welding carts

[MinnesotaEric]

Home made
Likes: free, nobody will steal it.
Dislikes: none

View attachment 787911

Oddly enough one of my good friends, Steve the Artist (who got me both into heavy equipment as well as welding and is a well-known artist), got one of those crack box stick welders years ago and swears it works well to this day. Both of us have different welders and I keep trying to lure him and his up to my land of Oz so at least we can compare notes using my junk in comparison with his welding junk. Steve just got a high-end ESAB multi-process welder and I'm interested to know how it works compared to my Miller 255 (that I'm thinking of trading in for the new 355).

 

[ArlyA]

I was looking to buy some reasonable cart, then replace the wheels with larger ones for outside/rough terrain use. Seems you guys don't care about the shelves that some have, so maybe a plastic tool box like Moss did to fit under the top, would be best.

 

[WinterDeere]

Drawers, drawers, and more drawers. Too many of the purchased carts are just shelves, usually just one or two, but none of my welding gear goes well on a shelf. Besides, my shop gets used as much for painting and carpentry as welding, so anything not in a drawer is covered in some mix of sawdust, overspray, grease, or some mix of the three.

Best are home-made, buy a nice toolbox or drawer set, and adapt it to your welder. But in a time crunch, I bought this unit for my most recent welder, and I like it. I wish I could have bought their taller model with more drawers, but as you can see, my preferred storage location came with a height restriction. Bottom drawer is only big enough for ONE helmet and glove set, I have to keep the spare helmet (kids) in another location.

It's plenty sturdy, once you put the weight of the welder and bottle on it, but wasn't cheap. I think I paid more for the cart than the 2nd-hand welder itself, but it got the job done at a time when I was too busy to build one. Brand is Blackstone.



If you have time, I'd buy a mid-grade hip-height toolbox, and bolt or weld my own bottle rack to the back of it. Would likely want to relocate the rear casters for stability, so bottle weight isn't cantilevered behind the factory castor mounts.

 

[Willman]

I've have been fabing for a few years. Following is some projects I've did. Oh and I also welded in the engery busness for 15 years. I'll buy a cart.View attachment 787978View attachment 787979View attachment 787981

That’s an interesting roller, I like it!
Would you like to share more about it?
Do you fill with anything?

 

[ArlyA]

That’s an interesting roller, I like it!
Would you like to share more about it?
Do you fill with anything?

PM me and we can talk about it.

 

[ArlyA]

I'm thinking about using this cart. Has 4" wheels and taller plus one large drawer. Would need to add a tank holder and cable hooks. Leave one handle off or try rotating it so its horizontal.. At HR for $140

 

[WinterDeere]

Could definitely work. I'd personally opt for full drawers, no shelf, but different people have differing needs. I like that two of the casters lock. Would probably swap two of the swivels (whichever side bottle goes on) to fixed, so it steers more easily, and place the new fixed casters aft of the bottle for better stability. Also, fixed casters will have larger wheels for same mounting height, which is better for moving around a shop with any debris on the floor.

 

[Smokeydog]

Stainless steel tool cabinet attached to custom base has places to keep all wire, consumables stored and clean. Mig welder and plasma cutter bolted to top.
Base has two bottle rack, 6” locking casters, fork pockets. SS dog food bowls repurposed to wrap cables around. Torch holders and clamps built in.

 

[MossRoad]

Could definitely work. I'd personally opt for full drawers, no shelf, but different people have differing needs. I like that two of the casters lock. Would probably swap two of the swivels (whichever side bottle goes on) to fixed, so it steers more easily, and place the new fixed casters aft of the bottle for better stability. Also, fixed casters will have larger wheels for same mounting height, which is better for moving around a shop with any debris on the floor.

I'd put my welder on the bottom of that yellow cart. I want the weight down low, and I want my tools up on top where I can reach them.

 

[MossRoad]

View attachment 788418

Stainless steel tool cabinet attached to custom base has places to keep all wire, consumables stored and clean. Mig welder and plasma cutter bolted to top.
Base has two bottle rack, 6” locking casters, fork pockets. SS dog food bowls repurposed to wrap cables around. Torch holders and clamps built in.

