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Which size Rock 'n roller cart


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Hello, I have an upcoming gig with a really long load-in (crept up on me) and have to make a quick decision on getting a cart. Normally I don't need one but when you do...you do.

 

Anyway, I was leaning toward a rock'n roller cart vs. a convertible hand truck. The main thing with the hand trucks is that the "foot" can't be lowered, so a keyboard isn't going to fit on the platform. I guess I could angle it up so one end is resting on the foot, but that's not ideal (hopefully that makes sense).

 

The one question on the carts I have is on size. Should I get one that can extend long (wide?) enough so that my boards can fit on with both ends...or can I get by with a shorter cart extended and one handle lowered. Obviously it would be a bit more secure with both ends attached, but it would require a large model. I have a 76-note keyboard that is 53 inches in its case, so just a bit too long for the R8 or R10 iirc. To muddy the waters I normally only bring my shorter board to gigs like this (quick on/off benefits etc) but I figure if I'm shelling out $ for a cart I may start using it at most gigs. Even short trips are annoying when you do a number of them!

 

I can see getting smaller cart and just using bungies to ensure the boards stay on. I may do that anyway but with one handle off the boards could slip off the front. Hopefully that is clear what I mean, I just mean the cart extended all the way out but instead of a "U" it would make a long "L".

Flip side, I'll have this thing for years hopefully, and a $50-$100 difference isn't going to mean much over that amount of time...while getting something shorter that caused more hassle certainly will! :) So I might lean back toward a model that can fit the board inside the handles lol!

 

 

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I have two. The one with inflatable tires and the one without. The soft tires are great for off roading. If you've ever dragged you're gear across grass to a party tent you'll know you need to get the knobby tires as well.

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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I got the next to biggest one, and had a welder extend it a couple of feet, so I can lay an 88 key board flat. I think it was the same size as the biggest, but only has two inflatable wheels instead of four.

Should have ponied up for the one with all four wheels large and inflatable. Mine is fine on paved surfaces or floors, but dirt areas, lawns, gravel surfaces would be easier with the four big wheels.

The tires do leak down slowly - but a small compressor puts them right quickly (28 to 30 lb pressure).

Only had it welded once, and that was not repair - but length extension. Fitted great in the van that I no longer have, not quite as easy in the Chevy Volt.

Howard Grand|Hamm SK1-73|Kurz PC2|PC2X|PC3|PC3X|PC361; QSC K10's

HP DAW|Epi Les Paul & LP 5-str bass|iPad mini2

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

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I have the R8RT and am very happy, but I don't do much off-roading.

Kawai KG-2C, Nord Stage 3 73, Electro 4D, 5D and Lead 2x, Moog Voyager and Little Phatty Stage II, Slim Phatty, Roland Lucina AX-09, Hohner Piano Melodica, Spacestation V3, pair of QSC 8.2s.

 

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Get the biggest cart and be prepared to go to the welding shop and spend $60 after a couple few years.

 

Also at a shop like that, have front wheels that rotate ( steer ) and add BRAKES to them. On a small hill, you will be glad you did.

You don't have ideas, ideas have you

We see the world, not as it is, but as we are. "One mans food is another mans poison". I defend your right to speak hate. Tolerance to a point, not agreement

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There is nothing more irritating than the inflatable ones hitting a corner and the air releasing. Although the inflated tires are good, I would trade mine for solid tires if I could. My cart is really old - probably the first generation. My friend made it twice as strong.

Korg Kronos, Roland RD-88, Korg Kross, JP8000, MS2000, Sequential Pro One, Micromoog, Yamaha VL1, author of unrealBook for iPad.

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There is nothing more irritating than the inflatable ones hitting a corner and the air releasing. Although the inflated tires are good, I would trade mine for solid tires if I could. My cart is really old - probably the first generation. My friend made it twice as strong.
You can buy solid replacement tires from them, and they are an improvement. I had one of the inflatable tires blow on my when I was loading out from a gig at the airport. Sounded like a gun went off. Nobody seemed to notice....

