I use a dolly as well. But I need to wrap a belt around one of my subs to keep them from falling off the dolly. (I dolly both my tubas, one atop the other)
Some of the worst culprits for ergonomics are the QSC HPR181i's. They are low, heavy and especially wide. I used their built-in castors to my advantage but had to purchase a ramp to get them in and out of my SUV. You need a really long arm span to hope to lift them. Do your best to NOT hurt your back.
Raising the bar...
http://www.channelliveproductions.com/
Atlanta DJs / Wedding DJs / Prom DJs ...and more
I'm guessing none of you have ever moved any Peavey gear before.
Go lug around a 4x12 Peavey bass cabinet and 6 space rack for 3 years.
Then come back and talk to me about "heavy."
WillieB69
I personally use the Rock n Roller cart. I use the larger one so that I can place my 2 18 inch EV subs on it - http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...Arock+n+roller
You can also check out http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...rds=cart+dolly
Hey guys, I recently bought a Yamaha DXS18 Subwoofer and decided to pair it with castors (casters if you're in the US).
The official SPW-1 castors are a crazy rip-off price of £100 a set.
So I went for aftermarket units.
This sent me on a wild goose chase looking for the exact measurements I need.
I looked through all the first few website results on google for castors and none of them had them.
Eventually found a couple of options I want to share on here, to save others the hours of work it took to find them. Amazon has some, but they never put the bolt hole spacing in the title,
and so you end up trawling through page after page of castors looking for that specific information. The plate size they list doesn't give any indication of the bolt spacing either.
I also cannot find any swivel and/or locking castors that also correspond with the bolt hole centres, so all of these are fixed castors without breaks, just like the official SPW-1 units
are.
Also for the record, the weight of the sub is 50kg.
The Yamaha SPW-1 castors are 75mm, and that's the size I went for below (i.e. the polyurethane ones).
For those in doubt, the bolt hole centres you need the castor plate to line up with are 81mm x 40mm. I'd imagine 80mm x 40mm will also work.
Product Links:
A low-quality option but good if you want to buy individual castors, not sets. They allow for 45kg each, but you will only ever rock back on to them with 2 castors, so the load will be
shared: https://www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk/...kg-grey-563715
£20 rubber castors with 100mm wheels: https://www.amazon.co.uk/100mm-Marki.../dp/B074ZWVTZR
£24 polyurethane castors with 75mm wheels: https://www.amazon.co.uk/75mm-Polyur.../dp/B0751DFWB2
£24 polyurethane castors with 100mm wheels: https://www.amazon.co.uk/100mm-Polyu.../dp/B07515JHLD
£25 -polyurethane castors with 125mm wheels https://www.amazon.co.uk/125mm-Polyu.../dp/B07511WDXG
£30 rubber castors with 125mm wheels: https://www.amazon.co.uk/125mm-Marki.../dp/B075118N7N
If anyone has any links to locking/swivel castors with 81mm x 40mm bolt hole centres, please comment. Would be useful when on the roadside and ramps etc.
All in all you can pay 1/5 the price of the Yamaha units and still get a sound result.
Hope that helps someone!
I use one of these (UK) - its very flexible. You can get types where the 'flat bit' at the bottom is, itself foldable making it even smaller,
https://www.screwfix.com/p/3-in-1-ha...ck-350kg/4114p
If the driver has a ferrite/ceramic magnet, you can probably drop 15 pounds (on an 18" driver) by switching to one with similar Thiele/Small parameters, but with a Neodymium (Neo) magnet.
The situation you describe only gets worse as you get older. I am an old DJ - weight is one of the most important considerations with my equipment. Using casters/carts and adapting a technique where you don't actually lift anything is good, but out in the real world (as you know) you are still going to run into load in/out situations where lifting is the only solution.
Matt - the basic rule for stagehands is never pick the gear up - unless absolutely necessary. So, as has been mentioned - wheels on the back, hand trucks, carts etc. When traversing stairs roll them up the stairs end over end and slide them down the stairs turned diagonally and work from the low side - easy to control. Slide it around, roll it around, drag it around, cart it around - don't carry it.
Never pick it up unless absolutely necessary, then most stuff is a 2 man lift and beware of where the CG is on everything and have your helper mirror your exact movements. When lifting gear up onto stage or into truck, lift where the lighter end faces the truck or stage so it doesn't have to be lifted as high. Put the edge onto the surface and slide it on/in.
The advisement above on Neo drivers is absolutely the gospel. All my gear is neo magnets and designed to be lightweight. All single 18's, no duals, no more than 2 amps in a rack. Personally I never fly subs or amps - nothing gets lifted that can sit on the floor.
Carry an old piece of IO carpet around to lay on concrete stairs. Paint you speaker enclosures with bed-liner.
Real important to be careful brother.
Last edited by SWS Productions; 02-08-2020 at 03:57 PM.
I would like to give my 2 cents here. I have been doing a one man mobile dj show since 1996. Back then I use to carry 4 bass bins each at least 120lbs, mids and highs speakers, amp rack, turntable coffin with 2 technics 1210s and a 4 channel mixer and record crates. The dolly is my best friend and I usually rent a u-haul trailer or truck with a ramp. These days though, I am in Miami and the house parties don't require much power. I scaled down using mostly 2 double 10 mains and 2 X15 inch smaller subs at most of my parties. I am trying to be efficient with weight and provide high power sound with deep bass with less speakers. This is a challenge though I still occassionally roll out the big ones but not as often.
Last edited by superdj1; 05-08-2020 at 08:59 PM.
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