Unloading 24' stock into 10' garage door

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Evening folks, Looking for advice on loading full lengths of material. 20's and 24's and into the rollup garage door. Door is 10' wide.Have been unloading by hand but just invested in a forklift. The mild steel bundles are around 1600 lbs. Was thinking about a set of auto dollies and pushing it in sideways with the lift truck. Anyone have tips? Seems like a silly question to ask but how do you all do it?
Reply:Do like the Egyptians did (pyramid style). Set the material on some pipes (set perpendicular to the material in question), and roll it in the garage. Keep putting pipes at the front as the material rolls over them. I just moved an 1100lb drill press 25 feet like this and it worked great. Primitive but works. Or get dollies.IAMAW Local 330Airco 300 AC/DC HeliwelderAirco Dip-Pak 200 with Profax spool gunPowr-Kraft AC225Everlast PowerArc 200stBuffalo Forge No.21 drill pressSpeedglas 9100xxAirco, Oxweld, Purox, Victor torchesLincoln Ranger 8
Reply:Harbor freight furniture dollies would work good and IIRC they're rated for 1,000 lbs.                                       MikeOl' Stonebreaker  "Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes"Hobart G-213 portableMiller 175 migMiller thunderbolt ac/dc stick Victor O/A setupMakita chop saw
Reply:For years working in a lumber yard I used to roll in hacks of 10', 12' and 16' lumber thru an 8' door on a simple cart. Cart had two wheels centered on a single axle and single swivel casters on each end. The "bed" was raised up on C channel so you could easily get the forks in and out under the material and had removable posts if need be to keep loose stock contained. The hacks often exceeded 3-4 ton. We'd side load the stock outside, then use the back end of the lift to push it in thru the door and around to where we needed it. If need be in some isles, we could push the cart in front of the rack, then either position the lift to come in from the side to lift it afterwards, or in some cases, we'd need to position the lift 1st, then push the cart in front of the lift. You'd pick the stock with the lift, then roll the cart out from under it, and then set the stock in the cantilevered rack.Not exactly the same, but close enough to give you an idea what I'm trying to describe. The cart will pivot around the center wheels making it turn tighter corners many times than two separate carts on each end. the other thing with separate carts is that all wheels have to swivel to work usually, and this makes it tough to get the cart to track straight unless you have a person steering on each cart. Even then many times the carts want to "crab" and go sideways down the isle at an angle. You don't have that issue with a center pivot cart..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Heavy garage door track, or an I beam with two trolleys. Buy a couple come alongs to hang from them. When Seth was too little to move a snowmobile, I had one with no reverse. I rigged up door track on the ceiling. I had a rope sling to loop under two bumpers. He'd lift the sled off the ground, swing it around, and slide it backward into the barn, ready for the next ride.An optimist is usually wrong, and when the unexpected happens is unprepared. A pessimist is usually right, when wrong, is delighted, and well prepared.
Reply:just build a cart or you can sling the bundles from the forks depending on how big your fork is and how heavy your bundles are.   Thats definitely a two man job though, but then again so is pushing materials on a cart.Vantage 500's LN-25's, VI-400's, cobramatics, Miller migs, synch 350 LX, Powcon inverters, XMT's, 250 Ton Acurrpress 12' brake, 1/4" 10' Atlantic shear,Koikie plasma table W/ esab plasmas. marvel & hyd-mech saws, pirrana & metal muncher punches.
Reply:We do it every day.  Use a lifting strap on the forktruck, sling the material, and a guy guides it in.  Quick and easy.Craig MontgomeryM&L Fabrication, LLChttps://www.facebook.com/pages/ML-Fa...8228829?ref=hl
Reply:I would go with the cart like DSW posted.  Add removal uprights so you can even leave material there for storage too .If the material is not banded order it banded. IF that is a problem, sling it up, lift, and then tie rope around each end to hold bundle together. Then you can set on dolly or dollies. If you have a long rope, anchor a snatch block at the inside far wall of the building run rope through it, tie one of rope to load , other end to fork truck and go in reverse to direct load into building.
Reply:Thanks for all the comments. The tracking DSW mentioned with the dollies was exactly what i was concerned about. That center cart is a better idea, appreciate it.I picked some casters up this morning. Will post when pics when its done.
Reply:If you can make a stinger and sling for your forklift, then figure what it will handle lengthwise.  Most suppliers will bundle your delivery in groups of say#500Lbs. I have forks on a backhoe and forks on a small tractor.  If I'm in a place where I am using the small tractor, I have my delivery bundled in #500 Lb groups. I like that lumber cart idea though..
Reply:If you're patient enough with your forklift and there's enough wiggle room inside and outside your building, you can drive your forklift through the small opening with the 24' bundle sitting on the forks the normal way.  You start one end of the bundle into the doorway, then forward and reverse it, pivoting around one corner of the doorway as you make your way inside.  You're basically crabbing the bundle in sideways.  One shop I worked at did it this way for years.  Slow, but allows you to do it from the comfort of the driver's seat without help or any real effort.
Reply:Make sure the castors you get have a swivel lock, and that lock does not lock the wheels. That way you can lock the steering once aligned up with your door. I easily unload 24/25 foot bundles that way. I my shop I have an inside loading bay that is 21 feet deep. I push the cart in and drive the fork truck in and lift the entire cart. With a few wiggles I have all inside and can close the door. I beam on the ceiling takes it from there.