Marley Dance Floor cart advice

[SteveB]

As follow on the the post "How do you lay a Marley", I had commented on our dance floor cart.

I've taken 2 pic's.

The picture with a full roll shows 6 panels, so about 36 some odd feet deep, by 40 ft wide, of Harlequin floor.

The 2nd picture shows step one of taping the first panel onto the steel roller. Takes a crew of about 6 to roll out or up. Takes about 40 minutes.

Note that this was generation 1 of the device. The carpenter that built it moved on and never got a chance to improve or modify it, even though it's essentially been in steady use for 15 years or so. The crank needs to be fixed, as well as the plywood end plates need to be re-thought as to attachment.

 

[Footer]

What kind of floor are you using? How hard is it to get the pieces to line up squarly? Does your floor have any "life" in it where it changes depending on temperature? Otherwise, its an interesting idea. My only concern is if the floor get a bit wider and no longer would fit between the wheels.

 

[SteveB]

What kind of floor are you using? How hard is it to get the pieces to line up squarly? Does your floor have any "life" in it where it changes depending on temperature? Otherwise, its an interesting idea. My only concern is if the floor get a bit wider and no longer would fit between the wheels.

Top of the line Harlequin from 5 years ago ?. Piece of cake to mate end to end and tape in place. The floor doesn't expand in terms of width as the floor temperature is fairly constant and this is the 2nd floor on this cart with no issues related to expansion.

When rolling up, it takes two hands to guide the floor onto the cart to keep it square, at least 4 -5 to steady the cart, as it's on wheels and wants to drift and one to crank.

 

[derekleffew]

...When rolling up, it takes two hands to guide the floor onto the cart to keep it square, at least 4 -5 to steady the cart, as it's on wheels and wants to drift and one to crank.

Locking casters would likely solve that.

I wonder why no one else uses one large roll, instead of the standard six smaller rolls? http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/...892-marley-dance-floor-advice.html#post194139

SteveB, do you always put the sections on the roll in the same order? I.e., when removing, work US to DS, and when installing, DS to US, so the DS piece is always on the outside of the roll; or do you "rotate the stock"?

 

[Footer]

Top of the line Harlequin from 5 years ago ?. Piece of cake to mate end to end and tape in place. The floor doesn't expand in terms of width as the floor temperature is fairly constant and this is the 2nd floor on this cart with no issues related to expansion.

When rolling up, it takes two hands to guide the floor onto the cart to keep it square, at least 4 -5 to steady the cart, as it's on wheels and wants to drift and one to crank.

Pretty cool. Though we regularly lay out and store our floor with a basic 4 call... so that could be an issue. Also, our floor sucks, so it never rolls straight.

 

[SteveB]

SteveB, do you always put the sections on the roll in the same order? I.e., when removing, work US to DS, and when installing, DS to US, so the DS piece is always on the outside of the roll; or do you "rotate the stock"?

To Derek

Locking casters still pivot on their axis, so you'd still have to brace, as even a slight movement of the cart starts the floor getting out or alignment as you roll on.

We have a proscenium piece as well as an US piece that has a corner cut out for our circular stairs (to the grid), as well our stage is not deep enough for all 6 panels, thus there's an order the panels come off and go on. Thus we don't rotate stock. Doesn't matter as far as I can tell.

To Kyle

It takes fewer to lay the floor as you don't have to brace the cart as much, nor guide as the floor is coming off, thus 4 could easily put the floor down. When we are striking the floor, it's always part of a general strike, and if the floors in use we always have more then 4 on the crew so it's not been an issue.

 

[chausman]

SteveB, They do make locking casters that won't pivot when locked. I have a rack that has those on one side. It's nice when it works, but these are broken and will partially lock when you wheel it around. Walmart has some here, but you could probably find some that you liked better from a more reliable place.

 

[derekleffew]

chausman, because the axle of the wheel is not centered on the caster's pivot point, there is still some play when locked. For times when this play is undesirable, a wagon brake can be used instead of locking casters. Like this one: Triple E Wagon Brake from Rose Brand . But at $280 (EACH!, and a minimum of two is required) it may not be worth the expense, in this application.

 

[MNicolai]

chausman, because the axle of the wheel is not centered on the caster's pivot point, there is still some play when locked. For times when this play is undesirable, a wagon brake can be used instead of locking casters. Like this one: Triple E Wagon Brake from Rose Brand . But at $280 (EACH!, and a minimum of two is required) it may not be worth the expense, in this application.

