# Rolling your own



## Phil DeBlanc (May 29, 2010)

Way back when we used mules, OK, maybe not that far back, lets say 1965±, I was looking at a #15 metering cabinet on the back of my pickup, and thinking how much fun it was going to be getting that miserable box across 500 feet of rutted mud Monday morning. Carrying it, even with 2 other men didn't appeal to me, and being that I'm also a bit conversant with the welding trade I hatched a bright idea. A standard 2 wheel cart would just disappear in the mud under the weight but a cart with car size tired stood a good chance.

I rounded up some scrap I had, actually 2 steel table legs, 2 pieces of a hammock frame and a piece of steel building purlin and went to welding it all up. The wheels and tires came from a car headed for scrap with the spindles welded into the ends of a piece of 1¼ pipe. At the time it had 14" tires.

Unfortunately the convenient nylon ratchet strap didn't exist yet, so making the cart and cabinet monolithic for the trip was a bit of a challenge. It was solved with rope and a couple turnbuckles.

Monday came and I got my balls mightily busted about the cart. Oddly the ballbusting ended when the puller dragged the cart and cabinet right to where it needed to be mounted with 1 man running the puller and 1 steering and stabilizing the cart. Funny thing was a lot of people wanted to borrow that cart. I got tired of having to go repossess it so I began insisting on a security deposit of $150. I made a few more and sold them for $150.


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## gizmo21187 (Aug 11, 2010)

Nice. Got to make a buck one way or the other. Good luck selling more.

2305

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## goose134 (Nov 12, 2007)

Love the idea. Big ol' knobby tires for the off road excursions.:thumbsup:


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