My Lumber and Plywood Cart

[EddieWalker]

Thanks for the pictures. I wasn't understanding how you where going to use the shelves. I really like it. I currently keep my scraps in different places. 2x's are out under the lean to, good wood is leaning against the end of my work bench and plywood is behind my upright freezer. This is really smart!!!!

 

[truckdiagnostics]

I like it! thanks for taking the time to show all the details.

 

[Xfaxman]

Thanks, guys. Hope it inspires some copycat builds.

Put some more stuff in the shelves:

This shows the overall height of 6' 11" to the top of the shelf legs:

 

[Gem99ultra]

The idea is great. Built one for myself not too long ago. My lesson learned though is to be careful as to how you load your cart. Too many sheets of plywood on the back side and not so much lumber on the front and you will find that it flips over backwards VERY easy. BT-DT

Moving the casters as far outboard as possible does help with the stability. Mine are near the edge already and I'm thinking that I might even add some out-riggers for them.

 

[Xfaxman]

Thanks for the info. I think mine is pretty stable being that it is 4 feet wide and the casters are near the edge. But I wondered how much weight was on the lumber side, so I got out the scale.

First I hung a chain on the plywood side to hold them on when lifting the other side:

Zeroed the scale with the lifting chain on it:

353 pounds raised it off of the floor:

Plywood side weighs 540 pounds:

 

[Gem99ultra]

I believe your design is much better than my DIY design. The steel shelving also adds some safety measure to yours. I think I'll rebuild mine to be more similar to yours.

Thanks for your detailed pictures, and your safety follow-up.

 

[EddieWalker]

That's a lot more weight then I expected!!!!

 

[shooterdon]

Good casters will make a big difference. Nice project.

I built a storage rack with 2x4's against a wall of my shop when I first set it up. It is no where as nice as your unit but I needed something fast and cheap (under $50). Has worked for 7 years but it gets old digging through it to find shorter pieces. I will keep what I have for 8-10' long stuff and build a smaller version of your design for the shorter pieces. Thinking about using an IBC tote ($30), running some scrap pallet wood between the cage to act as partitions and zip tying them in place (easy to change as needed). Not sure I need it mobile but four HF dollies $32) should be adequate. For $75 it will be good enough for me.

 

[Xfaxman]

That's a lot more weight then I expected!!!!

I should have taken the chain off before I weighed the plywood side of the cart. But there is a lot of wood on there.
That 8' solid core door is heavy. The 4x8 sheet of OSB is probably 80 pounds, the 3/4 plywood next to it about 70 pounds The 5x7 sheet could be close to 100 pounds. There are several narrow pieces of OSB.

I should have weighed the cart before I loaded it, but I ain't unloading it now to see how much it weighs :irked:.

 

[dragoneggs]

Nice job X! Original.

I built one similar to the A frame plywood design you posted a pic of. Not proud of it after putting it into use. I need to junk it and do better. It is not stable enough and the casters didn't roll smoothly if there were debris on the floor. I wanted a slim one due to floorspace reasons, but I quickly overloaded it just with 3/4in oak and maple veneer plywood and a bunch of cut offs. I put larger pneumatic tires on it instead of casters, and gained some ground clearance. With that ground clearance I made a rack underneath for metal lengths thinking it might help stabilize it (lower the CG). The HF tires wouldn't hold the air over time and they developed permanent set.

:smiley_aafz: