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[Bill Kiger]

 We are in the process of building dolly boards for our jbl dual 18 subs, tired of the hand truck method. We have eight of them now and the dolly boards will make for faster load/unload times. I do not wish to mount casters directly to the backs of the cabinets because of packing space but rather use dolly boards on the ends as this is how they are transported now. My question is how do you attach your boards, T nuts in the cabinets with bolts, dzues style fasteners, straps or other means? Ideally I would like to be able to attach the boards to the ends of the sub quickly and more importantly securely. I like the idea of a dzeus type first with a strap arrangement lastly, less stuff to keep up with or misplace  All opinions pros and cons are appreciated and any links to find specialized fasteners.
Thanks
Bill

[Nick Enright]

I rented some EAW subs that used magnets and steel inserts in the cabinets. Worked ok, however the assebler should have used some blue locktite.

[E. Lee Dickinson]

Did they make it over door thresholds and dock plates and ramp transitions?

[John Halliburton]

If in the U.S., 3/8"-16 Tee nuts inside the cabinets, and some form of grip knob on the bolt:



A search on the part number in the drawing will take you to the proper page in their online catalog.  There are metric versions for folks who require them.

Best regards,

John

[Mike Pyle]

I prefer the way RCF does this. Their subs have a machined steel boss that is routered and screwed into the cabinet with a backing plate, and threaded for the casterboard T-bolts. I'd worry that a T nut would get loose inside the cabinet since the casterboards would be frequently removed.

[Nick Enright]

e. Lee- not really, guess you're right.

[John Halliburton]

Mike Pyle wrote on Thu, 07 February 2008 14:32

I prefer the way RCF does this. Their subs have a machined steel boss that is routered and screwed into the cabinet with a backing plate, and threaded for the casterboard T-bolts. I'd worry that a T nut would get loose inside the cabinet since the casterboards would be frequently removed.

Epoxy it in, or use one of these:  

Mcmaster Carr part number: 90611A450

A weld nut with holes-just use screws to mount it.

John

[Andrew Roberts]

I have four of the SRX728 dual 18" subs (presumably the same as yours) and built some home made dollies last summer. I used 3/4 ply and made the platform slightly larger than the width of the back (not bottom) of the cabinet (3/4" buffer on each side). I put a 2x4 bumper on the front end and carpet on the deck (carpet adhesive and some 1/2" staples well seated). I trimmed a couple pieces of E-track  into 2" strips (the monting rails for load straps in a truck) and bolted them to the bottom of the dolly. The sub rides face up with a cover on it and I put an SRX725 (dual 15 w/horn mid/high box) face down on top of the sub (also in a cover). The whole thing is strapped with a load ratchet strap that stays attached to the Etrack on the underside of the dolly. When I get to the gig, I loosen the strap and slip it off one end. Then we pull the mid/high box off. To upright the sub, I just grab a handle on the 2x4 end of the dolly and lift- easy peezy. We used 4" guitel locking casters. So far, the system works great. Good luck.  

[Daniel Nickleski]

Straps seem to be the best option for us. We just built custom cards for our whole rig out of 3/4 pine plywood coated with some truck bed liner. Make sure to cut the cards a little bigger than the actual speaker to provide a protective bumper for the speaker. Adding some tuki covers has kept our speakers looking brand new for the past year and a half. When it comes time to stack the rig we can take the straps from the carts and use them on the FOH rig, Drum Fill, and Side Fills (all black straps of corse).

[Mark Meagher]

The Vertec dolly boards are quite good, if you have room to attach the latching post to your box. They are mechanically fastened, easily attached/removed and stackable when not in use.

[SteveKirby]

I'm obviously missing something.  Wouldn't you want the dolly to be the same size as the sub outline so that there weren't gaps between them rocking back and forth in the truck/trailer?

I haven't reached the point of loading on dollys, I just use piano dollys to get from the van/trailer to the venue.  But I'm about to make some that attach to things and get a ramp so I can leave them on the dolly and roll them in and out of a trailer.  I've always thought that you wanted things packed in tightly so they don't bang together in transport.

[Miguel Castro Rios]

EDIT: I misunderstood the original question.

Yes E tracks are safe and work well, just try to distribute the weight evenly and not put a lot of stress on one strap or a PART of the strap.

Good luck

[Andrew Roberts]

Steve, if you make the deck of the dolly the exact same dimension as the perimeter of the cabinet, you are more likely to suffer damage to the box in transit- be it banging it into a wall or boxes rubbing together in the truck. In the design I made, the boxes lay on their backs and are strapped to the dolly board and I've never experienced any tipping or shifting (remember the front edge of the board has a raised bumper).

[josh cohen]

this thread owns. a week ago or so made a custom dolly for my 2 single 18" subs (currently on the injured reserve list) out of a sheet of 3/4" baltic birch that i cut in half and doubled up. (ok, probably didnt need 1.5 inches for 142 total lbs)

gonna sand this badboy down, slap some truck bed liner on it, attach the casters, and be a happier person.

[Tom Reid]

I found some inexpensive moving dollies at Menards.
Drilled 4 corners in them and T-nutted them to my SRX728.

The worked well for about a year, and then the t-nuts pulled out of the cabinet.

I'm going to try the molly approach now ...

[Jordan Wolf]

Mark Meagher wrote on Tue, 12 February 2008 18:37

The Vertec dolly boards are quite good, if you have room to attach the latching post to your box. They are mechanically fastened, easily attached/removed and stackable when not in use.

I wasn't too thrilled with them, frankly...we brought in a Vertec rig for a large gig a few weeks ago.  The little clips that hold the boards in place weren't holding well and a few of the carts started to come off as we were lowering the clusters.

I'll chalk it up to poor maintenance or the speakers and/or carts, though, due to the way load-out went.