Gene Deci
Shohin
I had this wheel barrel that served me well for years. But it was getting rusty and the barrel got a large tear from too much flexing which reduced its usefulness considerably. So I bought a new one just like it. That was some time ago. Much to my wife’s vexation I didn’t throw the old one away. That is a fault of mine. I never throw anything away. Then, a little while ago I saw a 12 volt winch at a garage sale. I bought it for $10. Again my wife wondered what possible need we had for that.
The need for that winch struck me when I first laid eyes it. I have a couple of trees that I stopped taking to shows because I can no longer get them in and out of the van without help. (That is an age issue. - my age, not the trees.) But the real motivator was the trouble I had getting them to their winter protection last year. I decided I would make a bonsai fork lift from the old wheel barrel and that winch.
So I bought some pressure treated 2x4, a sheet of PT plywood, and went to work. I took the old wheel barrel apart, wire brushed all the rust off, repainted it and put the frame back together. I built a lift bucket from the plywood. I built a frame for the lift from the 2x4 and mounted it on the wheel barrel frame. Then I added some garage door tracks and rollers for the bucket to ride up and down on. Here is the result.
It is over built - I lifted about a hundred pounds of cement blocks as a test with no problem. But there wouldn’t be much saving from going lighter. It cost me less than $200 - not including the wheel barrel. I probably have about 25 hours in it though, which is a considerable investment of time. A lot of that is probably due to the fact that I am an amateur when it comes to this kind of project.
The lift bucket goes from the ground to a few inches higher than my highest bench. The two-wheel design of the wheel barrel and the balloon tires make it easy to move the thing, loaded, across the yard, to and from the van and to and from my winter storage area. I am pleased with it although it isn’t beautiful. My wife’s take. “Where are you going to store that thing the 99.99 % of the time you aren’t using it?”
The need for that winch struck me when I first laid eyes it. I have a couple of trees that I stopped taking to shows because I can no longer get them in and out of the van without help. (That is an age issue. - my age, not the trees.) But the real motivator was the trouble I had getting them to their winter protection last year. I decided I would make a bonsai fork lift from the old wheel barrel and that winch.
So I bought some pressure treated 2x4, a sheet of PT plywood, and went to work. I took the old wheel barrel apart, wire brushed all the rust off, repainted it and put the frame back together. I built a lift bucket from the plywood. I built a frame for the lift from the 2x4 and mounted it on the wheel barrel frame. Then I added some garage door tracks and rollers for the bucket to ride up and down on. Here is the result.
It is over built - I lifted about a hundred pounds of cement blocks as a test with no problem. But there wouldn’t be much saving from going lighter. It cost me less than $200 - not including the wheel barrel. I probably have about 25 hours in it though, which is a considerable investment of time. A lot of that is probably due to the fact that I am an amateur when it comes to this kind of project.
The lift bucket goes from the ground to a few inches higher than my highest bench. The two-wheel design of the wheel barrel and the balloon tires make it easy to move the thing, loaded, across the yard, to and from the van and to and from my winter storage area. I am pleased with it although it isn’t beautiful. My wife’s take. “Where are you going to store that thing the 99.99 % of the time you aren’t using it?”
