Masonry Magazine December 2008 Page. 47
ADVERTORIAL
Non-Stop Scaffolding's
Non-Stop
Parts Basket
The Non-Stop Parts Basket converts to an 058-legal man basket in about 30 second with the door.
An obvious solution to an age-old problem
By Justin Breithaupt Jr.
A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, one of our local customers dropped by for some cross braces, leveling jacks, wall ties, etc. As we were loading his pick-up truck with the loose parts, he said, "I wish there was a way to keep up with all these parts on my job. My men scatter them all over the place. Maybe you could make us some bins like the ones I see here in your plant."
I thought, "Hey, that's a great idea, and so simple." I remember having the same problem this customer had back when we were in the masonry business: shovels, braces, guardrails, tie brackets, hoses, gas cans, etc., scattered all over the job, or "borrowed" by someone. It wasn't so much how much the lost parts cost; it was what it cost in lost time to go get another one. Containers to keep up with it all would have been a godsend back then.
Enter the Non-Stop Scaffolding Parts Basket. We built it 30 inches wide, so you can carry three of them across an eight-foot-wide trailer. Next, we made it about 30 inches high, so you can stack them three-high on even the highest trailer. They are a little more than eight feet long inside to fit any size brace. We built them tough-with our high-tensile Junior tubing and half-inch-thick fork pockets. Channel-iron on each end locks them together when stacked. To top it off, we put expanded metal on two sides, so you can see what's where.
Jones Masonry in Biloxi, Miss., owns more than 50 of them. Mark Jones says, "We love them. We do a lot of work on a lot of different sites, and they've really simplified our equipment handling. We can stack them up on the job and keep all our stuff in one place. When we send our driver out to the jobs, we just load the stuff for each job in separate bins."
It wasn't long before another customer came up with another great idea. Matt Richardson of Richardson's Masonry in Shreveport, La., dropped by for some accessories and had us put them in a parts basket. He said, "You know, we're pointing up on a job we just finished, and the general contractor's safety guy won't let us use the man basket we built for our forklift. If you put me some guardrails on one of these parts baskets, would it be a legal man basket?"
Another simple, great idea. After a review of the OSHA regulations and a couple of phone calls, I knew we had a winner. We made Matt a guardrail post for each corner and cut the rails, and he was back in business that afternoon. Since then, most every parts basket that goes out is ordered with the guardrail kit.
The concepts that created Non-Stop Scaffolding came from our 25 years in the masonry business. The ideas for our improvements and accessories come from our forward-thinking customers. Let us hear from you, 800-845-0845.
Justin Breithaupt Jr. is the co-owner of Non-Stop Scaffolding Inc. His father invented Non-Stop Scaffolding in the '70s, and they perfected Non-Stop in their masonry business.
Non Stop Parts Baskets stack and lock together the high and three-wid an eight-wide trailer. You can carry 45 baskets on an 18-wheeler.