 

https://rocknrollercart.com/collections/wheels

A ROMpler is just a polyphonic turntable.
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I'm gigging with RocknRoller R10. I stack my keys vertically. Like this:

 

http://s32.postimg.org/t47oby8j9/Rocknroller.jpg

 

I am ashamed to admit this didn't once occur to me. I have a very similar load. I normally don't have to bring one of my 12" powered speakers to gigs, but on the oddball ones with FOH I often do since I never know if I can use my in-ears...and it looks like there'd be room to put it where you have that blue suitcase. That doesn't even look extended, correct? Could you have gone with a smaller model even? Though in pics it looks like the smaller models have shorter handles, which is often a problem for me with carts (I'm tall).

 

Appreciate all the posts and info! In 3 years of gigging I've only had one 30 ft stretch of non-pavement--just the types of gigs we do...that was an outdoor pool deal at a resort, not our normal thing. I think I'll stick with the solid wheels. I'm sure we'll land a 400 ft hike through grass in a couple weeks! LOL

 

The biggest issue I may have is that I waited too long...normally I'd order from Amazon but I need something Sat morning. I may cobble something together (like last time) out of a furniture mover and lots of bungies :) It worked, but barely. My wife said costco has an extendable hand truck of some kind so I'll check that out on my lunch break, and then call Sam Ash/GC to see if they have anything in stock...hopefully for similar prices to online!

 

 

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As a senior - I pushed one of the larger roller carries almost 3/4's of a mile on uneven pavement in a park filled with gear. ( Nazi-like, the park would not allow me to park long enough to unload) The little one could not handle that.. And yes, non inflatable are much better. Once air went out of the inflatable ones, it was difficult to get air back in even at the gas station. They do not seal easily once deflated.

And again, get the brakes on 2 of the four wheels.

2 big non inflatable in the rear

and 2 of the steering wheels on the front with the lever like brakes.

Your load rolling away on you, is prevented with brakes. I have had mine about 15 years.

With the initial cost of the roller carry ( i think I have the biggest or nearly so )

and 4 new tires- 15+ years ago, it set me back more than $210.

I had a specialty shop do it for this lazy unskilled musician

You don't have ideas, ideas have you

We see the world, not as it is, but as we are. "One mans food is another mans poison". I defend your right to speak hate. Tolerance to a point, not agreement

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The inflatable tires need to have the air pressure checked regularly, just like bicycle tires and car tires.

 

They will look like they are properly inflated, especially w/o a load...but when loaded and you knock against a curb or something, there is not enough pressure to keep the tire on the rim.

 

A Boogie-Woogie Video:

 

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I got an R10, but I would recommend the larger one with the bigger front wheels -- the R12. I've had a bunch of situations where it would have been really helpful to have the bigger one.

 

Those 2 models don't have inflatable wheels.

Yamaha Montage M6, Nord Stage 4 - 88, Hammond SK-Pro 73, Yamaha YC-73, Mainstage, Yamaha U1 Upright

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Run like hell from the inflatable tires- my first I spent extra a few months later to get the solid wheels- great investment. After that cart wore out bought a new one last fall-the solid wheels now come with the unit. I stack my gear on it no extensions are needed. One trip in and out of venues.
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Last-minute question. I checked Costco and this hand truck was $99. It is a pretty typical "convertible" hand truck.

http://www.coscoproducts.com/eng/products/handtrucks/details/2970-12304abl1-3-in-1-aluminum-convertible-hand-truck

 

It's too short to load horizontally, but if I loaded vertically it's more than enough (too long in fact, the far end wouldn't help hold the boards unless I packed it with more stuff...can be overcome). Does anyone use something like this?

 

I would imagine a con this is more a beast to transport, it's more solid and large than a typical hand truck. On the plus side we have some rental properties and we'd certainly use it to move appliances etc (though we could do so with the rock-n-roller cart as well).

