Harbor Freight Welding Cart Mods
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- Опубліковано 27 сер 2024
- Having recently bought my first MIG welder, I took advantage of the ubiquitous 20% off coupon from Harbor Freight to buy a welding cart that was itself already on sale. Total cost: $36.
Unfortunately, I discovered that the cart was slightly too narrow for my welder. So, I fabricated a wider platform, and integrated a small drawer for accessories while I was at it.
Of course, I then discovered that the angle of the top shelf caused the rear of the welder to stick out in a way that prevented the gas cylinder from being chained down properly. But, that was fine, since I had planned to fabricate a couple of brackets to hold the cylinder more securely anyway.
Why didn't I just build a whole new cart? This was my first welder and I still had a lot of learning to do. My skills weren't nearly up to the task of building a whole cart. But, I still needed something to put my welder on in the meantime.
My Other Channel: / gasfoodvlogging
Instagram: / wesley_treat
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TOOLS FEATURED IN THIS VIDEO
▶ Millermatic 211 MIG Welder: amzn.to/2gJtFgI
▶ DeWalt 20V Max Drill & Driver Kit: amzn.to/2hLB64q
▶ Bench Dog Tools Push-Bloc: amzn.to/2pzvf9c
▶ Porter-Cable Heavy Duty 3/8” Crown Stapler: amzn.to/2xTKrzI
Your sound... your audio editing deserves a round of applause. Love the tease of hearing a tool starting before the step is shown, and hearing it wind down as the next process starts. So subtle but makes your video stand out.
Seriously, Wesley... so surprised I haven’t seen comments about it. If you don’t mind, can I ask what you’re using for video assembly? Premiere Pro makes it a real drag to pull this move with clips on the same audio track, but I imagine it would be real easy in something like Sony Vegas.
Hakeem Hasworth as a film editor watching this....it was the first thing that struck me....split audio edits...very good.
I came here also to offer kudos for a really excellent short film. If the originator is not already in the film industry, he is missing his calling!
What sorcery is this, the mixing of Woodcraft and Metalcraft, the unholy blending of Cellulose and Steel! Could be nothing short of Sawdust Poisoning and has drove this poor soul to ruin. Really great idea, well done Sir.
I really like the mixing of wood and metal. I might do something like this for my Everlast welding cart.
I agree. Wood on a metal welding cart looks wierd.
I agree. I also find that wood is VERY difficult to weld. It keeps catching fire! 😉
Might as well build an entire cart out of wood since hes capable of it. Dont have to spend money on the harbor freight cart.
You are lord and master of "there is no scrap wood. Just unused pieces."
Love the way you fast forward and don't bother showing stuff that does not matter. It's like Espresso vs Coffee: You get everything you want without all the extra. Fantastic camera, lighting, and editing work! Thank You!
Like shooting himself in the finger with a staple?
Actually I hate these kind of chop’n’crop videos with erratic cartoon lookies and feelies but no words. No words? No content. Nothing is one dimensional and I’m quitting right here 5:04
@@fishhuntadventure Liberals are depressed. There are ways to improve. Enjoy your life. We all will miss your wisdom.
I've seen every one of your videos and they are all great! You are definitely one of my all-time fav UA-camrs!!!
Buys welding cart presumably to utilize a welder then modifies a metal cart with wood... Ave probably liked this video.
The subtle humor got me. Great work
That's a lot of wood work for someone with a welder.
I thought the same thing.
Hahahahah
And a metal brake??????
It was very very well done but I was sitting there thinking “man this is turning out really nice but that’s a lot of wood work for a welding cart” haha.
😂😂😂😂
Not only useful projects, but excellent visual storytelling, with a touch of humour. Thank you!
Plot twist. Some school is missing all its stair railing.
It’s a character-building exercise for the kids. Lol.
Finished building this today. Almost exactly the same, modeled off this video. Thanx again Wesley for the simple upgrade that would have otherwise have had me building a whole new trolley. Keep up the good work :)
Just looked at the same welding cart at our local Harbor Freight this morning. Thank you for great idea! You have nice tools!
Not sure what I like more, your fabrication skills or your video editing skills! Both really well done!! Cool project and ideas!
Thanks, I appreciate it! Be sure to subscribe for more. I'm working on uploading more regularly.
Well said . My channel is a Jersey product maybe check me out
I mounted a set of mountain bike handle bars to the front of my to make it easier to pull around my shop, it also acts as a bar to sling various things over including an extra plier holder for my welpers.
Great idea!
I can see myself making mistakes fabricating stuff like this. The little mistakes we oversee. In the learning curve of fabricating stuff like you and is enjoyable to making things. Great work and editing! Subbing!
Great project! Great camera work! Great editing and a kick ass scrap pile LOL Thanks!
