Implement for a Different Kind of Horsepower

[grsthegreat]

. It's always when I'm grinding that I catch myself on fire.

that reminded me of a very funny thing that happened to me. I had left some black cat fireworks in the magnetic parts tray on my welding table after cleaning out my van (dont even know why they were in my van to begin with). So im grinding away on a piece of metal and the fuse to the firecracker ignites unknown to me. It blows up ant the piece of metal goes flying off over my head and i hit the ground......

funny now... but i think i had to change my drawers :laughing:

 

[Iplayfarmer]

that reminded me of a very funny thing that happened to me. I had left some black cat fireworks in the magnetic parts tray on my welding table after cleaning out my van (dont even know why they were in my van to begin with). So im grinding away on a piece of metal and the fuse to the firecracker ignites unknown to me. It blows up ant the piece of metal goes flying off over my head and i hit the ground......

funny now... but i think i had to change my drawers :laughing:

I bet that would give a guy quite a scare. I'm learning to look both ways before I start grinding. A pile of sawdust, a gas can, or a wad of rags could find their way into the path of the sparks quite easily in my tiny shop.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

More progress. The sockets to attach the shafts are welded on now. I also welded on some fishplating on some of the higher stress seams. Sorry. No picture of the plating. My camera gave the low battery alarm after I took the picture of the shaft sockets.

The plan with the socket system for the shafts is that I can use either a set of shafts for a single horse or a tongue and double tree for a team.

 

[dstig1]

Interesting. And to add to the safety **** element - get your daughter longer gloves to cover up her wrists (see early post pic). UV burn ain't no fun. Granted for a couple brief angle iron welds it likely isn't an issue but just like having them put on the seat belt from age 3-4, it makes a good life-long habit.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I've been working on this cart today some more. I've been mostly adding more reinforcing plates. I also started adding a rail. My intention is be able to put stuff under the seat to carry. My hope is that the rail will keep it from falling out along the way.

I stopped for lunch, so I thought I'd post a few pictures...

Picture 1: Fish plate for the dash board
Picture 2: Left side rail and fish plates

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Here's another shot at dinner time...

 

[Iplayfarmer]

A few more progress pics from today's work.

The first picture is the setup so I could get the shafts right. They angle in and up.
The second picture is what I got done on the cart tonight.
The third picture is the seat and back with the foam glued on ready for vinyl. I ran out of contact cement, so I'll get some more tomorrow. I plan to glue the vinyl to the foam and then tack it around the bottom with staples.

 

[grsthegreat]

looking real good so far. my only 2 suggestions from my own experiences

1. Turn out the ends of the shafts a bit and seal the holes smooth

2. as per pic add a stiffener on both shafts. I have broken the shafts at connection posts before.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

looking real good so far. my only 2 suggestions from my own experiences

1. Turn out the ends of the shafts a bit and seal the holes smooth

2. as per pic add a stiffener on both shafts. I have broken the shafts at connection posts before.

Thanks for the input. Sealing the ends of the shafts is definately in the plan.

As for the angle braces for the shafts, I'll have to think it through. The original plan is to make the shafts interchangeable. I don't know a good way to add the braces and still be able to easily switch the shafts for a tongue. The shafts are made of 1 1/2" Schedule 40 pipe welded to a 1/4" wall 2" square tube. That seems pretty hefty to me.

 

[grsthegreat]

Thanks for the input. Sealing the ends of the shafts is definately in the plan.

As for the angle braces for the shafts, I'll have to think it through. The original plan is to make the shafts interchangeable. I don't know a good way to add the braces and still be able to easily switch the shafts for a tongue. The shafts are made of 1 1/2" Schedule 40 pipe welded to a 1/4" wall 2" square tube. That seems pretty hefty to me.

the one i had also had removable shafts. the angle bracket was welded to the shaft but the end that attached to the cart was connected with a removable nut just like the shafts were.

the one cart we had that didnt have the support snapped at the connection. luckily it didnt fully break while driving. i found the stress cracks before a major accident happened.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I learned today that my upholstering skills are about the same as my welding skills. I'm good enough to make something that will work, but I'm no professional.

