Hauling stuff w/o a motor vehicle

MikeVDS · Post by **MikeVDS** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 4:09 pm

I need to haul heavy camp gear, beer, water, food, sound equipment, and a small dome for 50 people 2 miles down a good dirt road then back up again. We can no longer use motor vehicles. We considered have a horse pull a small wagon, but animals can be a bit of a hassle. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas that could potentially be fairly cheap.

phil · Post by **phil** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 5:05 pm

I don't think anything's potentially fairly cheap, but check to see if you have local burners that share space on a semi. I know this used to happen with the Philly and NYC crowd, and I've seen it mentioned from other locales, too. I think you can find local burners at
http://regionals.burningman.com/

Tiahaar · Post by **Tiahaar** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 10:06 pm

MikeVDS wrote:...2 miles down a good dirt road then back up again. We can no longer use motor vehicles...

Ha Phil you missed the no motor vehicle part. I know what this is for

and you need something like this:

Short of borrowing authentic stuff from some Mormon reenactors (they of the cross-the-plains handcart fame) you can do what a local scout group did and put two bike wheels on either side of a 3x4 sheet of plywood with EMT for the poles and handle. Cheaper to make than to buy the wheeled commercial farm/nursery carts like these:

at http://www.amazon.com/Yard-Carts-Outdoo ... ode=553936

Zhust · Post by **Zhust** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 7:23 am

If you can navigate by bicycle, Bikes At Work has some cool trailers and accessories -- things like moving a refrigerator are not out of the question. Personally, I built my own trailer from scrap metal ... of course it requires something like a welder and other tools, but it can be done.

phil · Post by **phil** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 12:38 pm

> Ha Phil you missed the no motor vehicle part.

Wow, I did. Depending on the quality of the dirt road, the carts they use at marinas and yacht harbors would work so long as not overloaded. Two miles is a long haul. This issue, of course, is cost. How often are you going to be able to use the carts? I'm sorry to say your best bet may be a _lot_ of people and backpacks.

I saw some people pulling a heavy load on four bikes at Burning Man one day, and one of the bikes's wheels bent badly, making it unuseable. However you do it, please use enough bikes/people/carts so that the load is spread out and doesn't break anyone.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 12:46 pm

I used a 4 wheeled garden wagon made in china from sams.
About 150.
We moved an engine and trans on it.
Most are garbage.
You need the good one.
If the wheels are too small, it's too hard to roll.
This one came with fold down sides that could be removed.
Every one I've seen since has been junk.

The wheels are everything.

I have a small car trailer I had custom made for a sports car.
It is very light and can be used to move things with one person pulling it.
It is based on a subaru rear end.
You can get a wheel dolly for hitches that puts a wheel under the hitch and a handle.

phil · Post by **phil** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 5:51 pm

http://www.tipkemfg.com/

Collapsible cart that can be hooked to a bike or hauled by hand.

Dork · Post by **Dork** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 6:25 pm

No motor vehicles or no GAS powered vehicles? Maybe rent an electric golf cart?

You could do it with a bunch of people pulling hand trucks if none of the individual items are too large. Get ones with big pneumatic wheels and strap the stuff to them securely.

Whatever method you pick, I hope you have a lot of helpers!

dragonfly Jafe · Post by **dragonfly Jafe** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:01 pm

MikeVDS wrote:...We can no longer use motor vehicles...

This is going to need a little explaining....are you staging a BM camp from Amish territory? Or did your pickup shit the fan? 2 miles of carrying....best bet would be massed people and hand carts (like any war zone). Why no animals? Horses are a blessing where carrying is called for. And if you hitch them to a cart....let's see, no tech, no animals, I would have to vote for setting up a camp 2 miles away and stage there for 5 months...

K-mom · Post by **K-mom** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:03 pm

1. Hot Air Balloon
2. Helper Monkeys
3. Hired Goons

Good Luck!

Lassen Forge · Post by **Lassen Forge** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 1:55 am

For such endeavors were Mules invented...

Also, there is this. If there are any hills, grades, etc that you are going to be traversing, you need to rig a brake on your cart. Ever seen a handcart take off by itself (running over the puller) gong down a hill? Wheeeee..... and then you get to pick up all the broken bits and see if you have anything salvagable... NOT fun. ANd it doesn't take a lot of weight to build up potentially dangerous momentum... there's a reason Conestogas and buckboards had shoe brakes...

bb

Token · Post by **Token** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 12:59 am

>> for 50 people 2 miles down a good dirt road then back up again. <<

How many asses will it take to haul all that stuff? I think you answered your own question.

42

Cuz 8 are managers.

T

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:03 am

MY girlfriend is so fat..When she hauls ass, She has to make two trips..

Post by **AntiM** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:50 am

I traded my Amish bondage buggy for half a cow ... no, it didn't have brakes. Whew daddy it could roll!

skygod · Post by **skygod** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 7:48 am

Is there a river nearby?

Volga Boat Song

Yo heave ho! Yo heave ho!
Once more, once more, Yo heave ho!
Pull the barge 'gainst the river's tide,
CHORUS:
Volga River stretching far and wide.
Ai da da, ai da, ai da da, ai da,
Pull the barge 'gainst the river's tide,
Yo heave ho! Yo heave ho!

Yo heave ho! Yo heave ho!
As the barges float along,
To the sun we sing our song...

MikeVDS · Post by **MikeVDS** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 8:38 am

I think we decided to swap dates with another trip because the no motor vehicle rule was because of possible interference with the spotted owl mating season. I think a bunch of loud burners would be worse than a few cars. So we're doing hot springs in April and the forest in may.

Interesting ideas though. If we had to get all that junk down there I probably would have tried the plywood/EMT wagon. It seems reasonable enough. And make people carry most of their own crap.

phil · Post by **phil** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:33 pm

> And make people carry most of their own crap.
Now there's a thought...

MikeVDS · Post by **MikeVDS** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:43 pm

We were worried that it would detur some people to do a backpacking trip rather than a hike to camp, considering people generally like to bring coolers, beer etc. A backpacking trip is a little different than a campout.

phil · Post by **phil** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 2:50 pm

Here's an idea: convert all your stuff to wheeled roadie boxes, a la
http://www.heinzjulen.com/shop/products ... ter=chairs

Hauling stuff w/o a motor vehicle

Hauling stuff w/o a motor vehicle

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