Organizing transport, load in, and load out.

[Big Hoss]

With things moving in the right direction band wise, we are needing to make load in, load out, and transport easier, and safer for us, and our gear.

My guitarist owns a painfully basic 4W x 8L x 6H enclosed utility trailer. (Think Harbor Freight trailer with built on plywood enclosure, painted with truck bed liner). I own much of the gear, not all, but most. We typically have been hauling out.

My Affinity Jazz, in a Gator GLBASS semi rigid case.
My SX Ursa 1 in its gig bag.
Fender Rumble 500 combo, in full coverage, including custom bottom MDB cover.
My pedal board, associated cables for amp, instrument, and board, plus at least 2 spares in an old recycled gym bag.
2@ Ibanez 6 string 80s vintage electrics. No clue on the model, just pointy guitars the guitarist owns. He keeps them in some unknown brand, double guitar hard case.
Acoustic Electric guitar, I think some sort of Yamaha, in a generic hard case.
Behringer GTX60 combo, and associated pedals. Wrapped in a moving blanket.
Mixer, and power supply, wrapped in a sweater, then stuffed in with cables, surge supressors etc... into another recycled gym bag, you'll notice a theme here.
3 Samson, and 1 Proline Mic stands, loose. Bad I know. Need to fix this.
Mics, mic clips, mic cables in a MusiciansGear 6 spot mic bag.
2 @ Alto Professional TS115A powered mains, wrapped in movers blankets
Speaker cables, lighting, velcro, fog machine, etc... in a plastic tote.
Laptop in a proper laptop backpack.

And to haul it all back and forth, and older than dirt convertible hand truck / utility cart that I bought at a thrift store, I think it was Goodwill, in the late 90s. I bet this thing was made in the 60s!

My biggest concerns are.

#1. Too many loose gym bags of stuff, they fall off the cart when moving, blah blah blah.
#2. Sometimes I want to bring the 210 cab as well, again, more trips.
#3. Some items have no organization at all, and are completely unprotected. (Mic stands).

I am considering some sort of rolling box, or a couple of rolling boxes, to haul the bags and loose stuff. But I am clueless as to what actually would work...

The good thing is where I am, pretty much all venues are requried to be ADA compliant, so there WILL be ramps, which is great for my back!

SO what sorts of boxes or other gizmos are you guys using to make load in / load out, and transport easier / safer?

 

[elgecko]

You can easily mitigate issues 1 and 2 by getting a GOOD cart and religiously using bungee cords with it.

I prefer the GruvGear V-cart. It's more maneuverable, solid and secure than the Rock-n-Roller type carts but those have more capacity.

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

Get some carts and road cases (on wheels.)

 

[Big Hoss]

Just FWIW, the hand truck I am using looks like the Milwaulkee 800lb convertible hand truck from Home Depot, but mine started out life red.

I hadn't considered the bungee cord routine. Call it a brain fart if you will, it just never occurred to me. Great idea!

I'm thinking probably finishing up with my design for a pedal board, and keep going with the duffel bag routine. I am good with that.

I figure with everything contained, and that hand truck which works perfectly, it's just old. (Steel wheels with solid rubber tires, and thicker tubing than modern hand trucks) I should be good to go.

 

[Johnny Crab]

Back when we had your issues(trailer and a LOT of gear), we used light weight dummy speaker cabinets with wheels on one side(backs had latches that came off, stuff got put inside) to carry the "bag" stuff you're talking about in as well as cables. I built those copying a well-known manufacturer's dimensions for the exterior. Then guitarists simply put a 2x12 or 4x12 on top and Viola!!! concert time!!! We also bought or found at garage sales, large old storage boxes/trunks similar to what is seen in old movies coming off of passenger ships. We(me) put a 3/4" plywood sheet with wheels on it bolted to the bottom of the case. The power distro cable & box, snake cable & mics, etc. got put in 2 of those. Roadies didn't like them when we had stairs.
Now, we all carry our own gear using BOSE at most shows and going "old school/backline" or direct from pedalboards to PA for shows with provided FOH.

When forced to abuse BOSE, this is a load in:

If the venue has their own flats, it can be done in one trip(pedalboard is now in a wheeled case):

 

[4Mal]

Part that would have me most concerned old be the tires on the harbor freight trailer... I use a hand truck, my drummer has a Rock 'n Roller cart - which I like. It is not one of the more expensive ones ... I have 4 heavy duty plastic boxes, split lids that interconnect on each. Home Depot sells a version. They stack nicely and 2 per hand truck load is great. I use them for cables, stage snakes, extension cords, outlet bars.

