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kayak_cart

Kayak Cart from a Treadmill

I recovered a treadmill that thrown out alongside I40 and decided to bring it home. I wanted to build a cart to hold my 2 kayak that would roll up underneath my porch and be ease to pull back out again and this looked like a great source of tube steel. I started by cutting it up with an angle grinder and finding the pieces I wanted to use. Having never welded anything before, I started with a 220V 50amp stick welder I borrowed from my neighbor. I quickly found that it couldn't be set it low enough to keep from burning right through the thin metal. So I convinced myself that I could afford to buy a small MIG welder. I bought a Hobart Handler 140 from Tractor Supply. Its a 115V welder and can work on much thinner material. The handle and pull bar attached to the front (left of picture below) were also found along side I40. As was the pipe I have at the top separating the 2 vertical posts. I re-purposed the treadmill arm pads and rubber tread-guides to cushion the kayaks against the hard metal. I bought the wheels off Craigslist, 7 wheels for $14, luckily 4 of them held air. Other than the wheels and a few nuts and bolts for the axles (which I had left over from my deck build), I found all the parts for this along I40. It still needs a coat of paint and some caps for the ends of the tubes, but those can wait for warmer weather.

kayak_cart.txt · Last modified: 2017/01/28 18:19 by 162.233.141.12