DIY shirt catchers/End of Dryer

[Frog]

I've always seen running an auto as a 3-4 person operation. That's not even counting a set-up person (if used) as well as an operator/loader,
unloader and after dryer stacker, with perhaps someone also stacking blanks during the run if needed, as needed.

This one man mini auto thing is very new to me, but granted, a real back and arm and shoulder saver!  If I was looking to stay at this much longer, I'd be a convert.

But let's not get too far astray here from the subject of catchers, both human and non-human.

[ZooCity]

Our dryer was used by a flatstock guy and has a big metal catch he built for that on the back.  Works fine for shirts and holds about as many Ts as we're comfortable running before checking the back of the dryer.

Big runs, we do as Tony says every time.  We are manual but when I get 1-2k pc orders I jump in to print and have someone load and catch for me.  The catcher often struggles to keep up.  On an auto going fast enough you might need two catchers- a QC/stacker and a counter/boxer. 

Even if your catcher does keep up, you can then have them checking temp, checking for those discharge leaks Tony mentioned, major discharge variance in a run, staging the next sizes for the loaders, making coffee, fetching beers....

[Binkspot]

We use 120 gallon plastic live stock water tubs from Tractor Supply. They will hold about 250 shirts, we have 5 and switch them out if they get full or size change.

[3Deep]

Having someone  at the end of the dryer is a plus and a must in some cases, my wife does that for us cuz she hates for the shirts to stack up in the tote, she sez the shirts wrinkle up to bad and she hates bending down to pick them up.

Darryl

[whitewater]

I only have room for 1 box in my shop...No room to switch out.. now anything over 100 i try to get someone to catch...

[Inkworks]

Big ol (30 x 24 x 24" tall)polypropylene bin on wheels that I got at a garage sale for $10. I think it was on a commercial fishing boat or something like that. I could use a second one for sure!

Sorta like one of these without the frame and the wheels bolted directly on the bottom:

[jasonl]

Epson 4900 box.  I swear they built that box to go at the end of a dryer, its PERFECT!

[GaryG]

Talk about the perfect size. The box from crating included with our Sportsman EX 10/8 was almost as sturdy as our press. Ha! It'll last forever.  --48"wide --Holds plenty!

[JBLUE]

If you are doing runs of discharge you need to have someone catching at the end of the dryer. One missed pinhole on a large job and you could have paid someone for weeks to stand there for the cost to replace a big bin full of messed up shirts.

[ericheartsu]

I was just wondering what you guys did in the event you didn't have someone there!


Normally, i would LOVE to have someone back there All the time. But as a shop that works primarily with musicians, and entertainment industries, our fall season SWELLS. In the course of 1.5 weeks we've gotten 4 of the biggest orders we've ever had in our tshirt, button, and speciality sections.

For Instance, It took 6 people roughly a week to do 17,000 buttons, working 7 days a week. of those 6 people, 2 have been working with us since May, and the other 4 are friends of theirs we hired on as temp. labour. Now we finished the HUGE button job today, but we had to start a 3K tee print, and a 2k speciatly item we print called slipmats, while packaging 8K stickers that go along with the buttons!

With so much going on, we've been spread so thin, i didn't have a choice but to have the shirts fall into a bin!

But i 100% agree that someone should be at the end of the dryer whenever there is a run, especially if it's discharge! however, sometimes you can't always make that work when you are running around cross eyed!

[beanie357]

We use 8 bushel laundry bins, wheeled. Took them from my laundry business. They tended to use our larger ones, so they never missed them. Fit just under the egress conveyor.

[RICK STEFANICK]

Not trying to preach here but I believe this practice should be temporary and only when absolutely necessary before it becomes habit. Try to think of having someone catching and folding garments as they come off the belt as a quality checkpoint. I've seen garments stick to eachother in bins and cause a huge mess. Shirts undercured. Discharge leaks. And so on. I know many of you here are owner operators but trust me things go much smother and faster with an extra person even if it's a friend or relative. And folding/boxing a huge bin of shirts takes a lot longer. As you grow and add people multitask train them so they can stop what they are doing and help out; then return to the task at hand. Need to think forward on this I believe.

You read my mind and beat me to the post..