Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Reel rack build

Building a Reel Rack.
I'm getting a small collection of reels now and my current location in my shop is not working anymore plus I have to pick them out of the shelves and walk them to the machine most times . 
The rack will have casters and hold 2 sets of verticutters ,spare 3150 reels and 2 sets of GK IV reels . 


Started of with some scribbling a few days before . First I figure out how to build it and refer to ones I've seen on tech  sites. Try to build it on paper to avoid mistakes . Break down all the parts and right down the sizes and amounts of each . There are some things I'll figure out as I go . 


 Using a metal cutting chop saw makes quick work on breaking down the lengths of tubing .  


I'm going to be using 1/8th wall 1.5 " square tube stock . For the laterals that the reels will sit on I'm using 1/8th. wall 2"x 1".


Squaring up the base . It's around 32"x 35"


Welded the first shelf on the bottom of 4 uprights . Then held them in place about 16" apart and tack the 2 tops then tacked the 4 bottoms  . The up rights where not cut on angle to butt up . I'll be using a pieces of square stock to weld up between them . Just quicker for me to build it this way . In the back round you can see my current set up . A little tricky to get it tacked up by yourself . 


Next using clamps to hold reel shelves 90 degrees to the uprights . I'm using a level on it's side to get the pieces to match flat .I spaced them every 12 ". so there will be 11" between them . My tallest reel is around 9 " for the hook . 


After welding the top put a reel on it and make adjustments by tapping up on the shelf so they are sitting on the front and rear rollers . Finish welding the underside and sides . 



Well I'm almost done one side and hope to finish it tomorrow . Caster wheels will go on last . When I get back from vacation I'll clean it up check the welds and prime / paint . 

I'll post more picture later . After it's all said and done it's going to hold one set of reels on bottom shelf and 4 sets of 3 on rack . 
Fully loaded its going to run close to 900 lbs. rolling on casters to where it's need in the shop.
Had time today to finish it and rearrange the shop a bit before vacation . Good time for me to take off . Guys should be back soon .most of the snow is gone and grass is slow to come back to life . Hard to believe that we were mowing greens March 22 last year . 


Finished all the shelves for reels .Now attaching the caster wheels . There was a little concern about the weight but after cleaning the slag chips and debris on the floor it rolled around pretty well fully loaded . 


Wheels are on . 


A little test fitting

  



checked the welds and added a few more supports . Doubled up the caster area to pick up the whole plate . 


Removed all the stuff I had in this corner and rearranged elsewhere in the shop . Looks pretty good and enough room for the new set of greens reels coming soon .  Holds 15 reels .
  


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