I'd like your opinion on my plywood pouch

[Lloyd Kerry]

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One never likes criticism, but to grow and move forward, sometimes you have to bite the bullet and put your heart on your sleeve. I’ve learned a lot from this forum and have grown to respect the opinion of most of its posters. So I place myself in your hands.

About ten years ago, I created my plywood pouch. It was done out of necessity- I live in eastern Canada with a lot of snow in the winter and rain the rest of the year. I was doing a fair bit of cabinet work (besides a full-time job) and had a pickup truck with a six foot bed. I couldn’t find anything to protect a sheet of plywood when I went to the lumber yard, so I created the Kerry-All plywood pouch (pic attached).

I got a lot of great comments on it, so I decided to make them for sale. I tracked down a plastic supplier for the woven polyethylene I needed and found a local upholstery shop to make them. Of course this added quite a cost to the pouch, but I didn’t have the talent or the machine to sew them myself.

I started a website, advertised a little here and there (very expensive), plus the free sites. Sales were okay, but never great. I thought anyone with a pickup truck who buys plywood would love to have one. But no.

Circumstances changed a bit, I needed to become independent. I bought an old industrial sewing machine and taught myself how to sew. Soon, I was able to drop the price about $30. Sales remained the same.

So, I am here asking you folks if I am doing something wrong. Maybe it’s not the ‘best thing since sliced bread’ I hoped it would be. I’m going to keep making them, just wondering what the world thinks. Any comments will be greatly appreciated, and I can handle tough words.

Cheers

[glenn bradley]

I thought it was a cool idea but, I live in the desert and we have to watch rain on TV. It could be target audience issues. Sadly there are a lot of so called craftsmen who don't really care if the plywood gets wet or stays wet as they nail it up. Cabinet makers tend to buy in bulk, make fixtures and deliver them semi-whole. The slice of the market that picks up a few sheets at a time and has to transport them "on demand" may not be sufficient to carry your product to a successful level. Just one darn fools random thoughts.

[Jim Koepke]

It is not often that I even buy plywood. For regular lumber it is either transported in our Chevy Tahoe or done on dry days. The few times wood had to be transported in my truck in wet weather it was easy to wrap it in a tarp or large sheets of plastic.

Your area is unknown to me. In my area there may be enough wet weather for folks to think about such protection. In other areas folks may just think about waiting for a clear day to go pick up a load.

Look where most of your sales occur. There may be more of a market in some localities.

It may be one of those ideas most folks don't think about until the time it is needed.

jtk

[Lloyd Kerry]

Thanks for that, Glenn.
I could, however, sell you a DVD collection of rainfall and snow storms... :)

[Mel Fulks]

The guy who came up with the door-stop had a good idea. Sadly ...he made no money. Your idea is good but the cheap tarps have it covered. Maybe you can take what you have learned and apply it to grill covers and such. Sincere hopes for your success.

[Andrew Joiner]

When I was a pro I had covered trucks. Most of sheets stock was delivered for free by the suppliers. Now that I'm a hobbyist I have a tiny station wagon and a roof rack. I load sheets in the rain under the roof of the lumber yard on a base of 4x8 cardboard . I cover them with a 10'x 6' tarp wrapped tight on the bottom edges with bungees. Simple, fast, cheap.
I thought about making up a pouch like yours but for 1 person it would be cumber-sum loading sheets up on a roof rack.
Do you have videos? I can see 2 people loading the pouch inside the lumber yard, sealing the pouch and lifting it onto a roof or truck bed. That may be faster and more water resistant in some situations.

Good luck. Videos really help a consumer visualize the benefits of a product.

[Lloyd Kerry]

Hi Andrew,
Thanks for your feedback. Yes. I have a couple videos on my website. The pouch in the video review was 'first generation'- the velcro edges touched each other and made it hard to hold open easily. I quickly modified the bottom edge to be longer, which folded up over the top edge to seal it. There's a quick video on that as well.
Here's the link: [URL=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSbTc7EdRCQ

[/URL]

[Jerome Stanek]

If you put some straps with hooks that you could hook to the side of the trailer so it wouldn't slide

[Lloyd Kerry]

If you put some straps with hooks that you could hook to the side of the trailer so it wouldn't slide

I put 1" black webbing (similar to seat belt material) on all my covers and pouches. You can use bungee cords, rope, etc. to secure them in a truck, trailer, etc.
You can see them in the picture below.

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[Harold Balzonia]

Congratulations on having the smarts and courage to see your personal idea all the way through to a manufactured final product. I appreciate your ingenuity!

After checking out your webpage, my immediate thought is why isn't this being used by all of the lumber companies, transit companies, and equipment/truck rental yards? Building suppliers should be tarping their loads with your product and bunching together each delivery in one of your bags if there is more than one delivery on a truck. Keep 'em separated to keep the driver from being confused. "Bag 1 to 123 Main Street, Bag 2 to 8910 Cloverfield Lane, Bag 3 to Alexanders Farm..." Easy!

I also thought these would be great for feed stores who have to deliver hay and feed in all kinds of weather.... same principle.

i dont know anything about marketing/selling to big companies, but I'd be pitching your product to lumber yards, building supply yards, rental yards and feed stores. Ideally, they could also have inventory of your product on hand, in their store, to sell to the do-it-yourselfers, as well.

i don't know what it would take to get them in U-haul stores, tractor supply, BMC lumber and other outfits.... but that's where I'd put my energy.

