The Welding Cart Thread... Post 'Em Up!!

[KMA]

Here's a thread for my multi process welder cart:

http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=550591

I used mig, tig and stick when building it just for fun.

[Welding Shootist]

Hello all. My first post here. I've been going through the threads and looking at some of the projects and workmanship. I finally got a welder a few months ago and decided I need a cart with some drawers for the accessories. Honestly I would have just bought one but I couldn't find one that I liked and even the ones that were tolerable were, in my opinion, overpriced (nearly 500 for a two tank cart shipped...nothing local). I looked at the file cabinet option, but found a 27" Husky tool box with a bottom drawer large enough for a couple hoods, so i decided to go that route. I just added a 1/4" plate extension supported by some 1x3 tubes and a couple of 1/8" plasma cut and bent sheets to hold the tanks. Total cost was about $250 and two weekends.

[Robert Hall]

Very clean!

Nice work.

[Lis2323]

I figured out a way to bring this thread back from the dead and buried....


Your Welcome.


...zap!

Looks like I'M to blame. My cart was the last one posted and I guess I broke the internet doing it.

[DBP1968]

Lot's of great designs with form and function! I'm still working on my welding table but my cart is still in the design stages.
One design I have not seen is using an electric motor to power the thing around the shop and more importantly outside the shop. To do that however I can't use standard wheels simply welded or bolted to the cart. it will need to have 4 wheel independent suspension along with a torquey motor to roll the rig around the ol'farm. I have a miller 211 and I don't think a trailer is appropriate for the size of welder.
So I'm thinking of designing a 2 wheel drive with 4 wheel independent suspension and using something like a 24v electric wheelchair motor or one of those electric bike motors. Now fabricating a system like that is probably well above my skill set but not my imagination.

So I've looked at mini-atv suspensions and drivetrains as well as "power carts" and anything I can find that is miniaturized 4WIS.

My question is does anyone have any ideas of something I could cannibalize that would have 4WIS platform I'm looking for. I'm open to thoughts and criticisms, free steel and free beer.

D

[Lis2323]

Lot's of great designs with form and function! I'm still working on my welding table but my cart is still in the design stages.
One design I have not seen is using an electric motor to power the thing around the shop and more importantly outside the shop. To do that however I can't use standard wheels simply welded or bolted to the cart. it will need to have 4 wheel independent suspension along with a torquey motor to roll the rig around the ol'farm. I have a miller 211 and I don't think a trailer is appropriate for the size of welder.
So I'm thinking of designing a 2 wheel drive with 4 wheel independent suspension and using something like a 24v electric wheelchair motor or one of those electric bike motors. Now fabricating a system like that is probably well above my skill set but not my imagination.

So I've looked at mini-atv suspensions and drivetrains as well as "power carts" and anything I can find that is miniaturized 4WIS.

My question is does anyone have any ideas of something I could cannibalize that would have 4WIS platform I'm looking for. I'm open to thoughts and criticisms, free steel and free beer.

D

When Target stores pulled out of Canada last year I tried to buy one of those battery powered "pushers" that they use to push strings of shopping carts across the parking lot.

The thought was to use one as a power pack to move around welding tables, carts etc. My two local stores each had one (only about a year old) but were already spoken for.

Just a thought....


Terry

[tinker001]

Lot's of great designs with form and function! I'm still working on my welding table but my cart is still in the design stages.
One design I have not seen is using an electric motor to power the thing around the shop and more importantly outside the shop. To do that however I can't use standard wheels simply welded or bolted to the cart. it will need to have 4 wheel independent suspension along with a torquey motor to roll the rig around the ol'farm. I have a miller 211 and I don't think a trailer is appropriate for the size of welder.
So I'm thinking of designing a 2 wheel drive with 4 wheel independent suspension and using something like a 24v electric wheelchair motor or one of those electric bike motors. Now fabricating a system like that is probably well above my skill set but not my imagination.

So I've looked at mini-atv suspensions and drivetrains as well as "power carts" and anything I can find that is miniaturized 4WIS.

My question is does anyone have any ideas of something I could cannibalize that would have 4WIS platform I'm looking for. I'm open to thoughts and criticisms, free steel and free beer.

D

Instead of 4 wheels why not go to a 3 wheel cart then you do not have to worry about a suspension? Using the single wheel to power it around. Simpler design and easier to build.

[Dcraft]

instead of 4 wheels why not go to a 3 wheel cart then you do not have to worry about a suspension? Using the single wheel to power it around. Simpler design and easier to build.

hover-round!!!!!!

[DBP1968]

hover-round!!!!!!

Well, those are expensive too. I'd still be concerned about rougher terrain along the fence lines but you have given me some ideas about a 3 wheel design. Thank you sir!

Keep the ideas coming folks!

[Fexal]

I recently purchased a Lincoln 210MP and knew I needed a cart......

A few months ago I was building a chair to match a desk that I built and the chair didn't come out right........ so I shelved it...... but it turned out to be the perfect base for this welding cart...... coupled with a wood storage project I started but never finished which ended up being the perfect handle......


This is the chair which I just flipped on it's back to begin the process..... I have already added casters and some expanded metal which isn't welded in yet in this pic....... all stuff I already had laying around......




Then I roughly fit up the handle which had been hanging on a hook for a year since I never got back to that particular project....... It's just bent pipe from a sprinkler system..... 1.5" sch 40.....




Everything is coming together..... just need to add something of cable management but probably only for the ground clamp....... Everything else will loop casually around the machine......




This is my high tech paint booth......