I did a home brew box that moves a dozen mic stands on the hand truck in one trip. I bought a nice box for mic bodies and DI's from Audiopile

I did keep one gym bag in my setup. It has all the cables, a tuner and 1 DI in it for my personal band gigs. It chocks things into my car for a small load... I toss it on the truck for sound gigs just in case - it is a LIFO exception. Mostly it serves told my hand truck in place while in transit...

For me within reason the number of trips is somewhat less important then the 'truck pack'. It all needs to sit in the truck/trailer, balance and nest correctly. Weight over the axle, no load shifting. Don't overload the front axle or trailer tongue.

Then it comes to the order in which I want the stuff. I use the last in, first out method. For me, cables and electrical and snake are first. So those pack at the rear.
Lighting I my rig is sort of an after thought in my packing scheme. I wanted less weight up near the cab. So lighting is my last layer of cable and it should be the first to load out. Trouble is outside gig's where you need the light to break down. I try to keep the cabling routed separately as much as possible and do the scramble over to get it up to the front of the box.

My mentor in the sound biz tells me that truck pack is an art as much as science and that it continually evolves. My big stuff sit's on pallets that will come off the truck for use outside where I don't want my subs or racks on the ground / wet grass / etc...

 

[mpm32]

Get these for cables and misc. stuff. They stack and hand truck well.

12 Gal. Heavy-Duty Flip Tote in Grey-121521-001 - The Home Depot

 

[Big Hoss]

The HF trailer was just a use for reference of size. It's just some generic red framed 4ft x 8ft utility trailer, with a stamped capacity of 1950 lbs. The tires are some sort of trailer tires my friend got from Discount tire. The enclosure was something he rigged up in his driveway out of marine plywood, angle aluminum, rivets, hinges, and truck bed liner material.

I kind of like the duffel bags to organize is smaller pieces. A bag of cables here, a bag with mics there, but there is nothing to say I can't put THOSE into those plastic totes like you are talking about. That was something I had thought about. Heck, the GTX60 is almost small enough it would fit in one of those totes...

I think toted like that, I could get everything in, with 3 of the convertible hand trucks, in one trip assuming everyone does their part...

My take away thus far from this is...

#1. Bungee Cords are your friend.
#2. Nice square boxes stack neatly, and make cargo easier to control. (Agreed!)

 

[Big Hoss]

Get these for cables and misc. stuff. They stack and hand truck well.

12 Gal. Heavy-Duty Flip Tote in Grey-121521-001 - The Home Depot

My firewall won't let me see your link. Is it THIS ONE?

If so, we are on the same wavelength, and I am considering picking up about 4 of them.

I am also considering picking up some of these bungee cords, but am not sure if they are the right size...

 

[mpm32]

Yes, that's them. They work great for all kinds of stuff.

 

[dheafey]

My firewall won't let me see your link. Is it THIS ONE?

If so, we are on the same wavelength, and I am considering picking up about 4 of them.

I am also considering picking up some of these bungee cords, but am not sure if they are the right size...

The great thing about these cases is a) they're made to stack nicely and b) open the lids and stick them inside each other for storage.

 

[4Mal]

Yep those work well. Not sure I would do the 3 cart thing though. In my org, getting folks working on jobs early is a help. Moving gear is a job, running cable is a job, setting the FOH in place... Organize the whole thing, see what folks want to do, are good at...

 

[bassjnky1]

Just a couple of additions to these great suggestions...
I, personally, prefer the cartons with a one piece removable top. There have been times when the tops were used to put things on or to cover something. I like the black plastic cartons with the yellow lids readily available at Lowes.

My absolute fave bungies are the flat elastic strap type that are adjustable in length. So many uses!!! Readily available at Wal Mart.

The Gruv Cart is awesome...expensive and a little heavy by itself but well worth the investment. Gives your gear the smoothest ride possible.

 

[Big Hoss]

Okay so I started with some of the organizing last night. Having some serious back issues this week so I kept it pretty minimal, but I just HAD to do SOMETHING...

