Suggestions for a Platform for Steel and Seat uneven Ground

[Doug Taylor]

Yes carpet tiles, 12 in a box for less than 15 bucks! Have fun on your gig!

[Fred Treece]

There are good solutions here for uneven ground, but don’t play on a hillside. Just. No.

[Jerry Overstreet]

No, no hillsides Fred.

Thanks Doug. Not really a gig, it's just a big picnic with friends and acquaintances. It's only one of a couple things I go out for anymore.

[Jon Light (deceased)]

I knew I was going to be on this surface today. Something like the 8th time I've played here and these slats are a known thing. The saucers are aces.
Crawling under the stage to collect a fingerpick? Yeah, a plywood slab would have been nice, I guess.

[Jerry Overstreet]

Ugh! Wide spaces. Have to pick your spots I guess. That looks like a deck type construction.

I think my location will be less severe than that.

I had some scrap 3/4 here I'm going to use on the flat beds should alleviate any problems like that. Cut a slot for toting. About 40"... a little narrow on one side but putting that side on my left side as my seat is set more to the right...should be OK.

[Don R Brown]

A timely thread, I had missed it until now.

After yesterday, I can confirm that the sheet of 3/8" I have has too much flex. Trimmed 2" off one side to get it into the car, it still won't fit between the wheelwells but can sit on top of the rest of my gear if I load the plywood last.

Also wondering about a few drain holes - yesterday was a unique combination of water dripping off the top of the tent onto the back of the plywood, then puddling under my seat due to the distortion of the wood. And of course I neglected to bring my GFCI along!

I will say the 4'x4' (minus that 2" I removed) plywood is large enough for my seat and the steel, with enough room left over for the guitar player's beer besides!

[James Gooch]

I have had some success with using a single piece of 1/2 inch plywood with two 2x3 stiffeners on the long edges and another 2x3 stiffener down the middle. Not too bulky or heavy to transport and rigid enough not to distort.

[Jerry Overstreet]

I will say the 4'x4' (minus that 2" I removed) plywood is large enough for my seat and the steel, with enough room left over for the guitar player's beer besides!

How nice of you to provide a perch for your bandmate's beer. Keeps him from setting them on your amp, I guess.

I took a page from Doug's book and have some lightweight carpet squares coming for my pywood square. Plywood is slick so this should help keep things from sliding around when playing.

[Don R Brown]

Jerry, those would be adhesive-back carpet squares, which would then be permanently attached? That's an interesting idea. While the water problem I had was unusual, that puddle did grow much larger after I took the picture. Some sort of indoor/outdoor stuff which can get wet would be helpful.

If I do go with a sheet of 3/4" in the future, cutting a couple handholes would probably be a good idea, maybe it was already mentioned above.

[Jerry Overstreet]

Yes Don. Permanently attached. I stole the idea from Doug Taylor's post. I should have them today. I'll inspect the adhesive for strength. If I'm not satisfied with the tacky, I'll spray down the plywood with aerosol adhesive first.

I hadn't considered drain holes. I don't expect to ever be in an environment where I'll need them but you never know, I guess.

This is likely the only time I'll ever use it outdoors anyway, after that I'll set my rig up on it in my music room.

Hand hold, yes. I did that too. One in the front middle between the legs works fine for handle and placement.

Down side is I'm driving a pickup these days and the 39 in. panel won't lay down between the bed liner wheel wells. I'd have to go to like 36 or 37 which is actually wide enough for a steel but it doesn't give much wiggle room....so we'll see.

Some of your SUVs may have more space.

[Dave Hopping]

Jerry-
I had the same too-wide-for-the-pickup-bed issue. Solved it by sawing off little rectangular corners on each side of the two 4X 4 sheets as pictured. I went upscale with leftover carpet because I was going to leave the plywood sheets in the truck bed (most of the time anyway) and have a soft surface for gear.I'm pretty sure your steel seat would fit even on the narrow side of a trimmed 4X4 sheet.

[Don R Brown]

Down side is I'm driving a pickup these days and the 39 in. panel won't lay down between the bed liner wheel wells. I'd have to go to like 36 or 37 which is actually wide enough for a steel but it doesn't give much wiggle room....so we'll see.

Some of your SUVs may have more space.

I have a pickup, extended cab, and the bed will hold a 4' wide plywood sheet OK. But there's really barely enough inside room in the cab for everything. We replaced her old (2011) Escape with a newer one and I kept the '11 for a "Musicmobile". With the back seats laid flat there's plenty of room for everything - EXCEPT a 4 foot wide plywood.

[Jerry Overstreet]

Dave, My Ranger doesn't have enough room behind the wheel wells to the tail gate for the spread of the steel legs so that won't work for me. Maybe in front but that would take lifting the whole panel up over the wheel wells and I need something that's easy. Even at this reduced size, 3/4 in. plywood is still heavy especially trying to lift it from one end.

I ended up re-sizing the plywood to 36 1/4 in. so it will slide up in the bed. It's adequate but just. I also sprayed down the panel with aerosol adhesive and put the carpet on. I was afraid the factory glue would give up after hauling and handling enough.

Looks pinkish in the photo but it's not. Dark red. Thanks for the tip Doug!

[Michael Hartz]

[Larry Allen]

Aloha Michael, great stand! What is it and where did you get it. ?. Larry

[Doug Taylor]

That looks good Jerry!

[Michael Hartz]

It is a riser from Quik Stage built in Minneapolis, MN. You can get different length legs as short as 6” I believe. They’re a little pricey but built to last forever.

[Jerry Overstreet]

After all that buildng a platform, I didn't use it. It is too wide to fit in my SUV which I had to drive as another couple went with me and we couldn't fit them all in the truck.

Anyway, the host's neighbor decided we needed a real stage so he built a beautiful and sturdy 12x24 platform with smooth plywood floor so I didn't need it anyway. I'll still use it here and probably other events if I ever do play out again.

He built that stage just for this one night picnic affair and intends to knock it all down now. What a guy to do all that just for our comfort and use. These are all great folks.

Anyway, it's nice to have and I'm proud of the way it turned out.