Throughout the year, Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville, Va., holds dozens of outdoor events that require 20’ x 20’ tents. Each time a tent needs to be constructed, moved, or deconstructed, the house maintenance staff ends up working overtime, especially on weekends, to accommodate the setups required by busy banquet schedules.

“We have a lot of weddings and functions, and most of the time, the host doesn’t want the tents to be seen, so we have to move them back and forth every few days,” says Darryl Lawson, the club’s House Maintenance Director. When Lawson realized how much the club was spending in labor bringing in extra staff to move the tents, Lawson along with the help of his staff decided to create a more efficient means to move them.

A removable rack of welded steel was constructed so the tent could be carried on a maintenance cart, allowing it to be moved by a single person. Now, the club can set up tents in an out-of-the-way location, and then have one person move them to the site of the event, without involving any extra labor.

“The rack cost $350 to build and is made from square stock,” adds Lawson. “Now that we’re using it, it saves us about that amount, if not more, in [reduced] labor and overtime each time we do. So it’s been a win-win.”

For a detailed equipment list as well as instructions on building your own cart go here.