# How do you handle heavy sheets of plywood?



## b2rtch (Jan 20, 2010)

I am getting older day after day, in case I forget my body reminds me of this fact.
I am 61 and in very good shape for my great old age yet sheets of 3/4" plywood are getting heavier every day.
Last week I bought sheets a 3./4 Multipour plywood and they were really heavy. 
How do you handle such sheets to unload them from your truck and to store them and then to carry them from storage to the table saw and so on.
I am thinking about installing a small crane in my shop.
I know of devise which not only store the sheets but also it lift them and rotate them to put on the table saw but this device is way way out of my price range.
Thank you for your help.


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## MedicKen (Dec 2, 2008)

My 16 year old 6'2 450 lb step son handles that for me. I am lucky, not everyone has a gorilla at home to handle the ply. He is a little clumsy and sometimes damages the edges


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## b2rtch (Jan 20, 2010)

MedicKen
'My 16 year old 6'2 450 lb step son handles that for me" 
Do you have to feed him?


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## richgreer (Dec 25, 2009)

The people at the store help me load sheets in the truck. When I get home I often cut the plywood off the back of truck. If I want a lengthwise cut I pull it out and directly on to saw horses.


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## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

I'm 60 and have a bad back and a couple of bad knees from a lot of hard work. I want to keep on woodworking so I know that I need to take reasonable care of myself which means watching what I do. I can easily pick up a sheet of plywood but I know that I shouldn't and if I keep on doing it I'm going to be sorry.

Most of the plywood that I buy comes from HD or Lowes. I used to not bother with having them cut it but now I take advantage of it. I usually know what I'm going to do with the plywood so I think ahead about what is the best way to bust it up. So, I might have it cut into two or three pieces and plus or minus 1/8 or even 1/4 inch is usually fine. This way it is easy for me to handle it from there. I load it on my truck and take it home and usually lean it against the outside shop wall since my shop is small. I can then take in one piece at a time and cut it into the different parts to the proper dimensions. Sometimes it is convenient to rough cut it some more. I have four saw horses outside my shop that I can lay the pieces on and do some further cutting with a circular saw or saber saw, depending on what I'm trying to do. Then I take these to the table saw. In all it works out rather well. It is much easier and I keep from further injuring my back or knees.


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## b2rtch (Jan 20, 2010)

I can buy an electric hoist at my favorite store, HF, for around $100.00 but I do not believe that my roof rafters would handle the extra weight.

http://www.harborfreight.com/1300-lb-capacity-electric-hoist-2954.html


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## TheDane (May 15, 2008)

Bert-Getting older? You too?

I have an old (cheap) carpenter's rip saw with a hole about an inch from the end. When I need to carry sheet goods, I have U-shaped bracket made out of strap iron that I bolt to the end of the saw. I just left the edge of the sheet up an inch or so off the floor, slide the bracket under it, put my arm over the top edge of the sheet, and with the saw handle pick it up.

I have a set of 4 roller stands and an outfeed table that I use as helpers when I feed sheet stock through my table saw.


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## Viking (Aug 26, 2009)

I have had same problem until I built a simple sheet goods cutting table from scrap PT wood from another project. I can pull full sheets of plywood, MDF or whatever directly from my pickup bed onto the cutting table. I then cut full sheets to manageable size with a circular saw.

Dimensions are on my home page projects.










Good Luck!


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## b2rtch (Jan 20, 2010)

helluvawreck, I have done that but now I prefer to store full sheets at home so that I always have some available. Also I now buy my sheet-goods at a lumber yard and they do not cut it.


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## b2rtch (Jan 20, 2010)

Viking, good idea but as I said above I store the sheets at home.


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## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

Bert, I don't have your problem, really, because I mostly work with solid wood so I don't use a lot of plywood. But when I do that's the way I handle it. However, I can see how you would want to store the full sheets if you use them often. I wish that I had enough room to store some of both.


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## ajosephg (Aug 25, 2008)

My neighbor or a friend who lives nearby. Usually I have to purveyor cut it in half (or so) so I can handle it by myself.


