Does anyone know of any tricks or accessories for transporting sheets of plywood with a small car? I have not been able to find a roof rack for my car (94 Toyota Celica). Does anyone know of any aftermarket racks or any other method for transporting plywood?
Thanks.
Rent the "Load 'n Go" at your local BORG by the hour.
A small trailer. My 4x8 was $385, plus $25 for a two year reg, and $12 a year for property tax. Smaller, lighter trailers are even cheaper at places like Harbor Freight. The tow vehicle's insurance covers the trailer in my state. ANYTHING would tow easily tow my trailer. It actually carries sheet goods better than any of the small pickups I've owned, and has provisions to run long boards right up the tongue.
Have it delivered.
Barry
Why risk damage to the car, wood or an accident?
Rent a trailer or borrow a pickup or have the yard deliver.
I agree with Barry. The borg pickups are a good deal ($20 or something like that). A small trailer is a good deal too, assuming you can put a hitch on a Celica. Harbor Freight has a cute little one that's 4x4 but both the front and rear gates fold down to make a 4x8 surface.
A bunch of plywood on the roof of your car that's not properly secured can tear off in in the windstream. DAMHIKT.
Same way I do it with my two cars. I borrow a pickup, call a friend with a pickup, or take the pickup home from work.
If I know I'll be cutting it for a particular project, I have a rough cut or two made at the store. Makes handling much easier. Just be sure to give them + or - an inch or so. Ed snipped-for-privacy@snet.net
I use four of the foam canoe blocks (high density foam the size of a brick) on my '93 Nissan Sentra.
djb
I do this all the time. It takes careful planning and using a handsaw in the parking lot. On rare occasions I can persuade a friend who has a truck (fill the tank and take him out to dinner), other times I just rent a truck for a day. I have a Honda Civic 1300 hatchback.
Here's an example of how _not_ to do it: .
Even when I am in my pickup, I usually have the store employees make the first cut for me if practical. It is just so much easier to handle that way.
An old rug to protect the car top roof, a few hanks of rope to hold the sheets down, and reasonable caution while driving.
If you must drive 70 mph on the Interstate then rent something suitable.
If you can get someone else to go with you just lay it across the roof and each of you grab the edge with your outside hand. That way you can use your right hand to steer - and then even if you have a stick, the passenger can shift with their left while you work the pedals.
This works excellently for mattresses as well. damhikt.
JP
Get a trailer.
I just started using one last fall and love it.
Dave,
That brings back memories of hauling lumber on our 90 Tercel. I just used some scraps of foam insulation. Had to drive slowly on the 15 miles of highway to the cabin so I'd pull over onto the shoulder when I saw someone behind me. I recall a semi passing me and displaying a light show on the back of his trailor as he passed me. That was a nice thank you. Made it easier to rip by hand some 8' cedar boards that afternoon.
I rent a pickup truck from Home Depot if I have to. But I find that there tends to be a long waiting list for pickup truck in weekend afternoon (all the DIY people like me come to Home Depot on the same day). One time I waited for a couple hours before finally got it at
7pm or so. You may want to check your local home center to see what day of the week is best for renting a truck.To avoid this trouble and expense, I always ask the home center people to cut the board into manageable pieces.
I doubt that they will cut the board into small pieces that can fit into a small car (mine is a SUV) though. You "may" need to get a DC-to-AC inverter to power a circuit saw and cut the board yourself in the parking lot. I don't know if the battery in a car is powerful enough for this task, and I don't know if the home center allows people to create saw dust in the parking lot. I am still thinking about this idea. Does anyone have any input on this idea? Thanks.
Jay Chan
I did something similar when I had my '89 Chevy Cavalier, except that it was a kitchen table Mom had just bought. We picked it up at the store and some of the workers there pulled out their roll of industrial shrink-wrap and shrink-wrapped the table to the roof (doors were open during this - closeing the doors only helped tighten up the whole thing). Damn table didn't even move an inch the whole way home.
- Mike
What is a BORG? Sorry, I just feel like I'm in the dark.
Nick
1.) Big Orange Retail Giant (Home Depot) - can also be Lowes, Wal-Mart, etc... 2.) The big cube from Star Trek that is essentially unstoppable. The BORG assimilate all in their path to become stronger, just like the retail practices of HD, Lowes, Wal-Mart, etc...
I have a hombrew roof rack made from a couple of 10-foot 2x4s joined with 2x4 cross pieces into sort of an H with a double crossbar. It's padded with carpet padding to protect the car and the wood. It attaches to the frame of the car front and rear with nylon tie-down straps and I use some screw-down wooden blocks along with cord to hold the plywood wood in place.
I don't take it on the highway, and I don't suppose I'd want to drive
50 miles with it, but I've got a couple plywood sources with 10 or so miles of me that require driv>Does anyone know of any tricks or accessories for transporting sheets-- jc Published e-mail is strictly for spam collection. To e-mail me, use jc631 at optonline dot net
Yakima racks
Allen Catonsville, MD
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