Wanted - Clever ideas...

We have been offered a ton of sand for free, perfect for the patio we are about to lay.

After initial pleasure of free sand, reality has kicked in about how to move it. We have a van but the sand is in a ton bag and we don't own a crane (surprisingly) so we will need to load it into smaller bags or similar but it needs to be something strong enough to take the weight.

Any clever ideas anyone... :confused:

 

Hi Dizi,we found Rubble sacks that we bought from Tesco's strong enough and small enough,when we were digging out all the clay from our new border last year.The trick is not to overfill the bags and take it easy when lifting into vehicles.Rather you than me :eek:

 

Hmmmm, a difficult one. I should think that used compost bags or animal feed bags would be strong enough if not over-filled, say half filled? Hessian spud bags would be even better.
Good luck

 

Thanks Kandyfloss, that is a good idea, don't suppose you can remember the price???

We plan to involve as many teenagers as possible in the process, but I'm still not looking forward to it :(

 

Hi Blackthorn, thanks for the ideas...I don't have any used bags as we utilised them all to take stuff to the tip last week

I thought about hessian bags but wouldn't know where to get any these days.

 

Hi Dizi,sorry I cannot remember as we bought them on a roll of 10 in our local store.They were with the dustbin and bin liners section.They are blue on the outside and black on the inside.We still use them as once we had dumped the clay we used them to fill with top soil and some manure we were givenas a Thankyou for some help we gave someone.Just watch those backs because you don't realsie how much you have put into them until you need to lift them and they are not that large

 

Thanks for that Kandyfloss I will pop down to tesco and have a look. And I will keep your words of warning in mind about the weight

 

Dizi,are those your cats in the photos?They look well looked after and laid back.What are their mames if you don't mind me asking.Sorry for hijacking your thread

 

No worries, here goes (deep breath)

Yes they are mine, in order they are Noddy, PV, Mini-Me and Mia (although we call her moo-moo for some long forgotten reason!) Noddy and Mia where my cats and PV belonged to my partner, Mini is the son of Mia which my partner had from me when he was old enough to leave home, however, now we live together we have 4 cats (a complete nightmare)

PV is quite old and thinks she is the queen so smacks the others if they come near. Noddy is also old but very laid back these days and good friends with mini-me (named because he used to follow round and copy noddy when he was a kitten), mini-me is a bit thick (bless) but a great mouse catcher (sadly he brings them in alive and lets them go so he can play with them, which involves me climbing behing the fridge to 'rescue' them), finally, Mia is terrified of Mini and PV so lives upstrairs! (phew)

Bet you wished you hadn't asked now :D

 

Local builders merchant will sell rubble sacks for about 10p if I remember correctly. These should be strong enough to be used a good half dozen times. Watch the rear axle of your van if it is a small one!

 

ooh brilliant thanks for the info

Mr DB says the van can take 3.5 tons (and as it's his van I'll take his word for it!) :D

 

Dizi,Thanks for the info on the cats.I will sit and study the post when my eyes are less tired. :D :D

 

Dizi, I bought some of IKEA's trolley bags for shifting garden waste, these might be good for sand too - a bit more expensive but very reusable and nice and easy to fill, also relatively easy to move and the square-ish shape makes them quite stable in transit.

 

Could you hire a trailer and if your van doesn't have a tow bar rope in a friend who does have one?

TO

 

Do you have wheelie bins? clean it out and use this to move your sand I have even moved fish in mine.