Nice vid, great to use the welder to build the cart for the welder. That Miller 211 is a very good performer for a home shop. Has plenty of power at 230 amps to weld pretty much anything most would do in the g-rage.
You sir are amazing. I just made up my mind to buy that HF cart and do what you did. Also you video skills and imagination are awesome. You had me laughing and interested the whole time. WELL DONE. Thank you.
I never comment on videos but I had to on this because your creativity, editing, and fabrication skills are top notch. Nice work!
Have fun with your welder. I know I have learned a lot after buying my first everlast mig welder and I haven't stopped loving using it since. If your welding is any bit as good as your woodworking I can't wait to see what you come up with.
Great modifications to fit your use - you made it your own!
YEP! 25% off last week and $37. Love the mods and going to do same for mine. Perfect video and follow along for a newbie to welding. Hopefully mine turns out as good. Fortunately I have the wood working tools needed.
Looks like your first rodeo. Great work ! You’re funny as well. You left out the finger mishap.
Great work Wesley. This is the kind of stuff I enjoy doing.
Looks like I have yet another weekend project added to my list!
I have both the Chicago Electric 125 and the Titanium 125. Even though I have an old Forney 180 amp Stick Welder I bought used over 30 years ago. I was wanting to upgrade and possibly go with a wire feed welder.
I liked the Titanium 125 but however, it would only accept a small 2 lb. spool of wire.
The Chicago Electric 125 accepts a 2 lb. spool of wire and also accepts a 10 lb. spool of wire as well.
The bad part was that now neither one of them come with a spool of wire., so you have to buy the spools of wire separately.
The Chicago Electric 125 was on sale for $99.00, and The Titanium 125 Was on sale for $159.00. So I finally decided to purchase both as they were both on sale.
At the same time I bought the cheap $49.00 welding cart which was on sale for $34.00 at the time.
I have seen video's of people having both welders upon the same cart. They usually had either the Titanium 125 on the top shelf, and the Chicago Electric 125 on the bottom shelf or Vise Versa.
However, because both of these welders are set up so that the top cover has to swing upward to open in order to change out the empty wire spool for a new one, or to view the decals for the manufacturers suggested settings I didn't want either one of the welders being upon the bottom shelf.
To me it would be an inconvenience too have to
(1) try and remove the one on the bottom shelf in order to read the recommended settings or to change out an empty wire spool.
(2) Or to have to squat down in order to set up the settings with the welder being on the bottom shelf.
So therefore I modified the top of the cart to make it wider by adding another shelf right directly above the top shelf so that both welders could sit side-by-side on the now wider top shelf.
Unfortunately that created a heavier load upon the top of the cart whereas it caused the cart to have the tendency to lean over to one side due to the flimsy materials the cart was made with.
The material of the lower shelf assembly is too thin. All 4 sides are bent upward from a single piece of material, and the corners are not welded therefore they would bend outward one way or the other from the added weight upon the top shelf.
So I beefed the situation up by adding another vertical 1 inch square steel tube frame assembly between the upper and lower shelf. That did the trick.
The only other thing I see wrong with this cheap welding cart is that the front 2 swivel castors are set a wee bit too close together which has a tendency of making the cart unstable especially upon uneven floors or outdoor terrain because of the extra added weight of both welders being up on the top shelf.
I haven’t done it yet, but I think that this problem can be solved and cured by adding a flat bar or another outrigger frame to each side and then mounting those front swivel casters outboard of the original bottom shelf assembly just like the rear wheels are of which would give the cart a wider stance and less apt to tip over.
I also added a pull handle to the front which makes the cart easier to move around.
I made the upper shelf wider by using scrap materials of which consisted of a metal propane stove cover from a pop up trailer, underlaid and supported by a piece of plywood and 3 pieces of 1 X 2 inch lumber, and the pull handle along with the angle iron wrap around top shelf side wall (to keep the welders from sliding off), was made from a cast off satellite dish frame. I then cut and welded together a square framework of 1 inch square steel tubing to go between the bottom shelf and the original top shelf and bolted it with 4 bolts and nuts on to the inside fronts of those two shelves which provides support and stops the unstable/unwanted sideways lean because of the added weight.
Total cost of modifications? $6.00 for 3 cans of Gloss Black (with Primer included), Rustolium spray paint, $2.00 for eight 1/4 X 1-1/2 inch bolts, flat washers and lock nuts.
Overall Review.
(1) the cart isn’t bad, but could definitely be made less flimsy and more stable.
(2) both of the two welders perform just fine for small projects around the home, and work great for the beginning welder with no experience.
Entertaining, and you did an excellent job filming and editing. Thanks for the modification tips!
Clever use of magnets to align the tank bracket Wesley!
Love to watch a skilled Craftsman at work.
