I haul my large plants using a dolly. Just two times a year in and out of my greenhouse. Typical dolly has a straight back and my pots are all typically round. Needless to say it becomes more and more of a challenge to move my pot as the plants get bigger and my back gets older! I can buy another landscaping dolly but that would mean owning a total of 3 dollies! (I own 2 straight-back dollies) I would like to use/rig what I already own.

I would like to rig the back of my straight back dolly using something round. I thought of cutting a drum or barrel and attaching it to the back. Metal would eventually bend and wood would break or rot. What are your ideas to rig it??

If all else fails I will bite the bullet and buy this:
http://www.northerntool.com/im...

http://www.northerntool.com/sh...

How about tying or bolting short lengths of 2x4 or 4x4 lumber to the fronts of the uprights, kind of like bookends? They would block the pot and keep it from sliding sideways.

Would bungee cords help keep big pots on the "ledge"?

That might work.(thinking) But I found an affordable hand truck at Harbor Freight that might work. I think after getting lumber etc to make the bookends and extend the ledge (it is short) it would be worth buying a new one and donating one other that I have. Got so many dollies and hand trucks around here you'd think we were a moving company!!

I've been lusting after a Harbor Freight hand truck for years, if not decades. EVERY time I move, the moving people say that I SURE have a lot of boxes of books!

Some thread, somewhere, some-when, talked about the difficulty of dragging hand truck wheels over grass and soft soil while loaded with a really heavy container plant. We speculated about sleds and skids, but I don't think any really good ideas surfaced.

I have a convertible hand truck. But it is not from Harbor Freight, and like I said, it is straight-backed. I have used it with bungee cords to hold on to large potted plants but it is not ideal. I have lost a few along the way, breaking precious plumeria branches, tearing off palm frond. Not a pretty sight! I doubt my Harbor Freight will have the one with the rounded back. I will have to search different stores to find the one I want since it is only available in stores. There is one by Northern Tools for $100 more. AND they want $100 s/h! Nope!!

Anyway, the convertible hand truck is indeed handy. It has air-filled tires and rides easily over any surface. I have never had any issues with it going over anything I have pulled it over. But just to make it easier on myself when moving plants, I set up ramps over the steps and used 2 pieces of plywood on the lawn. BTW Harbor Freight Convertible Hand Trucks are on sale right now for $49.99 through the end of the month. They really are handy to have. If only it had a rounded back for pots! Shucks!

That is a temtping sale!

I have one of those handtrucks. The convertible part is nice, would be better if the bottom/back was solid, tho. But I can't use it to move pots because the plate at the bottom is too shallow, especially for round, tapered pots and/or urns. I'm more than ready to buy the rounded-back landscaping handtruck. My back is worth way more than $150.00. Smarter Image also has a "pot mover", with a slider thing that holds the top of the pot steady, and its $150. Problem with that is the base is way too small, it can't handle anything but a straight sided square pot, and the tires are like those on a kids wagon. For that price I want the real deal.

I agree with Carol -- we have a nice hand-truck that has what I can best describe as "all terrain tires," but the base plate that the pot would have to sit on is just too narrow... I do use it for large pots, but would sure like to figure out an easy modification for the base.

Hey a stell plste in the size you want, then weld it to the old plate. Could probably just spot weld it. If that is too flimsy depending on how much bigger you go. Put a couple pieces of rebar down on old plate. Spot weld this. Couple tracks on each side. Then put the other plate down and weld that

Or, if you don't have a welding rig, maybe make a sturdy shelf out of whatever material you have on hand. Ideally, sturdy sheet metal with a 90 degree bend to bolt to the hand truck's uprights.

Or plywood with braces.

Then tie or bolt the new shelf firmly to the hand truck's shelf and uprights.

I think the challenge would be to make the attachment more secure and solid than the original "set" of a big pot on a small shelf. Spot-welding rebar plus a long steel plate WOULD be very secure!

Hmm, how about come kind of sturdy "sleeve" or "cup" with an open front, that would be a good fit for most of your problematic pots? What to make it from would depend on what you have available. It might have to "hug" a range of pot sizes, and that might not be practical.

You would roll the pot into the "cup" and tie it in firmly. Then run the handtruck under them both and tie them to the handtruck uprights.

The "cup" would have a shelf long enough to extend well past the center of gravity of any big pot.

It would either have some kind of wrap-around sides, or a back with eyes for ropes and bungee cords. Or straps arranged like a straitjacket!

The back would have some means to quickly tie the "sleeve" or "cup" to the hand truck. Short lengths of rope?

Maybe that is more elaborate then necessary. If ropes or straps could be permanently attached to the handtruck's uprights, would that be enough to hold large pots in place? Or would that depend on the shape of each pot?