welding carts

[ArlyA]

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.

I was thinking the tip jelly, tank and tip wrench, gloves and welding accessories might go in the drawer.

 

[ArlyA]

What are you guys using for tank size? The gas shop wanted to sell me the smallest one they had.

 

[WranglerX]

What are you guys using for tank size? The gas shop wanted to sell me the smallest one they had.

I have 173cuft. .... Yes it's big, but it means less 70 mile round trips to gas supplier....For me it make it cheaper because of fuel and time... Make whatever tank holder on cart in such a way that it can accomodate any size cylinder...

 

[BukitCase]

My only tank smaller than 300cf is the 150 on my custom built cart (post#4 this thread) - and the ONLY reason for that is it's the largest 7" diameter bottle offered, and keeps my cart a bit narrower AND lighter than it woulda been.

Check the pics, you'll see holders for torch, MIG pliers, and nozzle gel (with room for a battery drill beside it) - The pics are decent rez, you can zoom in quite a bit for more details.

By building my own I tic'd about a DOZEN more boxes than ANYTHING I could buy readymade. The upper frame acts as a "roll cage" to protect the gauges, it has a lifting eye that's adjustable in 2 axes so it can be lifted LEVEL regardless of how full the bottle is, the top crossbar lets me tilt it back to be its own hand truck (in that position it runs on 13" no-flat tires) - there's a padded angle iron support for the welder (the wire door side was carefully designed to allow access WITHOUT removing the welder) -

There's a built in hitch for towing with either golf cart or riding mower - in that mode the smaller (5" dual locking casters) get retracted and locked UP with barrel bolts so they don't drag on uneven ground - the bottle gets locked in place with a band of 14 ga. steel (ends have coupler nuts to cinch the bottle in place) - there's a top holddown for the welder so it doesn't slide out when cart is tipped for "hand truck" mode -

Only downside is time; probably took me about a month of messing around, but I grin every time I use it ... Steve

 

[MF RED in MT]

Both of my bottles are "D" size, 7" diameter x 43" tall x 125 cubic feet of gas each bottle.

I use 75% Argon/25% Carbon Dioxide for MIG and 100% Argon for TIG.

My gas supplier is 60 miles away and always has this size in stock for a quick exchange for a full bottle.

They seem to fit good for the cheap HF welding carts.

KC

 

[ArlyA]

My only tank smaller than 300cf is the 150 on my custom built cart (post#4 this thread) - and the ONLY reason for that is it's the largest 7" diameter bottle offered, and keeps my cart a bit narrower AND lighter than it woulda been.

Check the pics, you'll see holders for torch, MIG pliers, and nozzle gel (with room for a battery drill beside it) - The pics are decent rez, you can zoom in quite a bit for more details.

By building my own I tic'd about a DOZEN more boxes than ANYTHING I could buy readymade. The upper frame acts as a "roll cage" to protect the gauges, it has a lifting eye that's adjustable in 2 axes so it can be lifted LEVEL regardless of how full the bottle is, the top crossbar lets me tilt it back to be its own hand truck (in that position it runs on 13" no-flat tires) - there's a padded angle iron support for the welder (the wire door side was carefully designed to allow access WITHOUT removing the welder) -

There's a built in hitch for towing with either golf cart or riding mower - in that mode the smaller (5" dual locking casters) get retracted and locked UP with barrel bolts so they don't drag on uneven ground - the bottle gets locked in place with a band of 14 ga. steel (ends have coupler nuts to cinch the bottle in place) - there's a top holddown for the welder so it doesn't slide out when cart is tipped for "hand truck" mode -

Only downside is time; probably took me about a month of messing around, but I grin every time I use it ... Steve

I don't own a tractor and even a real work shop for that matter. This cart will be rolled into the basement for the winter, then out to the car garage for the summer when snow seaon is done. So it needs to be small enough to be rolled in and out, seasonally.

 

[BukitCase]

"I don't own a tractor."

I own three tractors, but I added the lift eye so I could lift the welder (with a crane) and drive a pickup or trailer under it. If your comment refers to bigger bottles, I use a hand truck to move those.

If you're in a hurry to get using the new welder, by all means you should find a bolt-together solution (at least for short term) - if you later decide you wanna build a cart, by then you'll have a longer list of "wanna's" that'll work for YOU - the mm211 I have isn't my first welder, it's the LAST one I bought. Started with acetylene in about 1970, then 250 amp ac/dc stick in '76, transformer mm211 in '08, sold that when I found a nearly new MM252 in 2010 for half price, Hypertherm plasma in 2012, then the newer inverter version of the mm211 (wanted a more portable mig)

I still have everything I listed, EXCEPT the transformer MM211.

By the time I got the newer mm211, my "bucket list" of things to do had reached the above list Works for me, if ANY of my "brain farts" help somebody that's what we're here for... Steve

 

[BukitCase]

Arly, now that you finished the sentence I apparently interrupted (my bad) it's obvious that you have just as individual a situation as I did - the GOOD news is, today's welders typically weigh less than HALF what the old ones did - my 250 amp copper wound beast weighs just under 200 pounds, my new little Everlast weighs about 25 pounds. I used to pack a lunch box that weighed that much...

My point is, as light as the welder itself is, it's not the problem; I'm always quoting Star Trek - "Space - the final frontier". So for me, the next question would be "daylight basement, or steep crappy stairs, or ??!?"

