Welding Cart Question

[Iplayfarmer]

So, I picked up a new Lincoln AC/DC 225/125 Tombstone welder. It's only been used for 3 hours in its life. It's much bigger than my old Montgomery AC, and so I'm thinking about building a new welding cart for it. I also have a small lincoln 110v mig.

Here's the question: Should I build one cart to hold them both, or should I build separate carts? Who has done it either way, and what are your thoughts?

I'm also planning to build a cart for my new (used) Oxy/Fuel rig. Has anyone ever considered building all three into one cart?

 

[Western]

I would build separate carts for the welders. Having 2 together would be a hassle and you will only be using 1. You may find that you don't really need one for the arc welder if it has long leads and stays in the shop. wire welders have shorter leads so it makes sense to have them on there own cart.

As far as the bottles, I would get a bottle cart with big filled tires. I would put a picture of mine on here but it's dark out.

 

[rhett]

before my Tombstone was stolen, it was attached to a Hand Truck which made it very easy to move on many surfaces and with cable hangers added made it a cinch placing it in a corner for storage to anywhere the extension power cord would reach. Also made easy going up and down stairs. Sad part, it made it easy for the thieves.

Again for O/A I used a Hand Truck with little modification. It was a B-Prestolite acetylene and a 125cuft bottles with a hose hanger at the top. Darn thieves found it easy to steal too.

I've since replaced the O/A rig and got a HF Hand Truck, about $20 at the time. Even rigged a Hand Truck up for my small MIG. Makes life easy setting up out in the yard then going back to storage for safe keeping. Also just like to say I have never liked anything on casters, a little pebble seems to always chock the wheel.

Lowes has economy Hand Truck's for $20, just checked, and need to get me a couple more

 

[bobodu]

I have never been one to carry the whole toolbox if I just needed a screwdriver.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

You may find that you don't really need one for the arc welder if it has long leads and stays in the shop.

For me it's just the opposite. I use my stick welder outside. (The wind always blows around here.) I have 50 foot of 3-10AWG cord on my current stick welder that I plan on switching over to the new one. The other option is to build a cart such that the cord is part of the cart and there's an outlet on the cart. If I'd have thought ahead and got 4-10 cord to begin with I could even rig the cart with both 220v and 110v to run grinders, etc. My mig is used inside the shop, and it's much smaller so it's easier to carry.

I do think that whatever new cart I make will have a compartmentalized storage space for welding rod. I'll want at least two sizes of at least three different rods. I'd also like to put a space for slag hammer and wire brush.

I can understand the comments about the casters. That's what my current cart has, and it's a pain. I carry one end of the cart more than I roll it on all four wheels. Big wheels are a must on the new cart.

I'm considering the idea of a hand truck. The big advantage is that it will take up less floor space. In my small garage that I use as a shop, floor space is at a premium. The drawback is stability. If I stack everything on a hand truck that I want on my cart it's bound to fall over sometime.

 

[deepNdirt]

My mig welder is pretty self contained although is top heavy while sitting on top of the card, I had to put some better wheels with straight through axles, I didn't like the swivel caster as they would seem to let the cart tip,
on my Miller Thunderbolt it works like Hand trucks to move it about, I'm thinking of re-rigging it somehow on a cart, I change all the cords to heavier and much longer ones and need the ability to roll them up on a wheel of sort, when I try rolling the old fashion way around the-ol-arm the 50 ft. of 6-awg wire gets pretty heavy not to mention stiff when getting cold, ideally would be great to have the reals that could turn like an air hose real, but I don't think there is a such? or the mobile welders trucks I see around would have them, they simply have the wraped over hangers as I do on my welder now,

 

[bobodu]

What kind of man has pictures of his welder in the hard drive!!!
The handle and tires came off a leaf blower. I use a long cord the used to run up to the unloader in the silo.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I like the idea above. For my Miller 225 I just bought one of the Harbor Freight Furniture Dolly's. Cheap fix for under $10 but I have never taken it out of my Pole Barn with concrete floors.

Chris

 

[cobbkevin]

I thought I was the only one to use an HF furniture dolly. Actually, I my tombstone on it once to move it...that was about 2 years ago. I better go buy a new dollly since I keep forgetting where I put my second one, until I see my welder.
Kevin

 

[JB4310]

I've never had to move my stick welder, just have long leads. I do have a portable gas powered dc welder for job-sites.