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## Tomoose (Mar 1, 2009)

Bert I don't know if it would work, but maybe a drywall lift would work for you - they can handle large sheets and have wheels to move around. Perhaps you could find a used one on Craigslist or something.


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

For me, it's all about leverage. I managed a warehouse for a number of years, and I learned that it's possible to move some very heavy things by letting the weight do the work. Just as an example, to put a 4×8 sheet of 3/4 ply into the back of a truck, I carefully tip it off the cart onto a corner (gently) and stand it up on the 4 foot edge. Now with very little effort you can "walk" it into position about 7 feet behind the truck, then slowly let the top tilt towards the tailgate. Once you have the top resting on the tailgate, go to the end that's still on the ground, lift it up and slide it in. If done right, the whole process takes very little strength.


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## Viking (Aug 26, 2009)

Bert;

I get what you are saying. When I buy extras I still offload onto the cutting table then flip them from horizontal to vertical onto our rolling sheet goods storage cart with big casters. When I take sheet from cart I just reverse the procedure to get it back onto the cutting table and never have to lift full weight of the sheet.

At our age, it is better to work smarter than harder!


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## Gregn (Mar 26, 2010)

This seems to be an aging problem alright, LOL I too have this problem myself. One of the things I have been mauling over is getting a drywall lift. It allows you to put a sheet on vertically and raise to a workable height and then flip horizontally to slide over on to the table saw. If you have low ceilings this would be more feasible than a hoist system, not to mention that the lift is on casters to roll it into position. 
Medicken, LOL don't know if I could afford bananas to keep a gorilla around. LOL But glad to hear you have a strapping young man to help out.


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## b2rtch (Jan 20, 2010)

Tomoose, I have also being thinking about this idea but I am not sure if it would work:
http://www.harborfreight.com/150-lb-capacity-drywall-panel-hoist-95852.html

CharlieM1958 I also lift very heavy load for a long time but plywood sheets are very awkward to manipulate


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## Gene01 (Jan 5, 2009)

I use a ply wood helper. It's a 1" wide U Chanel fixed to an angled handle. Lift it and carry it on edge. Worked great when I was younger! I have to move it from the truck or from my storage room, up a slight ramp and then, up a 10" step to my cutting table. then I have to lift it onto the table. 3/4" MDF is a real b****!!
I like Rick G.s idea a lot. At least I could break it down before taking it to the table.


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## b2rtch (Jan 20, 2010)

The drywall lift does not go to the ground, one has to lift the plywood in unto it to start with so that does not solve my problem.

http://manuals.harborfreight.com/manuals/95000-95999/95852.pdf


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## b2rtch (Jan 20, 2010)

Does any one of you use this to lift the plywood?
http://www.harborfreight.com/500-lb-capacity-hydraulic-lift-table-94822.html


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## TheDane (May 15, 2008)

Bert-I have a hydraulic cart similar to the HF model you showed, but I use it for my planer or to unload the back of my Jeep when I have heavy, awkward stuff (like new machines or bags of cement) to unload.

IMHO, the table surface is too small to be of much benefit for handling sheet goods.


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## Viking (Aug 26, 2009)

Bert;

You could probably add a larger auxiliary table clamped to to the HF hydraulic lift table to provide a larger surface area?


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## b2rtch (Jan 20, 2010)

TheDane,
It would be easy to bolt or screw a 48"x48" sheet of plywood ( or something more easily removable)on the top of it to obtain a larger carrying surface.


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## LeeJ (Jul 4, 2007)

Hi Bert;

I have gotten emails from customers of Ezee-Feed, praising my infeed system, then jokingly asking if I have any solutions for getting the plywood from the truck to the saw!

Not much I can do to make the chore of getting heavy sheets from the truck to the saw, but once you're at the saw, I can help you get perfectly straight cuts all day long, regardless of the weight of the sheet, with very little effort!

