Welder/Tank Cart ideas

Hi all, I'll soon have a small tig and large bottle of gas. I suspect a cart would be very helpful to get it in and out of my workshop. Anyone have plans for a cart? How about posting pictures of your carts.

Mikek

Reply to
amdx
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I usually weld such stuff without any plan, in fact I usually start out without knowing exactly what I will end up having.

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Reply to
Ignoramus16868

I have 4 wheels and pile of metal ... and I too need a cart for my TIG machine . But it needs to have room for the little MIG welder too , along with it's bottle .

Reply to
Terry Coombs

I welded up a box for the TIG machine to sit on, with casters bolted underneath and a plywood drawer for the cables that slides into the box.

The plans: Make an angle-iron rectangular frame the welder will fit into. Make another the same size for the bottom. Cut and attach four equal-length pieces for the corner uprights. jsw

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

A heavy duty cart is nice, but there are some carts with facility for a gas bottle available so cheap its hardly worth the time and effort to make one unless you just want to do the project.

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or a name brand slightly heaviers.

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or something in between for an in between price.

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I've got my little Lincoln Pro Core MIG sitting on that last cart from Harbor Fright. Once assembled and bolted up tight its pretty solid.

Here are some others from light to heavy. Most with facility to hold your gas bottle.

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Reply to
Bob La Londe

I would make two carts, one for mig and one for Tig. You could make them with just two wheels and some sockets for inserting pipes and then wheeling it like a wheel barrow. Pipes remove for better storage.

Dan

Reply to
dcaster

Good links, I wanted a handle, and when I got to the Northern tool link it had one. I think I would design it so the handle will collapse in some way, just to get it out of the way. Thanks, Mikek

Reply to
amdx

Much of my machinery is on wheels so I can pack it into the storage areas. I've taken the MIG and TIG welders to night school where I had to roll them from the parking lot to the classroom and back each night.

I've tried wheelbarrow style, two fixed and two swivel casters, and four swivels, and had the best results overall with four swivel casters when the equipment has to make right-angle turns in confined spaces. The main problem is rolling straight on a sloping surface, but the TIG wasn't difficult to control going down the long school corridors.

Even with four swivel casters a handle you can lift one end with will help you move it over raised door threshholds. Rope works if there isn't a good place to mount a solid handle at waist height.

The other styles need considerably more maneuvering room, especially wheelbarrow style such as my generator, horizontal bandsaw and air compressor, though having two fixed feet is a great advantage for machinery that vibrates. jsw

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

The solid-tire replacement wheels sold in hardware stores can be doubled up on a long bolt or threaded-rod axle to move equipment weighing a few hundred pounds outdoors.

They can be added as outer wheels to trailer tongue jacks to decrease the ground pressure, but they won't swivel properly. I solved that by joining two of them with threaded rod to become a solid axle, and attaching a towing handle to a single one's axle bolt. Tongue jacks are fine as retractible landing gear. jsw

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

If you do make a wheelbarrow type, it helps to have the wheels located close to the center of gravity. Makes it a lot easier to pick up the end without wheels and it will turn in less area too.

Dan

Reply to
dcaster

Not too close or it can tip forward if you aren't careful. I moved my generator's axle closer to the center and found the original end location was better overall. It needs weight on the feet to keep from moving around. jsw

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

I made a MIG cart for my SP125 Plus machine. It uses 4" swivel casters for all 4 wheels. The welder is at an angle to the horizontal so that the controls are easier to get at while not raising the center of gravity too high. Under the welder is a shelf that holds my helmet. Under that shelf is another shelf that holds several wire spools, the manual for the machine, tools, MIG gun tips, and anything else that goes with the welder. Behind the welder is a support for a gas cylinder. This support traps the bottom of the cylinder and higher up has two arms that traps the cylinder on 3 sides with a chain that wraps around the cylinder so that it can't fall out. I am going to change the support so that it will hold two bottles. Then I'll have a CO2 and an argon bottle on the cart. The flow gauges on the bottles will connect to a manifold so that I can use either gas straight or a mix of both. The cart is 30" long, 16" wide, and the top of the welder is 41 inches from the ground. Eric

