Posted by seanz

You might want a bigger trailer. Chipboard isn't that heavy but you've got a couple of cubic meters there. Also 900mm over the front could be a bit dodgey vis a vis reversing into driveway, you need sufficient clearance betwen trailer and cat when cornering.

Can you get a 8X4 tandem?

Trailer and cat, eh? I dunno......who writes this stuff?

Anyway, let me try to make myself slightly clearer, hopefully.

If the load over-hangs the front of the trailer by too much it might hit the car as you turn corners. Right? If you check the clearance before you load the trailer and decide "She'll be right there's just enough", you might find that as you back into a drive-way as the trailer goes over the gutter the clearence will be diminished by the trailer bending up and down on the towball/pivot point. This will (following Murphy's Law) happen when you also have the trailer turned sidways to the point where the clearance is at its' least.

Now, go and learn how to back a trailer.......it's an essential life skill.


Oh, and when you strap down the chipboard you might want to protect the edges of the chipboard from the straps......and the straps from the edges.

As a rough guide, a pack of 30 sheets of 16mm 2440 x 1820 melamine chipboard weighs around 1400 Kg. The sheets you bought are 50% longer and thicker as well, say 2500Kg or more for a single load. Definitely outside the capacity of the average 7 x 4, and pushing a car trailer and the towing capacity of many tow vehicles one the wweight of the car trailer is included.

Opting for the truck is a very good option.

Originally Posted by Sir Stinkalot

......If anybody sees any potential danger .....

Those sheets will be heavy to load & unload, I hope you have a friend(s) to help 'cos it will be hard work.

Originally Posted by Sir Stinkalot

I have a few straps but as Jim said I will ask at the hire place for some more. I was thinking of strapping the stack of boards together and then making up some side boards to extend the height of the tray sides.

It still may be two trips and I will just have to play it by ear on the day. Good to have any potential issues fleshed out before day however.

as already mentioned, what will keep the boards on the truck is the pressure applied pulling the boards DOWN onto the tray (which creates the friction to resist the chipboard's urge to slide arround)

as a single load the total mass of all the boards might exceed the upper load limit of the truck

loading and unloading
a forklift both ends would be really good -- but be prepared for the case where the fork can only lift around 1 tonne at a time --> which might mean 4 stacks & 4 lots of chocks.
four big burly blokes both ends would be the next option

if it's just you and the Stinkette, the whole process might take a few days (or require the sheets be broken down before loading) -- at the lower end of the density range you're looking at around 80kg for each of the 20mm boards (and 110kg at the upper end of the density range). To put this in perspective, modern cement bags only weigh 20kg. The old "standard" working effort was 100lbs (~45kg) man per lift and carry -- I've forgotten how many "lift and carries" (with the load carried by the arms not on a shoulder) were considered reasonable before resting.

I doubt Stinky will have any fork lifts at home.

The truck looks like a pan-tech, not a flat bed so a fork lift won't work.

Corners should be protected as stated above, although for shed lining it may not be so important. You can get metal angles that are made for this and the timber merchants probably just toss them aside, so they should be freeby.

Originally Posted by Sir Stinkalot

It still may be two trips and I will just have to play it by ear on the day. Good to have any potential issues fleshed out before day however.

Hi Stinky
did you try and do the pick-up Friday or Saturday?

If teh Stinkette was along to lend a hand, is she still talking to you?

Truck is the way to go.
Have something available to cover the load. A downpour or burst water main will damage the goods. Chipboard does not like water.

Originally Posted by ian

Hi Stinky
did you try and do the pick-up Friday or Saturday?
If teh Stinkette was along to lend a hand, is she still talking to you?

Ian ..... Today was D Day ...... disappointment day! After confirming everything with the seller during the week, including again before booking the truck, I got a call today to say that the chipboard was at his mates yard and he cannot get hold of him to open the gate. As a result I had to call Budget and cancel the pickup of the truck. I said I would need to rebook which was ok but it is not clear if I have blown the $80 hire rate or not ..... guess I will find out when I have a firm date to book in.

As frustrating as it is the delay is good. This morning we got 1.4m3 of potting mix dropped off and we had to move it from the road into 9 half wine barrels without a wheelbarrow. Worked well taking the barrels to the street, filling them and then bringing them back with a hand trolley. Only problem was they were very generous and ended up giving us about 3m3 of potting mix. This resulted in having to find spare bags to fill to get the soil off the street .... It certainly was a good warm up to the heavy lifting of the chipboard which didn't end up coming.

Ok so we ended up driving down to have a look at the sheets (attached photos). There is fairly significant water damage, but there also seem to be some good sheets in there. Whilst there is some work to get the good material out I still think it is a good deal for $100, or $180 picked up, or perhaps $260 if I need to pay for the truck again . As it is only for lining the shed, that gives me 900mm off cut to play with (only need 3000 high) and there is so much I will be happy to get 1200 out of the 1800 sheet.

It was good to be able to get a look at them. I think access will be difficult due to vegetation and it looks as if he put them on the old trailer in two loads with his fork. I might suggest that he get his fork started again and arrange it so I can pick up in two loads. I think there is too much for one load even with the truck.

Good news is I now have some time to plan it out. If I don't think it worth while I think I am in my rights to pull the plug.

Thanks all for the feedback ...... it has certainly helped me work through the best options available.

Cheers

Stinky.

Hi Stinky
some considerations
How many sheets do you need to line the shed? I'm thinking the long dimension will be horizontal as it is when using gyprock, so all you need do is chock the sheet on it's side about 50mm off the floor and nail/screw it onto the studs

what will it cost to get rid of the waste? The condition of that tarp suggests (to me) very significant water damage, not to mention damage from the chocks being out of alignment. It looks like you might be paying the seller for the privalige of taking msot of the load to teh tip.