Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Hand truck or Dolly for moving gas pumps?

...it's POWERED, climbs stairs and lifts up to the tailgate??!!!

http://www.powermate.info/powermate_handtruck_l-1.htm

Ive used those. You have to be careful you don't lose the balance point or down she goes. They are great for hot water heaters and light appliances but but heavy items are tricky

This was the first prototype we built. I think Ed saw it at Iowa Gas and built his from that one if I remember right.



Ed had some great ideas, so we then we went a little further. We extended the handle, used a full wide bass for the back wheels so we could make the wheelbase wider and moved those back. Also added a wider platform in front. Belair57 did all the welding. Now you can move a Correct Measure Pipe Organ Visible or any heavy cast iron pump over soft ground or gravel with very little effort. We are still thinking about producing them. Not sure there is a big enough market. They would not be cheap to build.

Old Racer, Neat idea, and well executed. My ramp is steeper, and I really have to lay it back to get the correct angle to load. A quick disconnect and hinges to swing the casters in would be neat. (but a lot more work!)

Yes, that is the one that I saw on here, thanx for posting Old Racer. Man, that is trick!
Roman: I've seen a couple of those for sale, for at least $650 and I have seen those before but the cost and weight hold me back from getting one.

Do ANY of you mind if I use some of your ideas when I fab one for myself???
I really needed one for the Erie 77A that I picked up on Sunday and my son saved my bacon, 2X!, from the pump falling on me that day, so one will be made before I go getting any more pumps!

You are more than welcome to copy a will. Saves the back and more!

Looks great John! I can see where you have made some more improvements from my model. Definately addressed a couple of my concerns after building. Now if we could get the weight down for loading/unloading, make the back legs removable or pivotal while hauling to take-up less room, maybe make the angle adjustable for tall visibles or shorter electric pumps that would help find a "Balance Point" while rolling. You may find you could at least sell one at every show you go to. (After you get all loaded!)
Looked at Johns again. The 4 bolts to the frame could be replaced with pins and clips for easy removal, lighter to lift and less room in transit.
Ed.

Takes less than a minute to remove the legs if you have a full trailer. We thought about the pins, but never got around to it. No problem with any size pumps, short or tall. Sure beats the two wheel truck I used for years!

Step one is accomplished of getting things set up to handle gas pumps with less effort.
I just put the Erie 77A in the back of the shoppe by lifting it with a 2000 lbs electric winch mounted to the top of the back of the outside of the shoppe as pictured here.





I've got to go get a hand truck tomorrow and possibly go pick up a Visible gas pump?!!?!! Unfortunatly it will have to be placed outside if I get it because the shop is barely tall enough, inside, to fit the Erie 77A in there,,,UGH I NEED A POLE BUILDING!!!
Thanx again to all the responses and for passing on the great ideas!!

Just my 2 cents. The one thing I have never liked about the two-wheel hand trucks with the centre upright D handle is that they are hard to control if the truck is about to tip over. I would prefer to have a handle that attaches across to the two uprights near the top. That way I can have two hands on the truck to control any sudden possible spill. I have never lost a pump, though I have been flattened by a 6 foot stove and oven unit when a wheel went off one of the ramps. Good thing it was going to the recyclers. Cheers, Don.

Here is the one DasFast1 saw me with at the Columbia show made by Tamarack Industries and called the Painless Convertible Hand Truck. You can watch a video of how it works from one of the companies that sell them. Overall it works really good with short pumps but when a tall pump is loaded it will tip over backwards if left untouched. As long as you keep a hand on it the load is almost weightless and very easy to move around.
I loaded a tall pump on it and used my floor jack to raise it to a more balanced stance so I got an idea how I can modify and extend the wheels down to get a steeper angle. It was priced on line at around $239 so even if I have to do some slight modifications to get it exactly where I want it I will still be money and time ahead. The rated capacity is 750#'s.
Tom.

That is a nice truck Tom. If I had found that, I most likely would not have gone any farther. But then I always seem to end up taking the long way.
I will say the end result for mine has turned out pretty positive. As you can see in the picture, a mostly cast iron and tall visible like a Pipe Organ is no match for this hand truck.
When we lifted the pump to load it onto the buyers flatbed trailer, I picked it up with a sling and the sling was just about perfect in the center of the pump. So 50% of the weight is to the top. You can also see I took it off the trailer with the top headed down first. No tipping back or balance problems at all. Because of the width of the rear wheels , side to side tipping is almost impopssible unless you miss the side of the ramp.
So bottom line: Bought the hand truck at Harbor Frieght http://www.harborfreight.com/bigfoot-hand-truck-97568.html. It is on sale all the time at $49.95. They also have 20% off coupons they run every week. So that is $39.96. I bought the rear wheels, 10" Pneumatic Swivel Caster , on sale one at a time with 20% off coupons for $13.99 each. http://www.harborfreight.com/10-inch-pneumatic-swivel-caster-38944.html. I then bought the steel pipe and rear wheel platform from a steel supply house. $35. I cut and drilled everything and then had a good welder friend and fellow petronut Rob, belair 57 weld everything together. Painted it and done. I have moved everything from cast iron Dayton 50’s to TALL visibles like they were short 39’s.
So, about $103.00 invested and some help from a good friend.
It does help to have access to a Harbor Freight store, but I am sure parts are available for a little more other places.

If no Harbor Freight Store in your area, they do a large "on line" business for everything in the store.

Ed you can get the casters on the Internet, but not the handtruck, but other places sell the same thing.

John,
To handle that visible like your hand truck did is awesome. If I tried that without first modifying the one I have I would end pinned on the ground screaming like a school girl.
Tom.