That's a very nice looking porch railing you have going there!

 

[etpm]

I'm thinking about using this cart. Has 4" wheels and taller plus one large drawer. Would need to add a tank holder and cable hooks. Leave one handle off or try rotating it so its horizontal.. At HR for $140

View attachment 788345

I have used carts just like the one pictured. It would make a lousy welding cart. The screws will loosen over time and will need constant re-tightening. The cart itself is not very stiff so it will be wobbly as it flexes during use. With the welder on top the setup would be dangerously top heavy. With the welder below the welder will be hard to access. A mig welder in the bottom would also suffer the problem of not being able to open the welder to change wire spools. It is nice when the welder is tilted up some if it is not mounted fairly high. Tilting it up helps to see and access the controls. So you would need to tilt the welder up somehow. The casters are too small except for smooth floors. Just my 2 cents.
Eric

 

[ArlyA]

I was to the store and liked its looks. The 30lb welder will be on its top and I certainly can have it angled like most mig carts have them. Its also wider than many migs carts and I liked the thought it will hold the welder higher off the ground. I checked Surplus center for caster pricing and they are cheap for 4 or 5" ones. Yes it needs to have the rear ones rigid in direction.

 

[2manyrocks]

If you locktite the threads when you assemble the cart, the screws may hold better. But it seems like a lot to pay for a cart if you have to turn around and buy casters, too. The kind of casters that are good in a shop with a concrete floor might not be that great if you have to roll it outside in a gravel driveway.

I don't think having a drawer would be that helpful. When I'm welding, it seems like all my tools are out.

I've seen some comments that the Husky tool carts at Home Depot are also competitive with the HF offerings. You might take a look to see if they have a better deal or at least wait for HF to put the cart on sale or offer the 10% off coupon.

The most helpful thing to me was getting a welding table which in my case is a sheet of metal on a tube frame, but it gives me a place to layout the work and weld.

 

[ArlyA]

Does anyone know how to get a 20% cupon for HF?? I just googled it and don't want to DL CNET software for it.

 

[alexpops]

You can sign up for coupons on the hf website or at the store. They vary them, & toolboxes/carts come in occasionally. 1 or 2 times a year, they offer an " anything" coupon, but most coupons can't be used for toolboxes or anything expensive/useful.

There's an app you can put on your phone that will update the coupons. You can join their " insiders" club for better discounts/more stuff discounted as well ... like 20 bucks a year.

 

[MossRoad]

Does anyone know how to get a 20% cupon for HF?? I just googled it and don't want to DL CNET software for it.

I don't know if they do the blanket 20% off coupons anymore. They offer 20% off coupons for specific items, but haven't seen that 20% off coupon in a couple years.

 

[ArlyA]

If you locktite the threads when you assemble the cart, the screws may hold better. But it seems like a lot to pay for a cart if you have to turn around and buy casters, too. The kind of casters that are good in a shop with a concrete floor might not be that great if you have to roll it outside in a gravel driveway.

I don't think having a drawer would be that helpful. When I'm welding, it seems like all my tools are out.

I've seen some comments that the Husky tool carts at Home Depot are also competitive with the HF offerings. You might take a look to see if they have a better deal or at least wait for HF to put the cart on sale or offer the 10% off coupon.

The most helpful thing to me was getting a welding table which in my case is a sheet of metal on a tube frame, but it gives me a place to layout the work and weld.

All the welding carts I looked at had smaller wheels this this one has now.... That is plain small ones. All my shop tables are bloted togther.

 

[ArlyA]

I ordered some nice casters from Surplus center and priced out co2 gas tanks from our only supplier here.

 

[ArlyA]

These casters from Surplus center had a UPS to home shipping option for just $10. There normal shipping was $16 so I tried the 10. I wonder whats up with this new low costs shipping?

 

[WinterDeere]

I don't think having a drawer would be that helpful. When I'm welding, it seems like all my tools are out.

The drawers are a place to put the tools when the job is done, not while you're using them. Some people just leave everything out, but I prefer to clean up one job before starting the next, as much as possible in a shop where it seems there's always 3 projects running parallel.