But for the mig I broke down and bought the cart, it is pretty handy, I would try and make one similar. This one is designed for indoors with kinda wimpy wheels, if you were to take it outside you'd want better wheels. I personally never do any mig welding outside.

JB.

 

[GE222]

I had a neighbor who used an old push mower deck for his stick welder. It made it easy to move, and there was space for a small storage box for rods, hammers, etc.

The best part was the price! FREE

 

[Runner]

I would also keep mine separate because my stick machine just doesn't need to be portable. However, here is a pic of a setup like you describe (minus the torch) that I probably got off Weldingweb or something. It appears to have a plasma cutter on there too.

 

[ovrszd]

I built a cart. It holds a Lincoln AC/DC stick Welder, Miller 180 MIG Welder and a Miller 625 Extreme Plasma Cutter. My O/A torch is on a cart of it's own. The Welder cart also has space to store rods and a tool box that contains supplies, etc. I wired three Welder plugs into the cart, then wired a 30ft 220V extension cord. I can leave all three plugged into the cart and then use the extension to move it around in the shop. Or if I want to remove any unit from the cart and use them independently I can and use the extension cord to get power outside. My mistake was too small casters. It's a little hard to roll on smooth concrete and cannot be rolled outside. For my use in my shop (42x50) it's very convenient. With 220V plugs scattered around the shop I can use the tools anywhere. With all components, including a large tank of shielding gas for the MIG I'd guess the cart weighs 250lbs. I'll try to get some pics.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

It seems that any commercially available cart for a MIG welder has the welder at a slant. Why is that?

Also, regarding leads... Based on comments in this thread I'm considering adding longer leads to this new welder (They're currently about 12 feet long). How do I figure out what size the leads need to be based on how long I want them? I've noticed that ground leads tend to be larger than stinger leads. There's something there more than what I understand.

 

[ovrszd]

Slanting the Welder makes operating the controls easier since most carts have the Welder close to the floor.

Hmmm,,, there's probably some mathematical solution to the cable size. Maybe someone can post a formula for you.

 

[2manyrocks]

My Lincoln stick welder sits on caster wheels attached to the original wood packing on its bottom. It doesn't leave the garage. If you attach it to a hand cart, there shouldn't be any stability issues, and you can weld some gizmos on the hand cart to hold other stuff.

I'm sure there are numerous examples of welding carts on the Miller welds and the Hobart welders websites.

The mig welder cart is a little different critter because you need to protect your mig hose from damage and eventually you'll get a welding gas bottle that needs to be moved with the welder.

Your cart design should be based on how you personally use your welder--whether it goes outdoors and needs big tires, what stuff you need to weld (grinder/etc), where you keep your rod, helmet and gloves, etc.

 

[JB4310]

It seems that any commercially available cart for a MIG welder has the welder at a slant. Why is that?

Also, regarding leads... Based on comments in this thread I'm considering adding longer leads to this new welder (They're currently about 12 feet long). How do I figure out what size the leads need to be based on how long I want them? I've noticed that ground leads tend to be larger than stinger leads. There's something there more than what I understand.

Both my cables are the same length, but if one had to be shorter I would think the ground. Just need to reach the work with the ground, but you need to be able to move around the work with the stinger.

Not sure how to figure wire gauge, but I see the stock 8-10 footers are pretty small, I'm sure mine are over-sized, since I scavenged them out of an industrial shop.

Like I said I don't move my stick welder, but what I need is a cart for all the rods, I keep them up on a shelf and it's a pain to find the right one. I need some kind of specialized storage rack.

JB.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I did some of my own looking for welding lead size charts. Here's what I came up with...

http://www.metalwebnews.com/howto/guide/guide.pdf

The one on the bottom right of this page is identical to what I found on several pages. I wanted to make sure that I got at least two sources to corroborate each other.
http://www.pittsburghwire.com/pdf/CatalogD21.pdf

It looks like the good bet for my needs is 1/0 cable. These charts don't make any indication that the ground should be any different gauge than the stinger lead. That makes sense to me since it's all in the same circuit.