Hi,

I'm planning on cutting the frame for my house next summer, and will need to be able to move large timbers around. I've seen a fairly sturdy hand-made cart that used large bicycle wheels, and had a platform to rest the timber on while one or two people pulled or pushed the timber.

I'd like to find plans to build one of these. I understand there are pictures of something similar in issue #61 of the TFG publication, so I've ordered a copy. But, if anyone knows of plans, and can provide a source, it would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Hi - in Vol 17 of Fine Woodworking, there is an excellent article about timber framing by Ed Levin in which there is an illustration of a cart like you referred to. I have made two of the these carts. There is nothing complex about them. You merely make a square box of a width suitable for your project - I used 2x4sx18" - to hold an axle of sufficient strength to carry your heaviest beams. Then you have to use wheels that will also support this weight. My heavier cart used a 1" steel axle with heavy duty wheelbarrow wheels. I was able to easily move 9"x11"x 18' railroad switch-timber weighing over 800 lbs by myself with this cart. I would recommend that you keep the wheel height and consequently, the box height to a minimum as this means you you can more easily load your beams onto your cart, especially if you're working alone as I was. Another valuable aid in moving big beams on a hard, even surface is 2" PVC pipe used as rollers. Good luck with your project, jekbear

You might check out Harbor Freight or Northern Hydraulics for large (~24") garden cart type wheels. Not much heavier then bicycle wheels but much stronger and less likely to sink into mud if the site is exposed to the elements. At the Mountain school and Russell Colbath rendezvous we used a cart made with 2 motorcycle tires - David Hook's version of the timber cart.

Thanks to both of you for the information. I subscribe to Fine Woodworking but don't go back beyond issue 72. My wife gave me the CD The Best of Fine Woodworking last year which goes all the way back to issue no.1 but they didn't include that article. I went to the website and found the article in the index but that issue is out of print and unavailable. So I'll have to keep on searching.

I already have pretty strong wheels from a racing sulky, the spokes are quite heavy and the bearings are large. The main reason for the cart will be to move white pine 10X10X18 and smaller from the stack for mortising and from the finished stack for assembly. There will always be at least two of us working so the cart is just to reduce some of the labor of carrying. I'd like to see the carrying height 24" or thereabouts so the carrier needs some sort of counter balance that keeps the carrying surface up and horizontal so that the unit doesn't have to be positioned by another person before the baem can be placed on it.

Hi - I'd just like to reiterate that having a lower cart has a distinct advantage if you're working with heavy beams. A feature of this type of cart is that you can load it by parking the cart next to the beam you want to move then raising only one end and then lowering it onto the cart. This means you only have to lift 1/2 the weight of the beam. If you have a 2' high cart, you have to raise the end 4' off the ground. If it's 18" high, you only have to raise the end 3' off the ground. I will take a couple of pics of my present cart and e-mail them to you directly. Perhaps if you e-mail Ed Levin, he would send you a pic or a plan of his cart which uses bicycle-type wheels. Good luck with your project. jekbear

Thanks for the pictures and the suggestion to try Ed Levin. That cart looks like it could carry the whole barn. It gives me some ideas on how to proceed.

I just got a copy of #61 of Timber Framing magazine in today's mail and it has a good picture of the cart I want to build, as well as o lot of information on tools. The cart was apparently designed by Lon Tyler and has a counterweight to keep the carrying surface level for loading. I guess I'll have to get busy.