Here's How to Mqke r- clnd Sctye -- Money wifh Your own Mqtericrls Hondling Equipmenr

Latest labor-saving methods of unloading and handling gypsum board, lath and plaster n'ere demonstrated b1' the Gypsum Association as a feature of the Materials Handling clinic of the most recent National Retail Lumber Dealers Association 13uilding Products Exposition in Cleveland.

Using the railroad siding and dock area adjoining the exposition hall, up-to-date lift trucks perforn.red a number of varied operations u.hich n'ere designed to accluaint dealers lvith the most efficient methocls ancl ecluipment for the mechanical handling of building materials.

Three different operational methods highlighted the gypsum demonstrations. These include: hand truck and fork lift truck unloading of gypsum lath, and the palletizing of gypsum plaster for mechanical unloading frorrr a singledoor boxcar; tl.re use of easy-entry plates for fork lift unloading gypsum ltoard from a bulk-headed flat car, and the mechanical unloading of lor-rg length gypsum board from a double-door boxcar.

All cars used in the unloading operations were actual shipments and were loaded according to methods used in typical dealer orders.

In the first demonstration, hand lift trucks partially unload a mixed shipment of 15 tons of gypsum plaster, in multiwall plaster bags, and 6@ bundles of.16" by 48,, lath. The 30-minute demonstration, in which one-half of the 60,000 pound load lvas unloaded with less than three man-hours of work time required, illustrated the time-saving benefit of the unloading method. In more conventional handunloading operations, a comparable job might require up to 24 man-hours of work.

A standard hand truck rvas used for unloading approxirrrately l0 stacks ol 16" x 48" lath from the doorway of the car. After these had been removed, the plaster bags, u,.hicir had been loaded along opposite sides of the car, were placecl by hand on rvooden pallets and removed by lift truck to thc storage area. Bags n'ere stacked 30 to a pallet, five bags per layer, six high, placed in a ror.v pattern u'ith alternate layer criss-crossed for greater stability.

After the center area of the car had been cleared of lath and plaster, a lift truck entered and removecl 4, by 4, crossstacked lath units r,vhich u'ere located in the end sections.

Lift trucks used in both operations rvere gasoline powered 5,000 pound capacity at 21" load center, rvith the side shifts for maneuvering large sections of material through the 6foot doorrvay, and for freeing loads fron.r adjoining piles n.ithout danger of upset or collision.

Although a single-door boxcar rvas used in the demonstration, Gypsum Association representatives expressed the hope that more desirable double-door cars rvould soon be available in larger numbers.

In another demonstration, the effectiveness of the easyentry plate method for unloading and stacking gypsulll board r,vas clearly shotvn. Easy-entry plates lvere inserted between sections of gypsurtr u'all board loaded on a bulkheaded flat car. The forks of the lift truck rvere then able to slide between the easy-entry plates and the boards without damaging the load. The stack rvas then lifted and neatly placed in the desired location.

The average time required to unload a 90,000-pound load by this anethod is three man-hours, as compared to 36 man-hours by hand unloading.

A hand truck is used (lcfi) ro unlood 16"x48" lorh from the c€nler seclion of the cor. After the centcr orco hos bcen cleored of lath ond ploster (righr), rhe lift rruck enters ond eosily corries oul o lood ond proceeds to lha wolehou3e qteo

UNLOADING GYPSUM PI.ASTER (left)-Plasre? bogs orc stockcd by hond (lefr) on wooden pollcr which hos becn plcced in doorwoy of boxcor; o 5,000-lb. lifi rruck lhen removcs lhc looded poller (ccnter); simulot. ing :tccked pollets in o wor!hou:c (righr)

UNIOAD]NG GYPSU'IA WAII,. BOAXD (right) * A 90.00G1b. shipment of gyprum boord on o bulk-heoded fiotcqr (lefi) orrivec ot fhe dock oreo; ecsycnhy plofes ore inseded beiween unils of gypsum boord (righr), permiring forks of lift truck to slip between lhe units ond remove lhem from lhe car

During the demonstration, the Gypsum Association stressed the necessity of maintaining standard load heiglits of materials shipped on flat cars. Level loading is required for hea'i'y loading. Thus the association recommends slab heights of 60", either 60 bundles on a tf" basis, or 80 bundles on a 3/8" basis.

