Has anyone out there seen or used a framing trailer? I had never even heard of on until I saw this:
If anyone has used one, how do you like it? I don’t do nearly enough framing to justify one, but I’m always interested in new things.
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Replies
Yup. One more way to turn the jobsite into a factory production line.
I put off using pneumatic nailers as long as I could for that reason. Once I started using them, of course, I would never want to go back. That's the nature of "labor saving devices", and an argument can certainly be made for their reduced demand on the body.
But the longshot of all this is that our bodies become, more and more, mere appendages of the machine. Soon we'll just do it all with robots.
Solar & Super-Insulated Healthy Homes
I could never justify buying one, as I don't do too many projects of that nature any longer....but I am defietly going to look into the possibility of renting one for the next such project.
I can almost feel the lack of a screaming back, looking at the thing.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
Pp, Qq
Do you know what it is worth?
Have a good day
Cliffy
Jim Allen had something similar he built a few years back.
Why not, if it works for you & makes life easier?
We'll all be old and creaky someday, might as well postpone it if possible.
Joe H
Edit: 12" wheels, another piece of equipment hopping down the road on too small tires to save a few bucks.
Edited 3/13/2008 11:40 pm by JoeH
I don't see how this would save much time.
How does it work on framing windows and doors?
Maybe I just don't understand.
Did you watch the video? They said build up your windows and doors then plug them into the assy and you lay it out. It is pretty cool but wonder how much $.
Still scares me with guys shooting from either end. Do like the keeping two hands on gun and not holding the stud with hand or foot.
Edited 3/14/2008 11:47 pm ET by rasconc
That would be used for "table framing", punch that into the advanced search.
Blue/ jim allen has written enough about that on this site to make your eyes bleed.
So, you don't have to bend, that's all it's good for. What's the purpose of nailing the wall on that thing and then carrying the wall over to the house and nailing it in when you can just nail the wall in place and stand up without LIFTING the whole wall up and walking it 50.......60..........70' depending how big the house is?
Joe Carola
amen!
Also, they have to go back and nail the top plates on. Another waste of time IMO.Joe Carola
Joe, they might be helpful on an apartment, or condo project, but I don't see it.
Check out this link for a tutorial on platform framing:http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=102248.1there's answers for all of your questions. :)
Barry E-Remodeler
I know what Jim does and followed all his threads. This thing is nothing like what Jim does. This thing is a waste.Joe Carola
GotchaI don't disagree about the trailer, thought you were talking in general
Barry E-Remodeler
I wouldn't be too quick to call it a total waste. It appears that some of it is usuable, some might be marginal. The idea of the rollers seems like a good idea but then reality kicks in...what are they good for? You roll the thing off the end and you better have bodies there grabbing it. If there are bodies available to grab it, you dont' need rollers. The adjustable height tools seems useful. Before I passed final judgment, I'd have to work it a bit. I'm a little suspicious about the layout device. I'm guessing that there are slots that the lumber has to land in to create the exact layout. I'm wondering if they would be come a pain in the rear at any time. In theory, we could accomplish the same thing on our onsite panelization system but we just never felt it warranted it. For instance, when we build our platform, we could layout the platform itself and that would give us the layout. The reality is that we have to put the plates together first to layout the other critical elements of the wall. The stud layouts are usually the least of our worries and also the fastest to layout. One of the things I didn't like about the video was the framing guy running and shooting the studs together like a high school teenage kid. He was moving too fast in my opinion for safety reasons. Also, he didn't appear to need any time to make sure the tops surfaces were flush. In a video, that might work. In real life, it doesn't. In the real world, we have to tweak just about every stud and plate connection in some slight subtle way. I liked the idea of using air as a component on the table: raising and lowering it etc. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
I didn't watch the video the first time. From looking at picture it seemed to have major limitations. After watching the video it still seems to have limits and for the money your table seems to be usable in more situations though I could see some tweaks that could maybe make it faster, maybe...maybe not. But that's the part of the process I like, tweaking things to see what works. It's why i like remodelingI remember my dad noodling about panelizing walls back in the '60's but he never followed through on it. Kudos to you for trying different things.
Barry E-Remodeler
I also noodled about it for decades before I saw other doing it. I don't claim to be the inventor. From my experience, that trailer would be a failure except for the stud assembly. The reality is that the stud assembly is the easiest part of the entire house production! They show the header asseblys being brought in and dropped into their locations and thats where this rig falls short. In a side by side test, I don't see any advantage over what I'm doing because of those limitations. I use my table for twenty different processes and they use theirs for one. It's probably very good for that one process but you'd be hard pressed to spend that kind of money when you can frame up a simple table like we do in minutes. On one of our first setups for our panelizition system, I built the last wall in the house first and used it for our table. We set it on horses and built all the other walls on it. When everything was done, we put the paper on the "table" and installed the overhangs, then sent the "table" up to the deck where it stands today as some guys sidewall! Essentally, that table was free. No extra time spent at all except shifting it up on blocks. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
How do you get it to the second floor?
How do you get it to the second floor?
It has a Construction Master built into it. You punch in the run from the machine to the house and then you punch in the rise from the ground to the top of the 2nd floor decking. Press pitch and it gives you degrees. The machine can be set to any degree. Once that's set the machine has a launch button and you hit that and it shoots the wall up to the second floor.......Joe Carola
I really don't think bending over is bad for your back--heck it is probably good for your flexibility. But now lifting and carrying a wall that's put together--sounds like a herniated disk in the making. I chuckled when they said it could be brought to any jobsite.
Yeah that's a hoot, now if you could just get those studs up onto it without bending over and picking them up...