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I am ashamed to admit this didn't once occur to me. I have a very similar load. I normally don't have to bring one of my 12" powered speakers to gigs, but on the oddball ones with FOH I often do since I never know if I can use my in-ears...and it looks like there'd be room to put it where you have that blue suitcase. That doesn't even look extended, correct? Could you have gone with a smaller model even? Though in pics it looks like the smaller models have shorter handles, which is often a problem for me with carts (I'm tall).

 

 

It is not extended. I guess I could have gone with a smaller model but they come with smaller tires too.

 

Something to keep in mind is that when you pack the keyboards vertically the center of gravity goes up. In my case it's not a problem but my 88-keyboard is just 55lb/25kg, including the case. Supposing that it was, say, 100lb package the cart might become wobbly.

 

On the other hand, I've been in situations where there were so tight corners that if the truck had been extended I would have had trouble getting through the corners.

 

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Will need to call them about the replacement tires. I know mine is one of the oldest models -( I though the diameter of the wheel base changed). I went into the store and it was lying around and I wanted to buy it and no one knew the price! I think I got it for $125 which I have no idea if it was a good deal. In any case, it was one of the best investments I have purchased.

Re: The inflatable - there's nothing worse than being on the 3rd floor of a hotel and then having the wheels go out.

Korg Kronos, Roland RD-88, Korg Kross, JP8000, MS2000, Sequential Pro One, Micromoog, Yamaha VL1, author of unrealBook for iPad.

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Because of time, for now I'm either going to

 

1) figure out a way to use my current furniture mover or dolly...I did this last time and it was rough but worked.

2) get the nice hand truck from Costco

3) get a really cheap but otherwise similar in form steel one from Walmart...39 bucks so even if it doesn't last for many years it's no biggie.

 

That will get me through this gig and I'll have time to find one for the next gig if need be (option 1 will only happen once!!!) The model that seemed to fit most advice here without a huge jump in price was the RT14. It has the bigger wheels and would certainly be big enough, heck the band might want to start using it to move the PA, it's bigger than the one we use now for that :)

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I have the R10 with the "fatty, non-inflatable" rear tires. Love it, and only occasionally yearn for the longer monsters that you can lay an 88 down flat on.

 

Because of your time dilemma, just remember that Costco has a VERY liberal return policy, if it doesn't work out for you for any reason.

 

Some of my Mac students recognized this when they need a Windows laptop for a quarter - they call it the "Costco laptop lease" program. Not endorsing the behavior, just saying it happens.

..
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Linco Casters

 

This place in San Diego, is where my bandmate suggested I go for all 4 wheels. They are a specialty place. So I bought Rock and roller elsewhere, and got the special wheels at Linco.. and they installed them as well. This is pro level quality.

You don't have ideas, ideas have you

We see the world, not as it is, but as we are. "One mans food is another mans poison". I defend your right to speak hate. Tolerance to a point, not agreement

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  • 1 year later...

Zombie thread alert.

 

So, getting some sort of dolly or cart has been on my to-do list forever, and one of the things I did at NAMM this year was to camp out in the Rokn-n-Roller booth and play with all their carts because they pretty much had all the models on display. I finally decided on getting the R12. It arrived today, and dayum, it looks like my fullest gig setup will fit on it: Leslie, two K10s, two milk crates, Mojo 61, Stage 2, stand and seat.

 

http://oceanbeach.com/temp/everything_on_rock_n_roller_sm.jpg

 

In reality, I'd probably wear the Nord like a backpack and pack the throne seat down lower, but this actually looks doable. When I get a chance I'm going to bust out the mig welder and weld a couple D-rings onto the frame so I can run web strap through without it sliding around. But as we head into festival season I'm glad to see that I have a one-trip option if I want to bust out the full kit.

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I bought the R14G when it was available online with a coupon price; it has the fatter solid tires. 88-key boards fit lengthwise on top of a couple of plastic crates from Costco that have integrated folding lids. Currently have one K8.2 in one of the plastic crates, the other is full of cables and miscellany. Bench and short PA pole fit between the crates, stand on top of everything else.
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