Nice video, no fluff, liked the audio leading the video. Loved the dripping rusty water, nice touch. Liked and Subscribed.
Nice mods. I need to do something similar with mine. The bottle situation is not well thought out straight out of the box. Great job on the video. I subbed.
Well done! I've been experimenting with some metal/wood projects, and I think it works well in the right application.
A modern day Wordless Workshop masterpiece!
Those are good mods. The cart I have my everlast welder on could benefit from some of these mods.
Nice Mods, Once I saw the Reclaimed Staircase rails you got my sub!
I don't know where my brother got those and I'm not asking any questions.
NIce editting on this video. I love the cart mods too. Nice work. The lack of talking was actually very relaxing.
Just wanted too say I went ahead and bought my HF cart total cost was 31.00. Then did what you did plus I lowered the second shelf so my plasma cutter would fit on it also I’m into my cart for under 60.00. Thanks. I’m happy with it. If I can gig how to upload a few pict I will
Nice mod to the cart, but you could have made a great cart from the scrap metal. Run a few beads and weld a few scraps together, then make your cart, it's ideal for a first project. Don't worry if it's wonkey, it's all the fun of welding.
Cool mod, great camera skills and woodworking as well. But for a weld cart I think it should be metal other than that I really like it. Nice work
Don't know how you don't have more subscribers...you've got a creative gift. I've watched a few of your videos and the way you go about making things is awesome. Some times I'm watching like, "why wouldn't you just...OOHHHHH, I see". Really enjoy the videos, I rarely subscribe to anything, but I'm hitting the subscribe button as soon as I finish typing this! Lol
You made creepy music out of sped up welding sounds... That's cooler than the actual project! Lol
Nice mods on the carts. Great video
Very nicely done Wesley, although I fear you may have just tripled the value of that cart Lol. But kidding aside use caution you have it loaded pretty heavy.. don't push or pull at any weird angles and if it gets caught on something lift it carefully. I have one of these and it's pretty thin I plan to add some triangulation. I've seen one fold like a wet cardboard box when tugged..
Nice,bought one for my Tig,welder was too long and the cyl. would hit the machine due to the angle.I just made a whole new cart so my plasma would be side by side.You vid probably helped a lot of people with similar problem.
Yeah, it's a major design flaw, isn't it? It's a good thing I enjoy modifying cheap stuff.
You're Pretty Handy... MR. Thanks for Sharing
I have this cart and was getting ready to build one from scratch because of the tank issue. I'm glad I found this video. Would you share the dimensions for the brackets.
Just ran across your video. Great job editing and content. I'm subscribed!
I put some small carabiners on chain to keep it from popping out and coming loose. They're pretty cheap in the hardware aisle at wal mart
Some great video editing.
I'm going to modify my welding cart with my everlast welder with a bunch of additions come fall. I don't think I'll be able to recognize any of the old design when I'm done!
By the look of your skills, I bet you could’ve made a way better cart for that Miller than the HF cart. Enjoyed the video.
What dimensions did you use for the tank brace? I just picked my cart up and want to try making a brace like yours. Good job!!
I would have put some one inch feet on them to make the footprint more narrow and avoided all the extra work. Nice video non the less, miller does that so you are forced to buy their carts. Lincoln and Hobart fit on the Harbor Freight carts no problem.
Grrr! I am so jealous you get to do all this cool stuff!!!
Dude! You just one one more subscriber! My kind of humor! Freaking fantastic!
I really liked this video. Nice editing skills.
Pretty slick boss.
great modification, great video
I like it nice beginning
KEEP going with your work
Someday you will be a great fabricator and welder
That was pretty stinking cool!
Well done...shoula come that way from the factory!
I'm curious why you didn't just make a welding cart out of the railings. It would've been to your exact specifications and needs.
Answered in the video description. 👍
so jealous of your steel scrap pile there...
nice mod to the cart
Well thats not what i expected. Good video great work but was hoping to see some metal work. All in all i think the modification came out great
Nice i used a bottle clamp on top and sunk the bottle in to the cart with a 3in high ring any way like the top draw
My welder wouldn't fit in their cart either.
I was just going to turn the top shelf over but never got it done.
I see this has been a few years ago.
Have you caught the wood on fire yet?
Had similar issue with my welding cart. I just added a hockey pucks to all 4 corners to raise above the lip and sat my welder on the hockey pucks. Welder does not move and the pucks stay put.
Nice job.
All those railings could've built you 500 carts!
excellent work! with your excellent skill, I wonder why you didn't build the whole welding cart yourself?
Im just getting in to building and creating with metal. Would you be able to tell me why you used the band saw in some places and jig saw in others (on the stair railing)? And why not just use an angle grinder all around?