Check out Tom's post: http://lumberjocks.com/ND2ELK/blog/14118

Then take a look at our new video, which has a discount link included:






Have fun;

Lee


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## LateNightOwl (Aug 13, 2009)

I like to store sheet goods at home in my shop as well. Like Charlie, I learned to use leverage and weight to my advantage. I had to learn it years ago to be able to carry cast iron bathtubs and set water heaters up on platforms by myself. Although it is unwieldy, a sheet of plywood isn't too heavy by comparison. I "carry" it vertically on its side with a two-wheeled contraption I built years ago… just a wheel (like on a wheelbarrow) on either side of a U-shaped carrier. The whole thing is about 12" tall by 12" long. I tip the ply over on to it so the wheels are centered and the load is balanced, then roll it along. When I get to where I am going, I lay down a couple of chock blocks to keep it from rolling and tip my sheet goods up on to my saw horses or cutting table. Hope that helps or gives you an idea!


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## b2rtch (Jan 20, 2010)

Lee A. Jesberger,
I like your devise and I might buy one someday but right now I need something to unload and to handle the stuff around in my shop.
So far I think that the HF lifting table is the best and most economical idea


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## Raftermonkey (Jun 5, 2010)

*"How do you handle heavy sheets of plywood?"*
.
With my bare hands, But I'm young, dumb and well you know the rest,haha. I did see some little handle things that clamp on to a sheet that looked pretty handy.


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## LeeBarker (Aug 6, 2010)

I bought a very early version of the Shopcart Panel Handler from the woodworker who invented it. He later sold the company and they still sell the cart here: (click Panel Handler.)

Now I see Jet has copied the design here:

The second is less money than the first and I see some differences. Basically, though, they are the same concept: a table surface that is adjustable in height which allows easy unloading from truck to cart, and nearly micro-adjustable height for feeding onto the table saw. The table surface tilts down for easy maneuvering and smaller footprint in storage mode.

It is even possible with this cart, in the tilt-down position, to extract a single sheet from, say, eight sheets, even though it is not on top, tilt it on a corner out of the stack then tilt it back onto the top of the stack.

I have circles marked on the floor where the front casters go for safest and most efficient feeding of stock onto the saw.

The key to this design is the floor lock. That is where all the safety is.

I built my own similar cart, lacking only the hydraulic feature. It is in my projects. There are considerable construction details in the text.

My summary: I'm old too. I think $1200 is cheap for a tool that allows me to do what needs to be done safely before I get to the fun stuff. If the Jet is as good and as safe as the Shopcart, it may be a better value. (note: it appears that the ShopCart has two fixed and two swivel casters-a far superior layout to the Jet, which appears to have four swivels.)

(history note: Just after I built the wood cart, a Shopcart PanelHandler came up locally on Craigslist and I bought it. Sold the wood one to a neighbor woodworker that very day.)


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## MedicKen (Dec 2, 2008)

Bert…..

"Do you have to feed him?" Yeah!! He is only with us part-time but the grocery bill is astronomical. I have *never* seen anyone eat as much as he does. We have taken to locking most of the food in a closet so he doesn't have access.

All things aside and to answer the original question, when he is not available I too struggle with plywood, I will get some help at the store loading and when I get home will cut it into smaller more manageable sizes while it is still in the bed of the truck. I will set a saw horse with 2-2×4's between the sheet I am cutting and the remaining stack and cut to rough size. I will then final size on the table saw. I have also cut my plywood usage down by building more and more projects from solid material. More furniture and less cabinets


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## b2rtch (Jan 20, 2010)

Thank you all for your replies. 
I bought a HF lifting table ( $159-20%off) that I am going to modify to fit my needs.
I will also use the lifting table to feed the sheet on my table saw.


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## fge (Sep 8, 2008)

Great deal Bert,

I was going to interject our 2 cents. My wife is 90 lbs and works in our shop a ton by herself. We have a medium sized shop now so our system might not be workable for most garage shops. I purchased 3 old used shop carts off of CL from a factory. The sheets are mostly delivered. Then loaded onto a shop cart horizontally/flat. The sheets are left on the cart until used. The carts move freely around the shop with very little effort. Mostly our sheet handling is limited to sliding material from here to there and so forth.

