Reef Bullet's 240g upgrade
- Thread starter Reef Bullet
- Start date
Ok so because this tank is hrs away and it would be so difficult to find enough people to help in both places, my innovative husband came up with a different plan... he built a tank mover.
The ledge sticking out on the left will have a hand winch bolted to it rated for 1200 lbs. The top is a platform made of 2x4s. It is bolted in with colored bolts so he can quickly identify which screws to unbolt when we get it out to his truck. The tank will be wrapped to protect it and then have a strap around it and be connected to the hands winch cable. The winch will be cranked and the tank will slide onto the platform/mover straight from the same level that it's currently at on it's stand slowly and gently... then it'll be strapped to the cart and rolled out to the truck and the hand winch will be unbolted from the rolling cart and bolted to a 2x6 that is in the truck bed. And then the tank will slowly be pulled into the truck, gear by gear. We may use a floor jack to raise it to the level it needs to be to be the same as the current stand and the same level as the tailgate. He made it a little shorter to give the room to work with whatever height we need it to be and we'll also use wedges to go under the cart to help accomplish this. So, what could possibly go wrong!? Lol :/
Half done
Finished
The ledge sticking out on the left will have a hand winch bolted to it rated for 1200 lbs. The top is a platform made of 2x4s. It is bolted in with colored bolts so he can quickly identify which screws to unbolt when we get it out to his truck. The tank will be wrapped to protect it and then have a strap around it and be connected to the hands winch cable. The winch will be cranked and the tank will slide onto the platform/mover straight from the same level that it's currently at on it's stand slowly and gently... then it'll be strapped to the cart and rolled out to the truck and the hand winch will be unbolted from the rolling cart and bolted to a 2x6 that is in the truck bed. And then the tank will slowly be pulled into the truck, gear by gear. We may use a floor jack to raise it to the level it needs to be to be the same as the current stand and the same level as the tailgate. He made it a little shorter to give the room to work with whatever height we need it to be and we'll also use wedges to go under the cart to help accomplish this. So, what could possibly go wrong!? Lol :/
Half done
Finished
Yeah the casters are rated for 750lbs I believe, which should be more than adequate for the empty tank load evenly spread, however when I rolled it across my driveway (which is that bumpy stone finish) to take the pics a little while ago, it was far from smooth and easy gliding and I was thinking the same thing so I did a little research and I think we should change out the casters to pneumatic tires. I pitched the idea to my husband in an email so we'll see what he says... he can be stubborn. Lol
I am not concerned about the frame holding the weight. Remember it is going to be empty, and I have seen stands that weren't even built this strong, and while they could fail over time, the tank will only be on here with it's empty weight and for not very long at all. I'm not sure how much a glass tank this size weighs but we've guessed around 400- 500 lbs. My husband is a big, solid guy and he got on the cart in the center where there are no wheels and jumped in it over and over and it was no problem for it. He only weighs a bit over 200lbs but the tank will have it's weight spread equally over the cart so it should be fine. He's very smart with stuff like this and great with building things right. My only real concern is the wheels. I feel it's a must to change them out.
I am not concerned about the frame holding the weight. Remember it is going to be empty, and I have seen stands that weren't even built this strong, and while they could fail over time, the tank will only be on here with it's empty weight and for not very long at all. I'm not sure how much a glass tank this size weighs but we've guessed around 400- 500 lbs. My husband is a big, solid guy and he got on the cart in the center where there are no wheels and jumped in it over and over and it was no problem for it. He only weighs a bit over 200lbs but the tank will have it's weight spread equally over the cart so it should be fine. He's very smart with stuff like this and great with building things right. My only real concern is the wheels. I feel it's a must to change them out.
4 new tires and wheel housings
$69 I wish I could've put towards corals... :thumbdown:
Winch rated for 1200lbs
Cable rated for 840lbs
There were a couple of things really bothering me about the cart, one being that the legs didn't go down and rest on top of the bottom wood pieces so all tds weight would be supported by the screws (which he said were more than sufficient) and two: the casters not rolling well and smoothly. He got all pissed when I told him I wanted him to take off the wheels and put on pneumatic tires instead and told him I don't like how the legs of the cart don't rest on top of the bottom pieces so all the weight is on the screws. He told me he was 100% positive it was fine the way he built it and was not gonna change it.....yesterday he came home with tires and large deck bolts that can hold 300lbs each bolt to fix the wood I wasn't happy with. :-D
I didn't even know he was going to do that or even thinking about it! I was shocked!
Hoping to be able to pick it up next weekend as long as the weather is nice and my husband is off work.
$69 I wish I could've put towards corals... :thumbdown:
Winch rated for 1200lbs
Cable rated for 840lbs
There were a couple of things really bothering me about the cart, one being that the legs didn't go down and rest on top of the bottom wood pieces so all tds weight would be supported by the screws (which he said were more than sufficient) and two: the casters not rolling well and smoothly. He got all pissed when I told him I wanted him to take off the wheels and put on pneumatic tires instead and told him I don't like how the legs of the cart don't rest on top of the bottom pieces so all the weight is on the screws. He told me he was 100% positive it was fine the way he built it and was not gonna change it.....yesterday he came home with tires and large deck bolts that can hold 300lbs each bolt to fix the wood I wasn't happy with. :-D
I didn't even know he was going to do that or even thinking about it! I was shocked!
Hoping to be able to pick it up next weekend as long as the weather is nice and my husband is off work.