If it's cheap crappy steep stairs, I DEF retract the 300 cf tank plan ... Steve

Forgot to mention; my LWS charges about 2/3 as much to refill 150's as they do for 300's, helps keep the cost of running C25 a little closer to running CO2, that way I only need to keep Acetylene, Oxy, C25 and Argon...

 

[ArlyA]

Arly, now that you finished the sentence I apparently interrupted (my bad) it's obvious that you have just as individual a situation as I did - the GOOD news is, today's welders typically weigh less than HALF what the old ones did - my 250 amp copper wound beast weighs just under 200 pounds, my new little Everlast weighs about 18 pounds. I used to pack a lunch box that weighed that much...

My point is, as light as the welder itself is, it's not the problem; I'm always quoting Star Trek - "Space - the final frontier". So for me, the next question would be "daylight basement, or steep crappy stairs, or ??!?"

If it's cheap crappy steep stairs, I DEF retract the 300 cf tank plan ... Steve

Forgot to mention; my LWS charges about 2/3 as much to fill 150's as they do for 300's, helps keep the cost of running C25 a little closer to running CO2, that way I only need to keep Acetylene, Oxy, C25 and Argon...

The everlast welder is about 30lbs so the tank will be the hefty part.

 

[WinterDeere]

Both of my bottles are "D" size, 7" diameter x 43" tall x 125 cubic feet of gas each bottle.

Same, here. My gas supplier is 12 miles and 20 minutes from here, and I pass them regularly enough in my weekly travels, that I don't feel any need to mount a larger bottle to the cart. If my closest supplier were 60 miles away, I'd probably still buy the 125 cu.ft. size, but keep two on hand to rotate at my convenience.

 

[etpm]

Labor for filling argon and C25 cylinders is a large part of the price. So using the largest cylinders you can is the cheapest way to buy gas. I use 150 or 200 cubic foot cylinders. I don't remember the exact volume. But they are large diameter and tall. I do have some smaller cylinders that I use when I need to transport my little MIG machine or my little TIG machine. Otherwise I just use the large cylinders and save a bunch of money on gas. Time too because I don't need to have them filled as often. You will need to decide how much you will be welding. I also suggest you buy instead of rent your cylinders.
Eric

 

[ArlyA]

Since I got to move these darn things into my basement*, I was thinking the mid sized tanks might be best. Hopefully leave it on the cart. I used and moved full sized tanks for years, but never these little ones.

*just a few steps.

 

[2manyrocks]

Also factor in how you are going to transport them from the gas supplier to your home.

 

[ArlyA]

Also factor in how you are going to transport them from the gas supplier to your home.

Put them in the back of my truck with something so they don't roll left/right. What does everyone else do?

 

[2manyrocks]

Aren't they supposed to be transported vertically? Or does it matter if it's only inert gas?

edit: Must be vertical. https://www.linde-gas.com/en/images/Safe Transport of Gas_tcm17-13904.pdf

 

[ArlyA]

Aren't they supposed to be transported vertically? Or does it matter if it's only inert gas?

edit: Must be vertical. https://www.linde-gas.com/en/images/Safe Transport of Gas_tcm17-13904.pdf

I don't know of any user who doesn't move them horizontal. But in use, they should be upright to keep the liquid out of the regulator..

 

[rangerfredbob]

Aren't they supposed to be transported vertically? Or does it matter if it's only inert gas?

edit: Must be vertical. https://www.linde-gas.com/en/images/Safe Transport of Gas_tcm17-13904.pdf

Vertical is pretty much just for acetylene I believe, since acetylene is dissolved in a substrate... argon and 75/25 are just mixed gasses...

 

[MossRoad]

Valve closed. Safety cap on. Vertical for a couple reasons. One being if it's horizontal, the liquid can get out of a leaky valve and present an explosion/fire hazard.

Fun and educational videos...

Hold my beer and watch this.

 

[MTGreen]

Valve closed. Safety cap on. Vertical for a couple reasons. One being if it's horizontal, the liquid can get out of a leaky valve and present an explosion/fire hazard.

Fun and educational videos...

Hold my beer and watch this.

The second one is definitely my favorite.
Falls squarely into the aggressively stupid category just a knife edge away from Darwin awards.
Certainly is entertaining though!

 

[BukitCase]

Compressed CO2 is a liquid below about 88 degrees F, when you draw from the cylinder the pressure drops and it goes gaseous.
Oxygen, Argon and C25 are gaseous in the cylinder. Acetylene's already been covered, but I've always been told that if it gets transported horizontal you just need to leave it vertical for a few hours to allow the acetone to settle out (I prefer 24 )

I've had my O/A cart since 1973, always just take the whole cart in with bottles secured in the cart, laid horizontal and secured in the truck bed so it's totally cinched down - never had an LWS ***** about it. NEVER, as in NEVER, transported without caps in place REGARDLESS of which gas.

Had questions asked once or twice, when they find out I know more about it than they do, the questions stop. (Just under 35 years in industrial instrumentation, produced/created multiple safety videos, + working foreman/instrument tech in a 12 man maintenance crew for the last 10.

Here's my setup, the acetylene's the biggest single cylinder you can get (420 CF), and is BARELY big enough for the rosebud shown (safe withdrawal rate).

Pics aren't clear, but both tanks are held in by a heavy "2 hump" steel strap, I added the chains - the orange straps are just 'cause I hate rattles.

I recently added the twin hose reel, hoses needed replaced anyway and NOT moving that heavy SOB sounds better the older I get... Steve