We at Burnaby Village Museum (in British Columbia, CANADA) built our own
"A-frame painting cart many years ago based upon the photograph shown in
"Museum Registration Methods" (Third Edition, Revised) by Dudley, Wilkinson
et al. (1979) page 7. It has worked very well for us.

Tips:
  1.. Cover the 'floor' of the cart with indoor/outdoor carpet which has
short pile to lessen the risk of snagging delicate frames. (suggestion by
the above book's authors). This also reduces slipping or shifting of the
load.
  2.. There is a ridge lengthways along both long sides of the platform of
the cart to act as a lip to help keep items being transported from slipping
off the cart.
  c.. I suggest having some tie downs for items being transported lengthways
along the side of the cart (like a glass company's delivery van with its
rack on the side for carrying the sheets of glass). You (or your janitors)
will find the cart useful for moving folding tables too. Elastic 'bungy'
cords are suggested for moving tables though for art work a more gentle
tie-down would be recommended. This advice is from experience, as we have
had something topple off the side of the cart, though luckily it was just a
folding table in a meeting room. Noisy to be sure, but no damage.
  d.. Of the four wheels: at one end of the cart they are fixed, and the
other end they swivel a full 360 degree (2400 mils).   The following is
tongue-in-cheek :-)  You have a choice. If you are used to driving a car,
you can push it with the swivel wheels at the 'front', or if you are more
used to steering a boat (i.e. maritime museum staff) you can push it with
the swivel wheels at the 'stern' (rear). They are centre (center) steer so
no alterations are required for left-hand or right-hand drivers. Skill in
'parallel parking' or bringing a boat alongside a dock as the case may be is
advisable.  It is recommended that you assign tall staff to operate it so
that they can see over top of it as they push it. :-)
Colin Macgregor Stevens,
Curator,
Burnaby Village Museum,
Burnaby, BC, CANADA


  -----Original Message-----
  From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Kara J. Hurst
  Sent: June 23, 2000 08:22
  To: [log in to unmask]
  Subject: Re: Cart to transport framed art (again)


  Heather,
  From all the helpful responses I've received from listers, it seems most
museums construct their own carts, or buy "material handling" carts.   ...
Kara J. Hurst
  Registration Intern
  Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History