Thank goodness Sapsis sells wagon brakes rated for 800# for only $35 (and safety cables for $2.10!).

 

[venuetech]

do you get any static buildup?
I had a wooden cart the zaps were tremendous.

 

[SteveB]

do you get any static buildup?
I had a wooden cart the zaps were tremendous.

Couldn't tell you. I'm the head electrician and find more important things to do when the floor is going up and down (grin). Actually that's only partially true as yesterday I helped pull up the tape. And I have helped brace the cart on occasion, so never noticed any static. I'm ready with a code compliant ground-ing clamp if so needed. Not sure if I should ground the cart or one of the prop or carpenters.

And (again as head elec.) I can only suggest to the Prod Manager the fine suggestions found here on CB to use locking casters. Being that he also doubles for the non-existent head carpenter, he will then give me the job of swapping casters. So possibly I'll keep my mouth shut and help brace the cart on occasion

 

[jstroming]

Finally got around to designing a Marley Cart for ourselves....we've built 6 of them so far. This is the first one, in future builds we reduced cart width & increased overall length of cart so handles are permanent and don't get bumped in transit (this one the handles are removeable). Will turn and fit perfectly in a 102" truck. Really helps having an in-house welder and CNC machine!!! Total build cost is about $1500 including labor.

 

[justgina]

Sorry I meant to give a picture of which cart I was refering to. This is the Harlequin cart I was inquiring about.

Thanks,
David

We have this one, and it works really well.

 

[JamesSullivan]

We have this one, and it works really well.

Does yours have fork tubes?

 

[Faulkhead]

Finally got around to designing a Marley Cart for ourselves....we've built 6 of them so far. This is the first one, in future builds we reduced cart width & increased overall length of cart so handles are permanent and don't get bumped in transit (this one the handles are removeable). Will turn and fit perfectly in a 102" truck. Really helps having an in-house welder and CNC machine!!! Total build cost is about $1500 including labor.

We need a good cart cant find one . Can you send me the specs to make the one you show that rolls the marley for you please

 

[Faulkhead]

I need specs to a marley cart that rolls the floor mechanically. The single roll that holds 6 rolls Is a cool idea

 

[Faulkhead]

First, Marley has not been manufactured since the 1970s.

Second, OP: You didn't say if your application is for Touring or House use, but the one you have found is awful. Send an email to All Access Staging & Productions and/or B and R Scenery: Contact Us and see if they have any pictures of theirs. The one you have found is horrible. Gimme a day and 200' of 2x2 SqT and $100 worth of misc. materials and I'll fix you a better one. Where's the detachable crank handle so one never has to pick up the rolls? How can that thing pack in a truck? Fork pockets? Tape storage in the unused/wasted space?

The Rock Show carps are more advanced in so many ways.

Can you give me any specs to make one myself that rolls the floor mechanically

 

[Tex]

Can you give me any specs to make one myself that rolls the floor mechanically

I wouldn't count on a response. That poster hasn't been here in over a year.

 

[jstroming]

Finally made a Marley cart I'm happy with. I pretty much copied and made better the Harlequin cart which was the best design aside from the $6k B&R cart that I've seen. I tried to get Harlequin to build what I wanted but those phone calls were pointless and so I decided to build it myself. The major issues with their cart was that it only held 4 rolls and was 3ft wide. So much wasted space for only 4 rolls of dance floor. Or a 6 roll cart even wider. Also Theres no solid surface to roll the Marley onto, the pipe is only 2" which you can't roll onto. It's almost like they expect you to put a PVC pipe over their 2" pipe, but how to secure it so you can crank it?!? I called to ask if I was missing something but never got an answer. I own a few of their carts and resorted to using self drilling screws to attach my PVC to their cart. Blah. I still think I'm missing something, surely the design can't be that bad. The cart I built is only 2ft wide (for truck pack) with a solid top (storage on top) and 8 rolls. Maximum roll width is 10" which is like 80ft roll length. I'm thinking of posting the plans for it and the DXF files for the steel cutouts. Total cost including labor (and my welder is crazy expensive!!!) was around $2500.

 

[viking33]

Please post the plans. I'd be very interested to see the cutout layout.