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Building Commercial Migratory Pallets, with Pallet Plans

51K views 67 replies 23 participants last post by  Fusion_power 
#1 ·
All:

I have seen a lot of requests on this forum for pallet plans. I have cobbled together historic info from BeeSource and some practical learning from beekeepers. The blog entry I put together (and the associated vid) are pretty dumbed down for amateur woodworking folks as I get lots of (and repeated) questions on dimensions/sequencing/etc. but here it is in all its glory:
http://dchoneybees.blogspot.com/2013/01/commercial-migratory-pallet-design.html

I await the comments from the gallery!

Jeff.
 
#3 ·
Yeah thats pretty much the essence of them. We keep our 1" x 6" pieces back a ways so they "nest" inside of the front clips. By putting them all the way to the front it requires a 3rd one in the middle to alleviate stress on the 2"x4" stringers and can result in rocking on uneven terrain. The days of 408 doubles ended for us about the time fuel hit $3.00. If you are running doubles you are still legal going 4 high (just over 8') and then shorten your load as needed to stay under 80,000. If you are loading a step deck it costs you 500 lbs. or so but allows you to carry a bit more bulk. We kept unit shipping costs for Almonds low by mixing singles 2 to 1 with doubles and were able to average just over 600 hives per load.
 
#6 ·
Its close but I have done it a time or two. We just shipped out some loads on flatbeds that were 2 doubles and 3 singles which would be about 5" lower than 4 doubles. They always break out the ole tapemeasure on me and grumble a bit. The best way for doubles is a stepdeck with 3 up for 3 rows (leaving the front empty) then 4 high down until you max them out. But we havent hauled full loads of doubles in some time.
 
#7 ·
I always run on a flatbed, loading dbls three high. When I ran six hives on wearhouse pallets I would load one layer of dbls, one layer of singles, and the third layer dbls. Seventeen rows of 6 pallets of 4 ways. 102 pallets 408 hives
 
#8 ·
Concerning commercial pallets... I have been thinking about something for a while for a smaller commercial situation. A pallet with 4 doubles pretty much requires a larger forklift to manage... ie: Swinger/ hummer/ bobcat... BUT.. a pallet with only 2 doubles I think could be managed by the boom loaders.. or a homemade forklift made from a larger lawn tractor. Just wondering if it would be worth the tradeoff to double the number of moves you must make but only need carry 1/3 of the weight of a large forklift, or a small forklift that might even ride in the back of a truck pulling a trailer with 50 hives behind it. Being able to place a pallet with 2 hives with a boom loader would even allow you to not carry the forklift.... such as for pollination services.
Any feedback/ comments?
 
#13 ·
Concerning commercial pallets... a pallet with only 2 doubles I think could be managed by the boom loaders.
Any feedback/ comments?
Yes, that is what I use, a double pallet
I use a boom loader, an Ezyloader which max capacity is 650 lbs
a pallet of 4 double hives fed up is too much, a double hive is much easier to maneuver
 
#12 ·
The loading is the easy part, its grading them and switching everything on to freshly cleaned pallets that is a real p-i-t-a. Oh yeah and the red truck, after all my mad calculating, ended up 300 lbs. over......300 lbs.!!!! I finally got him legal but it was a hassle.
 
#16 ·
The truckers own both of those. I know that one came from here. http://cardinalcanvas.com/ Not sure about the other one, I am just remembering Alabama or maybe Georgia. The broker had me on the phone with a salesman and he was pricing them at around $600. They are both nice light ones with flaps on each end.
 
#25 · (Edited)
Tefer2, there are a couple things you need to take into account, as Jim mention they need to stack when emty, they need to fit when boxes are on, try to find a happy medium.

My pallets are 33 x 48 we set the runner (bee way) back a 1/2 inch to not to do damage when loading. We also have about a five inch gap between the back to back of hives, this alows us to use our tool so when we fill emty pocket up it's fast and easy. We use W clips as they are faster and easyer to use, some folks think rought is a problem, but we wax dip everything that's wood so it's not a concern for us.
 
#27 ·
Mark: We have our bottoms set back on the stringers about 1/2" (to net an inch of ventilation) and then stack the pallets together so they touch in the middle. We have tried leaving gaps in the middle but they always seem to shift by the time they get to the destination.
 
#28 ·
Mark: We have our bottoms set back on the stringers about 1/2" (to net an inch of ventilation) and then stack the pallets together so they touch in the middle. We have tried leaving gaps in the middle but they always seem to shift by the time they get to the destination.
I thought that Keith was saying that his pallets are built 33WX48L which would mean that the three 2X4s would be 4 ft long,right? So, they are going to touch in the middle since the truck deck is 102" outside dimension, 96" inside the rib rail. I always have trouble w/ the boards touching in the middle.

Jim, do you use spreader boards? The kind made from 2X4s run across the top of thge load?
 
#29 ·
I have never used "spreader boards" they look like a good system though. I dont consider a load properly secure, though, unless there are 2"x6" boards under at least 9 straps and "v" boards front and back. Some drivers use "v" boards topped by 2"x6"'s the entire length of the load. It is nice but I think it is overkill. I havent seen Keith's pallets but I am assuming that the stringers are 4' and that he sets the bottoms back from the end of them a bit for ventilation so you end up with only the ends of the 2"x4"'s actually touching. Dont worry he will set me straight if thats not the case. ;)
 
#30 ·
Dont worry he will set me straight if thats not the case. ;)
no worries mate.:)

Mark, yes 4 feet long 2x4s, if the truck that we load is 8 feet plus why not use it. If you look up nutra bee on the you-tube video it show the pallets well & me feeding sub by myself with out lifting off the hives, this can be done quickly "if" you have space between your hives. We do use 2x6 board to tie down the load (10) then cross tie the ends.
 
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