Reply to
etpm

Thanks for that info, what is CO2 used for? Mikek

Reply to
amdx

I use it for MIG welding steel . C25 spatters less , but doesn't burn as hot or have the same penetration . And it's more expensive . Two beads with everything being the same except shield gas , the C25 bead will be taller , narrower , and be more convex at the toe . I do sometimes use C25 on thin stock , less chance of a burn-thru .

Reply to
Terry Coombs

CO2 is for steel. It welds hotter so for a small machine it allows welding thicker material. On the other hand CO2 spatters more. So it is good for welding on stuff where spatter doesn't matter, like farm equipment that is going into the dirt. Also, since CO2 becomes liquid at a much lower pressure and higher temperature than argon, and is more plentiful than argon, it costs about 1/4 of argon for the same amount of weld. You can buy anti-spatter spray that will help keep the spatter from sticking if the spatter is that much of a problem. Oh, also, since the CO2 will be liquid in the cylinder the same physical size C25 cylinder hold fewer cubic feet of gas. This means that for portable use a smaller cylinder could be used for the same amount of welding. Eric

Reply to
etpm

I've been told that Pam cooking spray will work as an anti-spatter , but I've never tried it . Most of the stuff I MIG is rough-n-ready and I've never worried about it .

Reply to
Terry Coombs

I've heard the same thing. And when I need no spatter then I use C25. On the backhoe just CO2 is fine. Besides, all the little spatter bumps may add some wear resistance on the bucket. Eric

Reply to
etpm

Next time you are in Walmart buy a couple cans of spray cooking oil. It is good for anti-spatter, but also to put on tools you do not want to rust. I have not done any studies on how well it works to prevent rust. So I do n ot use it on valuable tools , but do use it on things as shovels.

Dan

Reply to
dcaster

On 5/9/2014 3:46 PM, amdx wrote:

I usually do such projects as I go along, and depending on parts available. If I do have to go buy something, I try to go with overkill, and make it sturdy. One thing to watch with your cylinder is that it might be top heavy. Unless it is CO2, it can be layed down, which changes the equation totally. (INPUT INVITED HERE IF I AM WRONG) Even those little CO2 bottles make a cart really top heavy and unstable, so figure that in when deciding on wheelbase. I'd go fairly big if you are going to stand up a big bottle. Make a rod to hold your clamps, and a place for everything. And a basket about a foot long and six inches wide and deep works for me to hold all the little stuff. Or a plate with holes drilled that receive pry bar, end of stinger, pliers, etc. Just sit and doodle and draw and think of what you will be using, and how to make an organized place to put it, as well as good hangers for your leads. Then think some more and draw some more. You'll come up with something. Just keep top heaviness in mind. I also like those casters you can step on and it sets a brake. If you are going to take it across sand or dirt, you will want BIG tires, maybe some atv types, you can make your own axles. And after you use it a while, you may want to add or subtract from original ideas. It usually takes me about three of anything to get it just about right. Good thing is you can sell it for good money if it is made nice and the welds are pretty.

On my to do list. Right now I got one of those garden wagons. It works, but I want a REAL one one of these days.

Steve

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

Yes the balance is important. The entrance to my work shed is a foot of the ground. I had trouble just getting the argon bottle up in to the shed yesterday, fact is I got my son to help. He surprised my when I pulled on the top of the hand truck and he picked up the bottom, he picked the whole thing up, didn't drag the wheels up the edge. I guess 40 years age difference takes it's toll. :-{ He's not much larger, but apparently stronger. I might need to find a different place to store my welding rig, unless I come up with a cart to climb one stair. Mikek

Reply to
amdx

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