In another phase of the flat car clemonstration, dealers were shorvn hou' a ferv bundles can be removed from large stacks of gypsum boards for order picking by the use of rvedge blocks. The rvedges, 5" wide. 16" long an<l fully tapered on both sides from 1 5/8" to zero, \\rere casily inserted betr,veen the stacked boards. Easy-entry plates were then placed in position and lift equipment removed the smaller unit.

Wedges can also be used rvithout easy-entry plates-as demonstrated-by placing them into position and having them driven betu'een the bundles by the forks of the trucks.

A third unloading operation l,vas the mechanical unloading of long-length gypsum board from a double-door box-

For this operation, a 5,000-pound on 24" center lift truck \vas used. By utilizing its side-shifter, the lift truck was able to free the first stack ol 12" material from the adjoining piles and ease the 5,000-pound load through the l4-foot dooru'ay. The stacks placed in the center of the car were removed first to permit the lift-truck to enter the car and remove the cross-piles in the end sectiohs.

The labor and money-saving materials handling methods as demonstrated in Cleveland are a part of the Gypsum Association's program to develop increasingly efficient unloading procedures, which will mean greater profits to dealers through lorver handling costs.

Co-chairmen of the gypsum demonstration committee rvere Lloyd H. Yeager, general manager of the Gypsum Association, and F. C. Dansereau, National Gypsum Company. Special sub-committee members included H. E. Hart, Celotex Corporation; J. B. Roberts, U. S. Gypsum Co., and A. H. Tenelshof, Certair-r-Teed Products Corp.

'Wedge-and-Entry'

Method Recommended

The nation's gypsum producers, r,vho pioneered the system of unit loading in the building industry, announce that they are nou' strong'ly recommending the "rvedge-and-entry plate method" for mechanical handling of wallboard and similar products.

STEP ONE: Wedge blocks ore puthed between bundles seporcting 3tdck into smcller unils; light coating of wox or 3oqp will focilirqre entry. STEP fWO: Eosy-entry plotes cre ploced in position; upper plote should extend qbout 3 in. owoy from slock to permit fork-lruck operator lo come up under rhe lip before inseriing blades between units. SIEP THREE: Blodes of lift truck qre forced belween plotes ond smoller unit removed ..E SY.ENTRY PLATE''

The suggested method, developed by the gypsum industry, calls for using lvedge blocks to separate stacks of boards into smaller units, and metal plates to facilitate insertion of the forks of the unloader between the units.

Lloyd H. Yeager, general manager of the Gypsum Association, said the recommendation is "the result of considerable study by the association's materiais-handling committee," and that "this relatively new technique should do much to improve the mechanical unloading, warehousing and handling of u'allboard and other items by the dealers."

Though the l'edge blocks and "easy-entry plates" cost very little to make and are simple to use, the dealer, according to Yeager, l'ill find that the \^'edge-and-plate system offers many advantages.

1. Increases utility of fork-lift equipment. With this system, lift trucks with a capacity of 2,000 pounds and up can be employed. Chisel-type full-taperecl forks are recommended.

2. Simplifies order picking in the warehouse or yard. Regardless of the size unit ir, rvhich the material lvas received, the dealer can maintain standard storage patterns. The rvedge-and-plate method permits order filling of any quantity of material.

3. Can also be used on other types of sheet building material.

4. Cuts lift truck travel between storage and loading points approximately 500/6. Specific quantities of gypsunr board can be picked up, using tl.re rvedge-and-plate method,