Members Miko Man Posted May 7, 2012 Members Share Posted May 7, 2012 Any thoughts on the appropriate number of furniture dollies to number of loads ratio? Do you have one or two dollies and just move them to and from each part of the load? I know that Sean has dedicated hand trucks for his FOH rig; what about the rest of you? Does it make sense to buy (on sale, of course) lots of dollys or should I just move stuff using only two dollies? Mark C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted May 7, 2012 Members Share Posted May 7, 2012 I have one, the bars have one. I might pick up another. 2 at a time are handy. I'm a one man show, with help now and then. My subs, the heaviest piece of gear I own, have wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted May 7, 2012 CMS Author Share Posted May 7, 2012 I can only move one thing at a time, and it's just me, so one convertible handtruck is all I use. I'm not a big fan of dollies for this job, as things tend to move and fall off dollies if I'm in the vicinity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SpaceNorman Posted May 7, 2012 Members Share Posted May 7, 2012 A simple handtruck with 10" inflatable tires is my gear schlepper of choice. The wheels are big enough to negotiate minor obstacles without much problem. Of course, any rack of size has a while kit installed (which means it serves double duty as a dolly during the schlepp - with something small riding on top for the trips between the van and the stage. My gigs seldom have any significant distance between the vehicle and the stage and usually involved negotiating some pretty tight doors and aisles. The couple of times I've used the typical "rock n' roll" cart to be awkward (i.e., catching on doors, getting hung up negotiating corners, etc.) I find that a handful more trips with the handtruck is easier than dealing with a fully loaded "rock n' roll" cart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members srp72ee Posted May 7, 2012 Members Share Posted May 7, 2012 Since it's generally only one or two of us loading in, not much need for more than 2 carts. The "rock n' roll" carts with pneumatic tires are worthless IMO because the center of gravity is too high. A simple 24"x36", solid platform dolly with good 4" or 5" casters works best for most of my moving. A handtruck with pneumatic tires works well if stairs are involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Telecruiser Posted May 7, 2012 Members Share Posted May 7, 2012 A simple handtruck with 10" inflatable tires is my gear schlepper of choice. I paid extra and got the solid tires that look just like inflatables except they never need inflating. I don't like getting ready to use my handtruck and then have to reinflate low tires. The ones I got are well worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members abzurd Posted May 7, 2012 Members Share Posted May 7, 2012 Wheels on everything you can get them on for me please. I have 2 rock-n-roller carts that roll into the trailer (no off loading. My best invention is my speaker cart. The subs are strapped permanently to hand trucks with extended noses on them. On top of the subs a main and monitor are strapped on for transport. Attached to the back of the cart is a small backpack with all the needed power and patch cables and the speaker pole slides into the "hanging loop" built into the backpack. You wheel it out of the trailer and into the venue then, like a Transformer, turn it into your speaker stack. For higher class gigs its covered in black cloth, but for bars I don't worry about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Reson8tor Posted May 7, 2012 Members Share Posted May 7, 2012 My personal rant about dollies (hand trucks) is that most of them seem designed for short people. The handles aren't high enough for a reasonably tall person to tilt the dolly down enough to keep the load more stable. So I end up choosing between back strain and load stability. For some reason it's even worse with folding models (the kind with telescoping handles). Anyway, I use a large folding dolly with decent-sized inflatable tires and an extra large folding plate. I know about the hassles with making sure the tires are inflated, but I'll trade that off for cushioning the ride over bumps and the occasional street curb or stairs. I actually like the flat 4-wheel trucks better, but I don't have room in the mini SUV we use for most gigs for that. The big folding dolly is a lot easier to pack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Miko Man Posted May 9, 2012 Author Members Share Posted May 9, 2012 Thanks guys for the input. I have a conventional full-sized two wheel hand truck that is great, but a bit bulky to haul in a hatchback. (Getting a bigger vehicle is a separate thread.) I'm going to experiment with making a four wheel furniture-type dolly with EWI 4" casters that is fitted to securely transport the lectern when it is strapped in place. Mark C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DBR Posted May 9, 2012 Members Share Posted May 9, 2012 We use one handtruck with rheumatic wheels. (unflatable wheels.) These wheels were a little more expensive and well worth it. No more having a flat when trying to load out a 120lb piece of gear. Our mains, crates (snake and mics), rack and monitor are wheeless. Our golf club cases are SKB and they hod our stands and cables. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lonotes Posted May 9, 2012 Members Share Posted May 9, 2012 My amp racks and processing racks have caster boards mounted on the lids, so that they are removable while the racks are in use. The processor racks can be used as dollies for the mixer and small stuff like mic cases. In addition to that, I have one flat platform dolly that moves everything else. I can easily stack two mrx518 subs on the dolly. then the mrx512 monitors and tops move in two at a time on the same dolly. All of my cabling is stored by type (mic, speaker, main snake, patch snakes, and power) in separate plastic tubs that can stack two or three at a time on the dolly. As a one man operation, I have little need for multiple dollies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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