Our last job, on one of the carts we had 1800 lbs of material.


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## boboswin (May 23, 2007)

I use this deal from the truck to the shop.
I'm still struggling with a small foot print shop and have not found a decent solution yet. 
Lee Jesberger has the ideal set up if I could fit it in. EZ-feed.


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## patcollins (Jul 22, 2010)

How to carry plywood


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## MrsN (Sep 29, 2008)

I use high school seniors to move heavy things. 
I teach middle and high school wood shop and anytime I need manual labor I as for volunteers.
At home, I have a husband for heavy lifting


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## ABrown (Jun 6, 2010)

I'm still carrying them by hand, but its a daily thing for me because I do it at work too. So I'm use to it. I did buy a track saw and it helps out a lot by not having to feed 4X8 sheets in to my table saw. My back will thank me when I'm older. lol


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

This isn't so much about handling as storage, but I store my sheet stock vertically and have installed UHMW polyurethane strips on the floor to slide them in and out on. It's really a big help. This photo is from when it was being built so there's not much in it , but it's full now and still works.


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## b2rtch (Jan 20, 2010)

for storage I am going to build this cart or similar:
http://www.shopnotes.com/issues/055/extras/roll-around-store-all/


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## Cato (May 1, 2009)

Bert- I too have faced the same problem, and am considering the hydraulic cart you have looked at from HF.

Right now I either get it cut at Lowes which helps, or if I have full sheets, I drag it from the truck into my shop and store it on end, and cut it as quickly as possible so it doesn't warp. I don't have enough room to store it flat.


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## bobdurnell (Sep 24, 2007)

To b2rtch-I hope you don't mind me sticking my two cents in. I'm 63 and stand about 63inches so plywood sheets have always been a problem. Now I figure the widest width that I'll need and have the store rip it a llittle over. Now, I live in the great Orange County California so there are real great lumber yards, yes I said lumber yards. My favorite is Austin Hardwood and Ganahl Lumber Company. Both are very close. And yes I do occasionally shop and the big boxes (OSH, HD, and Lowes). If a full sheet of plywood is needed I have and pink grabber thing I got at HD that supports the wood from the bottom. I do like the lifting table Idea. Good luck - bob


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## Steve_B (Oct 30, 2009)

A couple of months ago I forgot my age. Decided to pull a 3/4" sheet off the second rack at Lowe's by myself. I was in a hurry as usual. What I ended up with is the muscles in my right arm torn in 5 places. I could actually hear them rip. They still aren't healed. Getting old sucks!


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## boboswin (May 23, 2007)

I am beginning to think that 3/4"plywood is a more dangerous product in the woodshop than the tablesaw.
I have to wonder how many injuries are directly related to handling this product? Drywall too!


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## b2rtch (Jan 20, 2010)

Yesterday I designed and build a device to handle any sheet of plywood MDF particle board or sheet rock and sheet metal with ease or any other large and cumbersome piece
I pick the sheet in my rack (vertical) and I swing flat on my work table or table saw easily , one person with no lifting . 
The same device can be used to put he sheet back in the rack
In addtion I use the device on my table saw as an in feed table
The same device can be used to unload or load a truck or a trailer, one person no lifting. 
I cannot say much about it because I want to try to sale the idea to someone.


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## TheDane (May 15, 2008)

Good luck with it Bert … necessity is the mother of invention, and your work could really pay off for you.

One of my Dad's uncles worked for a railroad in his youth, degreasing locamotives (a really filthy job). One day he was heating water in a tea kettle when it occurred to him the pressure that caused the spout of steam could be harnessed and used for other purposes. He worked for a long time on his invention, but ultimately was successful in obtaining patents which he then licensed to manufacturers of steam cleaning systems. He lived quite comfortably for another 60 years!


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## North40 (Oct 17, 2007)

I find that most of my problem comes from bending and lifting, so I try to never let the center of gravity of sheet materials get below my waist. I store my sheet goods on end so I just tip them into my hand to pick them up and tip them into the storage rack to put them down. This allows me to be standing straight up the whole time I'm carrying the load.


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