Here are pictures of today's progress. The first picture is the front side of the seat and seat back. The second picture is of the bacK of the seat back and the bottom of the seat. My wife helped me with this part of the project. I'd have been lost without her. It took all four hands to hold everything in the right places and staple it. Not to mention she has a lot of experience sewing and stuff, so her knack for folding and stretching was very valuable.

We did find a youtube tutorial that showed us how to fold the corners. The corners are by far the hardest part. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pa6S6zaiig]How To Fold Canvas Corners - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I've made some progress, but nothing really picture worthy yet.

Based on some recommendations here, I have made a few modifications to the design. I'm going to attach the cross member for the single tree to the shafts rather than to the frame of the cart. I'm also going to take the advice of grsthegreat and add some braces between the cart frame and the shafts. I cut out and fabricated some of the subcomponents, but I haven't attached anything to the cart yet.

My plan is to get all the little pieces made up, and then take one evening to weld it all to the cart. Once the welding is done I'll attach the seat and the wood decking.

Here's a question for the collective brain trust of TBN... should I add the receiver hitch on the back of the cart? I have about 10" of receiver tube left. It would be easy to add it now. I don't know right now exactly what I'd use the receiver for. I have visions of pulling my little ATV trailer behind this forecart or maybe modifying my homemade dump cart to work with a ball type coupler.

Let me know your thoughts.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I remembered to take the camera out to the shop last night. Here are a few pictures. Progress is slow. It's partly because I only get an hour or so at a time to work on the cart lately. I decided to go ahead with the receiver hitch. I figure I can't use it if I don't have it, but I don't have to use it if it's there. The first picture is the receiver assembly ready to install.

Picture two is the receiver attached to the bottom rear of the cart.

Picture three is the pin stub that I'm going to use for the added braces between the shafts and the cart frame. I have another pin stub welded to the shafts, but I didn't get a picture of it.

Picture four is the single tree assembly attached to the shafts. I still need to weld some hooks to the single tree, but it's removeable so that will be easy to do later.

The fifth picture is my one weld I'm proud of. I had to include a picture of it here because I'll likely never get a weld that good again. It was done with 0.35" flux core wire on a Millermatic 135 at 130 amps on approximately 3/16" steel. In contrast you can magnify the picture of the pin stub and see the gloppy weld I did there. I'm not very good at round welds. Give me something flat, level and straight.

 

[grsthegreat]

Whats the receiver hitch for????

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Whats the receiver hitch for????

I don't even know yet.

I figured it would be a nice place to hook a harrow. I can also see myself making little attachments for this cart... Maybe a little Mother-in-Law seat that trails out back.

 

[grsthegreat]

I don't even know yet.

I figured it would be a nice place to hook a harrow. I can also see myself making little attachments for this cart... Maybe a little Mother-in-Law seat that trails out back.

The reason i ask, is if its for an attachment, it HAS to be directly over the rear axle.

I have a forecart , and when we made it we placed the receiver behind the axle, and when we attached anything to it, it lifted the pole (or shafts) and tried to lift the horses off the ground.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

The reason i ask, is if its for an attachment, it HAS to be directly over the rear axle.

I have a forecart , and when we made it we placed the receiver behind the axle, and when we attached anything to it, it lifted the pole (or shafts) and tried to lift the horses off the ground.

I figured that would be the case. The applications I have in mind now would be low or no tongue weight (i.e. harrows). I guess that anything I build for it in the future would have to take tongue weight into consideration.

Thanks for your input.

 

[grsthegreat]

I figured that would be the case. The applications I have in mind now would be low or no tongue weight (i.e. harrows). I guess that anything I build for it in the future would have to take tongue weight into consideration.

Thanks for your input.

ya, a harrow shouldn't make any difference.

 

[dfkrug]

The Wheels will be from motorcycle forks I got when I traded an old parts bike that was my youngest brother's.

Your project is looking good!

I recently used some free m/c wheels for another ATV trailer. They roll
SO much better than the ones on my AgriFab trailer.

The photo with your daughter is precious. Get her started early with
wrenchs and other tools, too.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Your project is looking good!

I recently used some free m/c wheels for another ATV trailer. They roll
SO much better than the ones on my AgriFab trailer.

The photo with your daughter is precious. Get her started early with
wrenchs and other tools, too.

That cart is awesome! It looks like it was super simple to build, but incredibly useful. Did you make another cart out of the other half of the tank?