Rolling boards

[bigbadbiddy]

Howdy folks,

so I would like to place my 5 gallon pots on rolling boards to make them move around easier.

I ran into two issues with this desire and wanted to ask the community if you good folks maybe have a genius idea or solution.

Problem 1)
Price... I looked around quite a bit and for some time now and even when I find a rolling board in the size of my containers (about 28 cm diameter) and with wheels that will carry the necessary ~5kg each, the price was never lower than about 13 bucks.
Needing about 20 of them suckers, that would leave me spending almost 300 bucks on rolling boards.
That seems retarded and I doubt I will do that. Any idea for cheap solutions?
I am currently looking into getting the wheels from China and just making 28cm diameter cutouts of wood myself, attach the wheels, done. Don't have a price yet though but I am confident that will come out way cheaper (especially considering that I have the necessary wood available/leftover and essentially just need the wheels).

Problem 2)
The way I designed the chambers, there is an about 2-3 cm high "step" where the door to the chamber is. Or in other words: The wooden frame is not cut out at the door to the chamber.
This is for two reasons. For one, it will make it easier to get the door air and light sealed when closed and two, it will allow me to easily install some isolation on the floor (so the plants don't touch the cold floor in the winter) and top it of with pond liner to create a bed where water can spill without causing damage.

However, if I put my plants on wheels, I cannot wheel them over this 2-3 cm barrier...
I am currently thinking that I either need to make a "ramp" to roll the plants through the door or I just have to suck it up and carry them over the door after all.
In that case I guess the whole rolling board idea becomes kind of moot ...

Maybe someone has a better idea?

 

[stoned-trout]

monster tires????...yeehaw..sorry no help other than ramp..that seems the easiest

 

[Granger2]

Why do you need to move your plants around so much? -granger

 

[RustyShcklfrd]

You can usually find 30 cm-ish patio-style plant dollies on sale somewhere for less than 10 bucks, I use them to make rotating easier. Honestly lifting the plants over the "step" seems easier than anything.

 

[bigbadbiddy]

I don't think I will need to "move them around so much" per se.

For the first few runs I plan to water by hand before setting up a Blumat system.

For that I just imagined that it would be easier if the plants are mobile and I can move things around and reach everything easier.

I also plan to LST and lollypop (or at least slightly trim) and for that it also seems advantageous to be able to move the plants around so I can reach everything and look at them from all angles etc.

It would also allow me to pack things tighter in the flowering space, wouldn't it? I imagined that I have to leave more space between pots if I can't easily move them, again so I can reach stuff. While I could pack it tighter (more pots/plants) if I can just roll them out to do work on them.



I could not find such plant dollies for under 10 bucks on sale.
Cheapeast I saw was 14 I think.
If you have an idea (keep in mind it's for EU), please PM me.


I will look into making a ramp but if it inhibits the flowering space too much or results in other issues, I suppose I just have to lift the pots over the "step". It's not like I have to carry them that far anyway. I was just thinking "optimization" and as I am not the youngest anymore and last I checked I was still getting older, I just thought of my poor back and future

 

[Granger2]

I understand. Packing plants in pot tight is generally not advantageous, but to each his own. Good luck. -granger

 

[bigbadbiddy]

I know it is sub-optimal but I have to find a compromise somehow.

My main goal is selection (and getting familiar with strains unknown to me) so popping as many beans as possible and flowering as many plants as the space allows is a resulting goal.

On the other hand I want top quality and have decided to go organically and no-till.
Ergo I landed with 5 gallon smart pots.

This drastically reduced the number of plants I can flower simultaneously. I previously planned to use 2 maybe max 3 gallon pots and therefore could have flowered many more plants at a time.

The rolling board idea and looking to pack things a bit tighter than normally advised is my attempt at maximizing the plant number while staying in organic no-till smart pots.

 

[sourpuss]

Hardware store has wheels. Get the wood cut to size. Prob get a higher quality wheel if you make it yourself vs the china made crap.

If its really what you want 100 bucks aint bad.....

 

[bigbadbiddy]

I am currently still coming out at over 200 euro money with the cheapest DIY solution, hence still waiting back on info from china.

Although I agree with you that particularly a high tech part such as a ball bearing is not the thing you want to order from china.

I just refuse to cough up 200+ for the whole shabang. Before that I will just carry the pots and be done with it.

 

[Granger2]

It's really not that much weight. Plastic casters would probably work fine, and be cheaper. Good luck. -granger

 

[bigbadbiddy]

Hm I thought with a 5 gallon container I would definitely need something able to bear 20 maybe 25 kg plus.

Plastic casters you say mhhhhhm.

Will look into that!

 

[bigbadbiddy]

Update:

Just found a possible solution.
Found rectangular rolling boards on sale for 10 bucks each.
The kicker is that they are sized so that they perfectly fit 2 of my 5 gallon pots.

So I only need half the boards.
Probably gonna get 10 of those for 100 money and have space for 20 pots.