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

I saw a pic of someone on here that had a very cool hand truck that had a third wheel on it.
Is this made by a company or was it a special make by a member?
I searched quite a while but could not find where I saw that pic and who had it.
I would like to get one or make one if I need to.
Thanx for any info in advance!

Dave, some furniture/appliance dolly hand trucks have a support swing out arm with wheels that lay the load back at an angle, are you talking about those?

Here's another version



All these are available at handtrucksrus.com

This last one is rated at 1600 lbs, enough to handle all but the largest items.

You may have seen a copy of mine in a listing by oldracer. I simply bought a heavy duty hand truck with floatation tires for use in gravel at Harbor Freight and 2 swivel casters with floatation tires. Tilted the hand truck at a comfortable angle for hauling, and welded 2 wheelie style bars back and mounted the casters. Put 2 upright supports to the frame to form a sturdy, bridgelike frame. Send me your phone # and I can shoot a couple pictures if you like.
Ed Steagall.

I use a dolly that I got from Tractor Supply several years ago. It has large flotation tires on it that work extremely well. It makes loading in dirt or going over uneven surfaces much easier than a normal dolly.

Watch out on pneumatic tires, most are only designed for light weight use. I found a set of wide solid rubber tires for my hand trucks that can stand the weight of a fully assembled pump.

Mr. John LaPrest built one that was pretty neat it laid pump on its side where you could roll it. If my memory is working correct.

Looking back at post maybe it was Eds I'm have in my mind.

Dave Bowman built one out of an old Bomb Dolly w/ Hydraulic lift. Cradle attached to standing pump, lowered to horizontal pulled like a wagon then tilted back to a standing position.

Thanx to all!
I just got the pics Ed and that is very close if not the one that I saw. It had the big tires like that and I thought it was a tripod design with a swing out arm but it might have been a double wheels on the back with solid braces.
Those designs look like they would help in getting one thru a doorway too.
How heavy are some of the pumps or what are the heviest?
The wayne 70 I had was probably around 400lbs with internals and the wayne 100b was around 100 lbs less with internals.
I wish I had a metal shop to fab some of this stuff but I only have a tig welder at the moment.
If I have to fab one I will have the base for my Parking meter done at the same time.

3 point is too unstable when moving a 300-600# pump.
When dragging them out of the brush or field like KW does, it'd be nice to have a self powered Crawler!

I think Tom Buckles used something like the yellow or blue one to move pumps at Columbia.

Ed asked if I could post these for him so, here they are.



I like that one.
Thanx for those pics Ed!!

You need some height for the tall pumps, I have used this dolly for years before I broke it moving a 500# boiler out of a cellar.



I just bought this 800# dolly, the big wheels are an add on and help in most applications



I keep meaning to throw out the broken one but just can't, If anyone wants it and wants to pay the shipping you can have it It needs some aluminum repairs and TLC, it is(was) a 600# capacity $450.00 dolly.

Check out website for: (Powermate stairclimbing hand truck)--I have the L-1 model with extra strap bar, larger nose adapter and the air tire options, pull 2 spring loaded pins and you can have the large tires on or off. At times it would be nice to have a wheel rest when you tip cart back but after load has been tipped back you can center load over axle and move anywhere. Cart is 100% Alumimun but still heavy. Purchased at a auction where it was used to move boilers and furnases into & out of basements. Works very well on rough ground.
Roger

...looks like that thing they used to move Hannibal Lector around!

...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.

John, that visible on the hand-truck in your trailer: Looks like a Cannon Ray-Gun Machine shooting into outerspace!!!!!!!!........
Ed.

I went to a couple of pawn shops and tool stores but ended up at HF and it just happened that I was in there on a super sale day.
The Hand truck was only $35 brand new.
I got the matching wheels that rotate for $15 each and to help roll the pumps around in the shoppe I bought 2 1000lbs floor carts for $11 each.
Thats the way to shop, less than $100 for all of it!

Tom,
Have the small wheels on your wheeler presented a problem at all?

I have the Expensive vending machine hand truck from grainger its nice! But only meant for concrete or black top. Small wheels on the bottom and on the swing out section.

Larry

The small caster wheels actually don't even really touch the ground when loaded so you can run over dirt and gravel. Since they swivel, it is a little awkward when first titling back or setting up a load. I hope I can make some improvements by making it not lean back so much when loaded.

Tom