And done..... since everything was from scrap... except the paint and a little C25........ I consider the total cost to be around $10.......

[tinker001]

Her is my re-post of my cart for those who might need some idea. About doing several welders on one cart

[wrenchMONKEY_]

First time welding anything and my first project.
Frame and uprights are 1.5x1.5x.100 Square. MIG shelf is 1 1/4 x .065. Plasma Shelf is 1 x .065. Empty the thing is probably around 100lbs.

V.1 w/ HH 140 -



Then the upgrade came about 2 weeks after I bought the Handler 140 in the form of a Miller 211 and 375 Xtreme.
Very happy with how it turned out, few small design errors and learned a heck of alot of about welding

Some highlights.
Onboard airfilter/regulator combo for the Plasma.
Dual NEMA 6-50R connected to 75ft of 10-3 for power needs.
12GA 1/2 Expanded metal shelving recessed 1/4 for a cleaner look.
Small parts storage drawer under MIG. <-- pain in the *** to do.
Don't know if I am sold on the double box wrench as the handle to move the cart around and I may swap out my 41MM cord holder wrench for a 46MM to give a bit more room.
Still need to come up with some storage under the MIG for wire, Spoolgun, M10 MIG Gun ect. A double milk crate fits well, but its not that aesthetically pleasing.

V.2 -

[tejanopirate]

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

[tinker001]

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

Wrong colors unless your are a farmer.

[Robert Hall]

Looks great. Colors are a mater of choice.

[2013F250]

Here's my cart I made for my Hobart Handler 190 based off of ideas I found in this thread.

[manojshette]

Here's my first cart, made it just a couple of months back for my oh100 gas welding . Other than the wheels, it's all scrap from around the shop.

[old jupiter]

Just found this thread; lots of very cool carts and features. Mine are just pretty simple frames, with hooks for hoses or cables, and sometimes an open shelf underneath for piling in stuff like a spoolgun, so hardly worth a photo. But one thing I've learned over the years is, the bigger the wheels, the better. Eventually, nearly everything has at some point had to be dragged outside, across big gravel and rutted fields.

I have learned a couple of tricks to go with the big wheels, that someone might find useful. Generally you'll have the two big wheels at one end of your cart, and two castors or two "feet" at the other end. For the feet, I have used old automotive bump-stops, the rubber deals on top of a rear axle that hit the frame if you happen to bottom out the suspension. As feet on a welding cart, these rubber bump-stops don't slide, don't mar the floor, and tend to hold the cart in place.

Those bump stops are one trick, and don't have to go with big wheels, but the other is specifically for the times when you have to take the welder outside and off the pavement. You've got your big wheels at one end, but you can hardly find any castors big enough to roll well on rough ground, and of course if you use feet instead of casters, feet don't roll. So my solution, which I've used on carts for other things than welders, too, is to have two long handles that pull out from the frame of the cart that turn it into a sort of wheelbarrow. A two-wheel wheelbarrow (though I suppose you could design a cart for just one, which would make it more stable once your cart is parked on uneven ground). My handles can be slid back into sockets (simple seamless tubing one size larger than the handles) on the cart to get 'em out of the way, or they can be removed entirely. Works well for me.

Oh, here's another idea someone might like: Do you have extra bottles that you don't use often? Maybe you ordinarily TIG with argon, but keep a bottle of helium or He/Ar for special occasions. I've always had extra bottles that I used more or less often, and I used to strap them to a handtruck to move them around. One afternoon my old dad came around, with a golf-bag cart that he'd got for a buck at a yard sale. He wasn't a golfer, but he thought it might work for my extra bottles. I thought the cart looked awfully light-duty for a gas bottle, but he was my dear old dad, so I said I'd try it. Worked great! I soon picked up three more!! Yeah, they're a little light for the bottles, and I've broken one, but they sure have been handy, and at a buck or two each I don't mind replacing broken ones. And the wheels are big enough to, gently, haul the bottle over semi-rough ground. (Thanks, Dad! I sure miss ya!!)

[HT2-4956]

Jupiter,

I've used that two wheel, wheel barrow with slide out handle design on a couple of things. It really is the way to go for certain things.

McMaster Carr carries a spring loaded brass button assembly that works really nice for a keeper mechanism on those slide out handles.

In this picture you can see the hole in the outer tube that the spring loaded button head pops out into when the handle is pulled all the way out. It locks the handle in place so it doesn't accidentally come all the way out when you're using them to move it around.

[old jupiter]

Good deal! I thought about some sort of spring-button on the day I was making the thing, but didn't want to stop and go check the hardware stores. My spur of the moment solution was a pair of long 3/16" through-bolts with wingnuts brazed to the heads so I could work them with my fingers. The retain the handles either retracted (which is 98% of the time) or deployed.

[jimmini03]

Here's my cart I made about 6 months ago.. sorry about the side way pictures...

[C. Livingstone]

Nice,

Can you throw up a pic of the backside with the tank in place and how it ended up being secured?

It looks kind of clever!

[jimmini03]

Not a great picture but the chain is attached to bolts welded to the brace corners and secured with nuts and washers...

Sent from my LG-H901 using Tapatalk

[C. Livingstone]

Got it, and plenty of room for upward mobility!


[QUOTE=jimmini03;
Not a great picture but the chain is attached to bolts welded to the brace corners and secured with nuts and washers...

Sent from my LG-H901 using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]

[KevinF]

Partially finished my cart. Need to complete the bottom shelf and a couple finishing welds and add hooks. Maybe paint.

Plus maybe incorporate some things I saw in this thread like a little drawer under one of the shelves.