Im guessing you already thought of this BTW...

I wish you the best of luck and hope you sell a bunch of them!

[John K Jordan]

...just wondering what the world thinks. Any comments will be greatly appreciated, and I can handle tough words.


I think it's a great idea. I'm sure there is a market out there but it's not something I would buy for personal use. I do haul plywood in the rain at times but usually along with other wood and one tarp covers everything, wrapped around underneath if needed.

The thing about a tarp it can be used for a bunch of things - around the farm I also use them for things from temporary animal shelter to covering a machine torn down and waiting for parts to making a relatively clean spot on the ground for scrubbing things. I keep tarps from 4x6' to about 40' long.

A special purpose plywood protector might seem great for a small cabinet maker or hobbyist. But people who have larger shops "have that covered" - often use a panel truck both to haul wood and to deliver cabinets and work from when installing. If you could get Home Depot to stock them near the lumber checkout people might buy them on impulse when it's pouring rain outside.

JKJ

[Cary Falk]

My first thought(valid or not) when I first saw them was how awkward that must be to load a piece of plywood in. I get plywood by myself. Sometimes it is hard enough to wrangle a piece of plywood in the truck by myself, let alone into a bag. The place where I get my wood does not have a lot of room for a parking lot and everybody parallel parks in 2 rows by the curb. There is not 8 feet behind my truck to load. Most of the time it is over the side. It rains a lot here n WA. I just plan accordingly. A tarp I easier and cheaper.

I also wondered how easy a corner of a piece of plywood would rip a hole in the bag.

[Jim Becker]

I also think this is a thoughtful idea and ultimately a better solution than a plain tarp for folks picking up sheet goods with weather concerns. Personally, I usually have my sheet goods delivered by Industrial Plywood (for commissioned projects) but do occasionally pick up shop-grade stuff locally on my utility trailer, but I try to do that during "good weather".

[Matt Meiser]

I no longer own a truck, or buy plywood but I did look at your product several times when I did and never did pull the trigger. I was a hobby woodworking building things mostly at my own pace. I always had a hard folding tonneau cover on my trucks so I only really had to worry about what was hanging out the back. I tried to plan well enough ahead to go when it was dry but if not wrapped the back 1/3 or so in a tarp which was actually quite easy to do and quite effective--I'd just lay the tarp in the bed hanging over the tailgate, load my plywood, then wrap the tarp back around and slip a strap under to cinch it down. I too had similar concerns to Cary with respect to loading the bag which I, maybe incorrectly, envisioned would be more difficult than what I was doing. Each time I looked, in the end I decided that, while its a really cool idea, it something I would likely only use it a couple times a year at the most and I could just never justify it to myself.

[Sam Murdoch]

To reply to your asking for feedback - I carry ply in an open pick up regularly. I won't do it if it's raining or snowing. Likewise I will cancel expected deliveries from my ply and lumber vendors if the weather is questionable. Having a waterproof sleeve for plywood is good for transport but then one needs to unload and if it's still inclementing that can be a problem OR if the rain/snow has stopped but the sleeve is all wet it is likely that you could not unload without staining the plywood.

I appreciate your entrepreneurial spirit and your courage to develop the model (we are brothers in that respect for sure) but this is a product that I would only use in extreme circumstances - I MUST DELIVER TODAY - and so most likely - NEVER. Sorry to rain on your parade :(.

[Lloyd Kerry]

My first thought(valid or not) when I first saw them was how awkward that must be to load a piece of plywood in. I get plywood by myself. Sometimes it is hard enough to wrangle a piece of plywood in the truck by myself, let alone into a bag. The place where I get my wood does not have a lot of room for a parking lot and everybody parallel parks in 2 rows by the curb. There is not 8 feet behind my truck to load. Most of the time it is over the side. It rains a lot here n WA. I just plan accordingly. A tarp I easier and cheaper.

I also wondered how easy a corner of a piece of plywood would rip a hole in the bag.


Very valid points, Cary. It is very easy to load a sheet of plywood into the pouch with two people. I'm stubborn and always do it myself because it can be done, and often there are times when you
are alone. Most of the time I get my plywood at Home Depot, there is a large parking area right in front of the big opening doors for loading. I have the plywood laying flat on a cart which is only slightly lower than the height of my open tailgate.
As others have said, it's hard enough to 'wrangle a sheet of plywood in the truck alone'. I'll concede that it's more difficult to slide it into the pouch alone, but not a great deal. And woodworkers are helpful, I've often had people come along and ask if I would like a hand. Full disclosure here: I usually say yes, hoping to intrigue them with my pouch.
As for the rip concern, I've been using the same pouch for about five years, there are a couple nicks in it, but that is usually caused by an overzealous helper.

Cheers,
Lloyd

[Richard Wolf]

Maybe selling them though point of sale. Sheet rock suppliers and lumber yards. I can see someone ready to purchase a load of drywall and realize it's going to rain. They ask the yard if they have any thing to cover the rock with. Yes, we have just the thing you need, a pouch. Maybe the could even rent them out. Reminds me of something I saw many years ago. A woman purchased a small tree for her yard. She places it in the back seat of her Mercedes convertible. While driving home a surprise downpour hit, I never have seen it rain that hard before or since. I suspect she had 6 inches of water in the car by the time she got home. I guess she could have used a car pouch that day.