Moving slate with dolly or hand truck?

C

CueAndMe

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'm renting a UHaul to pick up a disassembled pool table this Wednesday. I have options of appliance (handtruck) dolly with straps, utility hand truck, or furniture dolly. I don't need to go up or down stairs at either location, and the truck is going to be within 20 feet of both storage locations.

It's 3 pieces of 1" wood-backed slate for a 9' table. I'm assuming that each piece weighs a little over 200 lbs. based on another forum thread. It will be me and a friend, both of us are decently strong but not behemoths. Any thoughts on what would make the slates easiest to handle and transport safely on the truck?

Should we individually wrap each one in a blanket?

Can the be stacked?

They are currently sitting flat on a garage floor.

Thanks again.
 
moving slate

Two grown men in reasonably good shape should be able to easily hand carry the slates over a distance of just 20 feet. Iv'e moved mine alone using just a hand truck. Had another guy help me lift them onto the table. Mitch
 
I moved a similar load using my 63 year old overweight self and 2 15 year old guys. We wrapped each one in a blanket, and jury rigged a sling with a couple of 2x4's and some rope to get them out of a narrow basement stairs situation. I then stacked them flat and wrapped on a flatbed trailer for a couple of miles, then a 50 mile ride in a pickup. No complications. I got them down a set of (sufficiently wide) steps at the destination with me and one overweight 60+ buddy, and a Harbor Fright hand truck no worries. It does help a lot to have helpers who are no strangers to moving heavy stuff.

The very edges are not critical to how well the table plays or how easy it is to level each piece, but I do warn you that mine shed flakes every time you looked at them hard. It can't hurt to wrap them for any ride, or any time they're being stacked. Just my $.02.

BTW I moved the whole 9' table in one trip with an 8' bed pickup.
 
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trailer....

I always stack the slates with blankets in between them in a pickup truck or van, they have suspensions that are rated and built to carry the load. I would NOT ever put them in a flatbed trailer horizontally. I would strap them up vertically with straps that are rated to hold their weight. Most trailers do not have a good suspension and would you really want to gamble with ending up with a cracked slate or slates?? I am sure many have gotten away with it, but, I would never risk it. Just my $0.02... Good luck to you an safe travels.

Trent from Toledo

https://www.facebook.com/pg/toledopooltables/photos/?tab=albums
 
trentfromtoledo said:
I always stack the slates with blankets in between them in a pickup truck or van, they have suspensions that are rated and built to carry the load. I would NOT ever put them in a flatbed trailer horizontally. I would strap them up vertically with straps that are rated to hold their weight. Most trailers do not have a good suspension and would you really want to gamble with ending up with a cracked slate or slates?? I am sure many have gotten away with it, but, I would never risk it. Just my $0.02... Good luck to you an safe travels.

Trent from Toledo

https://www.facebook.com/pg/toledopooltables/photos/?tab=albums
Click to expand...

Thanks, Trent.
 
Worst thing is picking them up, they just do not have any good handles to grab them by. When I bought my Gold Crown the table had to come out of a basement then go into my basement. I made a crate with handles to move the slate easier, me and my kid moved it, we are both over 6' and 200#s, its not that they are terribly heavy, just awkward.
 
fastone371 said:
Worst thing is picking them up, they just do not have any good handles to grab them by. When I bought my Gold Crown the table had to come out of a basement then go into my basement. I made a crate with handles to move the slate easier, me and my kid moved it, we are both over 6' and 200#s, its not that they are terribly heavy, just awkward.
Click to expand...

Thanks. The awkwardness of picking it up off of the floor does sound intimidating, but I guess we'll figure it out.
 
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