Homemade Portable Torch Cart

Homemade Portable Torch Cart FARM SHOP Tools 23-6-39 Roger Bennett, Elkton, S. Dak.: Roger built an air hose reel from strap iron. "The hose was always strung out on the floor and rolling it up was a problem," he says. "I went to the store to buy a reel for it but when I saw the price, I came home and built my own." He used lengths of scrap strap iron 1/8 in. thick by 1 in. wide, bent to form a reel. He fastened the bent straps to a length of galvanized pipe, fitted on one end with a $2 swivel valve from the hardware store. This is where the line comes in from the air compressor. He plumbed his 100-ft. air hose into the pipe with a 1/4-in. pipe fitting. To bend the straps used on the reel, Bennett used a press he built a few years ago. The press is made from 6-in. channel iron. He powers it with a 12-ton hydraulic jack, mounted on the top beam of the frame. The jack base is a 1/2-in. steel plate with a 2-in. solid steel shaft welded on the bottom where he attaches his tools. When he releases the jack, it and the base are pulled up away from the work by cables attached to a spring he salvaged from an old Hesston hay stacker. The adjustable height work table sits on a steel rod inserted in holes punched in 1/2 in. steel flat iron he welded on the sides of the channel iron frame. "I use it to bend flat iron, press off bearings and that type of thing," he says. He's building a bigger press using a truck hoist hydraulic cylinder. Cutting steel is easier now that he mounted his chop saw on a table. To make the table, Bennett built an angle iron frame to fit around the base of the saw. The frame is welded to a pipe which slides into a larger pipe welded to an old wheel. This makes the table height adjustable. He also has a couple of adjustable support rollers to hold up heavy materials while he cuts it. Bennett also put together a portable torch cart. It's built from the wheels and stub axles from an old trailer sprayer. He even used the 16-in. tires from the sprayer. He built a frame on which he mounted the stub axles. The frame, with handles for moving around by hand, can accommodate acetylene and oxygen tanks for welding and the propane tank he uses for cutting. A length of pipe makes a tongue, which he uses to pull the cart behind his 4-wheeler or pickup. Contact FARM SHOW Followup, Roger Bennett, RR 1, Box 58, Elkton, S. Dak. 57026.

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