Despite their many advantages, 4×4 stressed-skin triscuits weigh about 80# each, a little less than a traditionally framed 4×8. The triscuit cart described here simplifies their storage, transportation, and hoisting into a second-floor loading door. Made of 1″ × 2″ × 0.083″ tube steel, ¼″ × 3″ flat bar, 1″ cold-rolled round stock, ¾″ plywood, and four heavy-duty casters, each cart carries up to 10 triscuits and can be pushed across a level surface by one person.

FIGURE 1: GENERAL VIEWS

THE BASE

The base is built with an outside dimension of 2′−3″ × 4′−2½″ to allow a ¼″ clearance in the length and width of the cart. Three cross members, cut at 2′−l″, provide support for the plywood bed and mounting opportunities for the casters. Caster choice is a key decision. Polyurethane or rubber casters don’t hold up to the wear and tear that these carts will take. One good choice is the Redi-Roll Weldless caster, number 19505T15 in McMaster-Carr’s Catalog 105. Though their 600# capacity and $20.29 price tag may seem excessive, these casters will stand up well under the 800# of a fully loaded cart.

CONSTRUCTION NOTES

The cart’s ¾“plywood deck sits snugly within the tube steel perimeter of the base. The ¼″ lip that surrounds the deck keeps the triscuits from sliding off the cart during transportation. The uprights provide hand holds and mounting locations for the cold-rolled steel rigging point. Centered on the 4′−2″ sides of the base, the 4′−4″ uprights are supported by 45° angle braces which measure 1′−8″ on the long side. The uprights and angle braces are made of 1″ × 2″ × 0.083″ tube steel.

FIGURE 2: TOP CROSS MEMBER DETAILS

If rigging points are not required, the cross member at the top of the uprights may also be made of tube steel. But to allow these carts to be picked up by a chain hoist, a cross member made of 2 pieces of ¼″ × 3″ flat bar are welded across the uprights as shown in Figure 2. A 1″-diameter hole drilled through the center of both pieces of flat bar accepts a 2½″ length of 1″ cold-rolled steel, which is welded in place to provide a handle for the hook of a chain hoist. Note that, though the design of the cross member and rigging points should be modified as necessary to accept specific chain hoist hooks, the builder is responsible for sizing materials and designing joints suitable to the total load of the cart and triscuits.