The bandsaw is cleaner and easier, but (a) I couldn't get right up against the insides of those rails due to the way the bandsaw is shaped, (b) I'd get stuck with the bandsaw looped around the bar I just cut, forcing me to thread the blade back through the cut I just made before cutting the other end of that bar, and (c) I'd have to shift back and forth to cut one whole bar out at a time because it would be impossible to go all the way down one side of the railing since the bandsaw was too big to fit between the bars. So, I switched to the recip saw just because it was more practical. As for an angle grinder, that would've worked, but it wouldn't have been any faster, while being far noisier and more sparky.
Hope that helped!
Sure did help, thanks for all the info! And sorry for making you think back to an almost two year old project, haha my bad. Love learning from your channel, thanks for all your content :)))
Very creative mods!
Like your "Home Style" limited budget buy only what you must projects!
I would like to know why people use a portable band saw on some cuts? Why not the sawzall or a grinder? I'm just curious... do I need one?
Why not make everything out of metal? Wood not compatible with welding, almost burn down my wood shop one time.
Well, seeing as it was my first welder, I didn't really have the skills to make everything out of metal. But I still needed something to make the welder fit on the cart. And if I were really the sort of person to worry about setting things on fire, I'd probably be more concerned about the six full propane cylinders I use to prop up my welding table.
Great vid, well edited. Here's a tip: I found that propane tanks were a bit too expensive to use as supports. I used some magnesium tanks that I had laying around. They serve two purposes as I also store my kerosene and liquid oxygen in them. Welding them all together took a bit of trial and error, but my first wife got most of them done before she went to pieces and flew the coop.
Skills?? You def have the skills. You could have made a nicer cart with just the scrap you had.
Either way nice video.
lmao!
@@WesleyTreat LOL!😜
Well done!
Very nice !
nice job
I have plans to persue a welding career however I have sinusitis, will that be a problem?
You can always use a respirator, but you should really ask a doctor if it's a serious issue.
Try Flonase spray once a day. It turns off your body's alarm system that goes into hyperdrive and starts the running and further problems. Amazing stuf.
keep going man. very very beautiful contents. Actually i started to make videos thanks to you. Very near future i will publish them.
I look forward to seeing them!
Wow brilliant great job man
Nice work... but you could have built a sweet cart out of all that old Stair Railing..
It was my first welder. My skills weren't yet up to the task of building a full cart, but I still needed something to put my welder on. Thanks for watching!
Wesley Treat, Maker of Things I get it... I recently bought one of these harbor freight carts for my TIG unit... Got it home, took one look at it and decided to use it ony old MIG and build a cart for my TIG. Looking for scrap metal now.. hard to find around here.
What are those red things called at 6:30 ? Very nicely done, I've got the same cart, just starting to dabble with welding.
They're generally just called welding magnets or magnet holders. You can get them cheap at Harbor Freight. Thanks for watching and good luck with the welding!
Glue a rubber band to those pieces that hold the gas tank.
really nice
Hey man , don't let the negativity get to you . People always have a better way. You have mad skills Bro ! . If you want it to be metal just glue some aluminum foil over the wood and " Frank W " will be fooled ..... Haha
Should have just bought the cart that comes with the running gear package when you bought the welder.
Which one would that be?
store.cyberweld.com/mi211aumigwe.html It WOULD make a great video! :P I have that same HF cart and it works great for another welder I have.
Nice work.....like it.
All that work and for an extra $100 you could've bought their welding cabinet. Guess it depends how much value you put on your time
Our how afraid you are of a little work.
@@WesleyTreat OR how much I value my time, because that is the most precious resource I have.
@@WesleyTreat on second thought, you're right. Those 10+ hours you spent to save $100 is worth it. I mean, you're right above minimum wage!
@@MaroLuva I also enjoy just making things and sharing that with people. If you want to watch people buy things, there are plenty of unboxing channels on UA-cam I'm sure you'll enjoy. Have a nice day!
I use a bungy chord
@Wesley Treat do you remember how far out you made the gas cylinder brackets stick out?
Here are the measurements: www.wesleytreat.com/attic/gas_bracket.png
Wesley Treat ok thank you
Thank you for sharing the engineering.
But you have a metal brake?????
good work, I think the wood should be painted at least though.
Love it - but I did miss hearing your voice! :)
Pretty cool…but tree carcass seems like blasphemy on a welding cart.
Good modifications, but i think this cart it's not that heavy duty thing, if you made one by yourself u think it's better you can use 2.5mm tubs to made it, its will be more strong.
Mohamed alnaas - It's a very light welder. If I decide to put my plasma cutter with it, I'll probably make a cart for them. Thanks for watching!
nice looking but with all the work you did to make it better you could have made your own cart hehehe
Bravo!
Now you can say “it's been made in America”