A brick hod is a three-sided box for carrying bricks or other building materials, often mortar. It bears a long handle and is carried over the shoulder. A hod is usually long enough to accept 4 bricks on their side. However, by arranging the bricks in a chevron fashion, the number of bricks that may be carried is only limited to the weight the labourer can bear and the unwieldiness of that load. Typically, ten to twelve bricks might be carried.[1] [2]
Hod carrying is a labouring occupation in the building industry. Typically the hod carrier or 'hoddie' will be employed by a bricklaying team in a supporting role to the bricklayers. Two bricklayers for each hod carrier is typical. A hoddie's duties might include wetting the mortar boards on the scaffolding, prior to fetching bricks from the delivery pallet using his hod and bringing them to 2x2 wide 'stacks' upon the scaffold that may then be easily laid by the bricklayers. The carrier should plan the deliveries of bricks with deliveries of mortar—also carried in the hod—to ensure the bricklayers can maintain a constant work rate. At sites without premixed mortar, the mortar will also be mixed by the hod carrier. Bricks may be cut and assistance given to 'rake out' the mortar joints, if that coursing joint form is required, or in re-pointing work. The baseline rate for a bricklayer is to lay 1,000 bricks a day; if the hod carrier is serving a team of two then he must move 2,000 bricks although it is not uncommon for experienced hod carriers to serve three bricklayers. The World Record for moving 500 bricks by hod is 12 minutes and was set by Daren Whitmore on 12 February 2011.
