Transporting glass

[Rick Hughes]

Anybody ever moved large quantities of glass ?

W/end project ... just bought a large greenhouse ... will be dismantling it, and transporting 35 miles.

Glass is horticultural glass 3mm thick ... which makes it easily broken.

I have a trailer so all Aluminum bars & fittings, doors, windows etc., can go in that ... however trying to figure out best way to transport 50+ panes of glass ... each 28" x 28" Assuming putting them in trailer will result in lots of broken glass by time I get home !

Will be using a 4x4 to tow trailer, so I could lay glass flat in back of that, if so is it best to lay glass on glass ... or put a sheet of newspaper between each pane ? ........ or any other suggestions.?

[The Natural Philosopher]

Yes, I broke a lot of it.

Dont ask me!

[H. Neary]

Flat, glass on glass sounds o/k but glass doesn't flex too well and any stress will be transmitted directly to the sheet above.

commercial carriers seem to prefer the upright mode. I would go for this. Edge down on a flat surface covered with a thin layer of cardboard. All panes in contact as vertical as possible and make sure that the sides are firmly enclosed in something lined with cadboard or similar.

Another approach would be to just ensure that all but one pane was loaded onto the trailer unbroken. Climb into the drivers seat with the remaining pane and support it between chin and dashboard for the journey home.......................

HN

[Tabby]

*Always* move it upright on edge. Forces and vibration during transport are both mainly downward, and if laid horizontal the forces are multiplied by all the pieces on top of it.

NT

[Rick Hughes]

*Always* move it upright on edge. Forces and vibration during transport are both mainly downward, and if laid horizontal the forces are multiplied by all the pieces on top of it.

On edge it is then .... what I might do it have a thick piece of cardboard down first the stack them on edge on this, then put a cargo strap around the lot with protection padding on sides.

If you hear a lot of tinkling sounds followed by loud swearing coming form S.Wales area on Sunday ... probably best to keep clear.

[Rick Hughes]

I won't then :-)

[Tim Lamb]

In message , Tabby writes

Yes.

The worst possible method is stacked flat with a bit of grit/brass nail etc. trapped part way up the heap.

regards

[Norman Billingham]

You need to clean the glass and stack it on it's edge with nothing trapped between the panes. You need lots of cushion/old carpets etc to wedge it so it can't flop about and put several layers of carpet on the floor where you sack it. Drive slowly and avoid hard cornering/ heavy braking.

Wear gloves, the edges are pretty sharp.

Kevlar gloves from e.g. Screwfix are excellent for handling glass as they are highly cut resistant (though not as good in puncture resistance)

[Harry Bloomfield]

Rick Hughes formulated on Friday :

Very fragile, very brittle.

I would suggest vertical, so each pane only carries its own weight, but all sat on several layers of thick blanket and cardboard to provide some cushioning. Of course make sure they cannot possibly fall over and I would suggest they be leaned forward rather than back - its easier to be gentle with acceleration than sometimes the braking.

[Lobster]

There'll be a hell of a lot more bouncing around in the trailer than in the vehicle, and it would be far safer not to use the trailer.... dunno how much you'd fit in the car at one go, so it could take several trips :(

David

[Dave Liquorice]

I'd also put separators between each pane, it will have bits of grit and muck on it. Bits of thin card folded around the edge a few inches in from each corner on alternate panes.

But not very tight...

28" x 28" x 3mm sounds horribly fragile to me. I wonder how many will survive the dismantling of the greenhouse? With corroded clips etc...

[Andy Dingley]

Yes, two greenhouses. One was brand new and came well packed, the other was a refurb job, that we transported in the packing materials of the first.

Glass travelled in a couple of wooden crates. These were made for the job, greenhouse pane sized, but were only simple nail-ups from pallet timber and you could make them yourself quite easily. Panes within this were stacked vertically, with corrugated carboard between each pane.

Didn't lose a pane in transport (OTOH dismantling was a bit of a triage). Packing did take ages, but it seemed to do the job.

If it's aluminium, make sure you don't twist anything when carrying big assembled panels around. Easily done, very hard to remedy.

[stuart noble]

Best to stack them upright,leaning 10 degs or so against one side of the vehicle with chipboard or ply behind them and under them. How you stop the pile moving depends on the vehicle layout, but they must be *firmly* wedged against the opposite side somehow. Lengths of wood rather than cushions. Ideally you need a wooden frame lashed to the side of the vehicle that you can tie a rope to, but I doubt you'll have any convenient fixing points.

[Jules Richardson]

It's a bit like Lego though. Just buy some glue and reassemble at the far end.

(last time I moved lots of glass it all made it home OK - then I dropped a couple of sheets getting them out of the truck. Duh. Thankfully this was all stuff that "might come in handy one day" so it wasn't a big deal)

cheers

Jules

[Andy Champ]

If you stack them when clean and wet they'll stick together.

Andy

[dennis]

I have never seen glass transported lying down by any glass manufacturer. I expect its the wrong thing to do.

[Rick Hughes]

Update - job went well ... although estimate of 50 panes was a tad out ... there were 116 of them !

All driven home without a single one breaking .......thanks for the tips.

Now have to create a base ... thought I had given up mixing concrete for ever, looks like a 1.3 cu m of mix is going to be needed.

[Invisible Man]

Well done. I understand that glass is a supercooled liquid but that given enough time it starts solidifying. Handled correctly fairly new glass is not too bad. Once it gets 50 years old it is far more brittle.

[Skipweasel]

Common misconception, that one. It's a solid - just an amorphous one in which the atoms didn't have time to find a regular alignment.

[Man at B&Q]

Even more so if it's old.

We twice moved a wodden sectional g/house with the glass left in the frame sections. Once in a tiny bedford refridgerated van (had to give the van a good clean afterwards before taking back to the caterers, another time the removal men took it for us. Quite succesful both times.

MBQ