#1. Mic bag carries, well the mics, plus the XLR cables, and the TRS cables for the guitar amp. Other mixer specific specialty cables such as the 1/8" TRS to dual 1/4" TS cables are in there.
#2. An old Targus Groove laptop backpack with a strap problem (need to send it to a sewing shop to get it fixed) was pressed into service. The main / laptop compartment now holds my many spare instrument cables, and a huge question mark. How did I end up with so many instrument cables?
#3. The Secondary, or book compartment houses spare strings etc...
#4. The outboard compartment, the one usually kept for calculators, pens, note pads etc... houses tuners, string winders, guitar and bass picks etc...
#5. A smallish, but big enough sized old, repurposed padded camping ditty bag, houses the mixer, and power supply.
#6. This all gets tossed into an I guess it is a 60qt green plastic tote (unused Christmas tote), a bit lighter duty than I wanted, and this is only temporary.
#7. A second, smaller flip lid tote, I am guessing 30 qt, but can't say for sure, is housing PA cabling, including 6 50' outdoor extension cords, and 3 heavy duty surge supressors.

I still need to figure out what to do with stands, and grab a mess of bungee cords, but I think I am on the right track now.

 

[4Mal]

Speaker stands - keep 'em in bags so they don't get too beat up. If you have a little time, a simple plywood box and 4" thin wall PVC tubing (irrigation supply houses have it). Works for up to a dozen. Beyond that it would be too heavy and awkward to move. Construction shot during the dry fit. Short tubes accommodate tripod stands, the longer ones are for old school round base stands. Overall the tall tubes are about 10" taller than the box after trimming. The shorter ones are maybe 4 " below that. A K&M tripod with boom folded, sits flush with the top. Fits on a hand truck and you get a dozen stands in a trip.

Other folks recommended an SKB Golf bag case on wheels.

 

[Big Hoss]

Speaker stands - keep 'me in bags so they don't get too beat up. If you have a little time, a simple plywood box and 4" thin wall PVC tubing (irrigation supply houses have it). Works for up to a dozen. Beyond that it would be too heavy and awkward to move.

I have time, and I am also a woodworker, I have a TON of surplus 4" thin wall PVC (I use it for my dust collection system). I never thought of that approach, not a bad idea...

 

[4Mal]

It has the advantage of being... Cheap ;-) if you don't need a dozen but have the space... Add a divider and toss your extension cords and other durable but loose stuff in there... It won't be light but as long as you aren't dealing with a bunch of stairs that's what the hand truck is for...

The round base stands make mine too heavy, it straps to the side of the box in my truck for transport... I still like those old stands for some things. Guitars, kick, snare, bass cabs, floor toms, hat... Things where space can be an issue...

 

[Big Hoss]

It has the advantage of being... Cheap ;-) if you don't need a dozen but have the space... Add a divider and toss your extension cords and other durable but loose stuff in there... It won't be light but as long as you aren't dealing with a bunch of stairs that's what the hand truck is for...

The round base stands make mine too heavy, it straps to the side of the box in my truck for transport... I still like those old stands for some things. Guitars, kick, snare, bass cabs, floor toms, hat... Things where space can be an issue...

Good thing for me right now we are a drumless trio. 2 guitars, a bass, and a tablet running drum beats generated in studio using Hydrogen on Linux. It's the only drum software I have been able to figure out so far...

We need a drummer I know, but we also need a bigger mixer, stage snake, better skills, more gigs, blah blah blah... Hence the backyard / block / barn party gig scene. It works, most of the shows so far have been to a mostly middle aged adult Texan audience, so we do LOT of country and blues. Last time we had a backyard jam one of the guys in the crowd chatted up the lead guitarist, then went out to his car, and came back with, and I kid you not, an accordion. He sat in with us throwing a little Zydeco flavor into our bad rendition of Chatahoochie and really helped move it along. It was very unexpected, and a LOT of fun. The audience actually complemented our sound, which is scary crazy. I guess alcohol does tend to numb the ears...

Something I hadn't thought about, much of our gigging, is done on decks, outdoors, where we have to schlep across lawns, or through fields. The problem with the current hand truck is when in cart orientation, the wheels on the front are too small and get hung up easily. They need to make a rough terrain convertible hand truck / cart thing a ma jig...

 

[Big Hoss]

Okay, I think I might have found a cart that will work, but UGH the price tag for such a simple device!

Rock & Roller R16RT, $249.00 looks like it will do what I want to, the main difference I like between this one, and the $80.00 competitors are the larger diameter, wider wheels... Almost makes me want to mod the wheels on a cheap one...

 

[dheafey]

Okay, I think I might have found a cart that will work, but UGH the price tag for such a simple device!

Rock & Roller R16RT, $249.00 looks like it will do what I want to, the main difference I like between this one, and the $80.00 competitors are the larger diameter, wider wheels... Almost makes me want to mod the wheels on a cheap one...

My soundman and drummer swear by this cart. Pricey, but cheaper than all the Doctor's copays.