12.03.2021 Dome transport trolley.

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False alarm! The dealer decided the strong winds made transport of the nested panels unsafe on an open trailer. Delivery is now arranged for Monday morning. 

 So now I had time to build a dome trolley similar to the one I discussed earlier. Though I made it longer to ensure the edges of the curved segments can easily rest along their full length. Then I laid a few of my 4m Ø arcs and was shocked how the trolley seemed to shrink. I'll need outriggers!

 Two rails of 4m [2x4] and 5 cross rails of 3m [2x4] so far. I have bolted it all together with 12x160mm coach screws with large, square, roofing washers under the nuts. 

 The ends of the cross rails were cut shorter after lunch. Now about 2.3m in width. Which should be more than adequate to support 2.2m radius arcs. Finally, the double, trailer pilot wheels were bolted onto place on the corners. There is some torque around the 2x4 from the wheel offset. So I shall have to double up on the longest rails to stiffen them. 

 I tried standing in the middle of the trolley bed and it was really quite springy. I am only 1/4 of the full dome load. Or about the same as a single dome segment. The segment load will be far more evenly distributed than a single person. Though I still need to collect some more 2x4s tomorrow to be on the safe side. I might get some cheap ply to reinforce the bed and to protect any "fragile" GRP edges.

 This trolley will ensure I can transport the nested panels along our drive from the junction. I had a trial run and soon discovered the difficulty of steering such an unlikely thing. The trick seems to be having the rear wheels locked into facing straight forwards. Four wheel steering is foolishly hard work! In a straight line it ran smoothly and lightly [unloaded] on the gravel. Would it do the same with four adults sitting on it? I have no "tame" neighbours for organising a fully loaded, test drive.

 The trolley looks absolutely colossal from any angle! The image above is not a "drone view" but taken from a tall stepladder. The trolley weighed quite a bit when I lifted it to fit the wheel jack clamps/brackets.

The plan is that this will be just one half of a full 4mx4m trolley. Which will provide local transport and rotation around the designated "parking space" in the garden. Handy as I work on modifying the basic domed panels into a useful observatory. 

 Remember that I have ordered one extra top panel/segment to become the dome's matching shutters. Which instantly adds another 70kg/180lbs to the 220lb basic load. 400lbs? All the foundation blocks have been buried. So I don't have any handy "ballast" to test the trolley fully loaded. Do I really want to empty all of that wood out of the trailer? Just to collect a few more lengths of 2x4 for reinforcements?

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