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 .

  

Loader repairs

I noticed the other day that my repair wasn't working out as well as planned .Also the bucket had a few holes worn in and the front edge was worn so bad that the sides left lines when back dragging..

Only 4 pins to pull to remove from the loader . My ceiling hoist made quick work to get it on the roll top for patch work on the bottom . 

Had to clamp a piece of thick walled tube square stock to help straighten out the front edge so a new one could be welded in .

Did a bunch of welds on the bottom to help strengthen it up a bit . 

Almost done .

Took a while to straighten the top section . It had been used to pull with  .Not a good idea . 

There was a piece of solid pipe to help strengthen the top and made a couple of hook up areas so it will prevent damage to the bucket in the future . 

Fresh coat of paint.

Not perfect but should last a few more years . 

This area last year was completely missing . I had stacked a couple of 1/4 steel plate that held for a while till it started to oval the hole . 

My junk pile had a few pieces of 1 " thick stock and drilled a hole opening to fit the pin . Lined the new piece up and marked out the plate and cut it out with a cut off wheel . On level flooring in shop I was able to put the bucket kick stand down and lowered the bucket . Made welding in the new collar in the right location easier . 

I'm not a welder but do OK with what I know . Welding in thick pieces of steel involves grinding back a good V groove so you can get good penetration then just keep stacking welds till its all filled in . 

Haven't had any thing pull apart so I must be doing OK . 

All done good for a few more years maybe more .

Toro 1250 sprayer Park Brake Buzzer install

This problem I have heard talk about on a few forum sites . There are a few of these Toro style machines that are confusing to get a park brake buzzer installed on them . Of course guys will drive off leaving them on and wearing out brakes . Yes you could adjust the brake so it will stall the machine but you wouldn't be able to pull the handle up and stretch the cable prematurely.  I have occasionally done the same thing , so I can't just blame the staff or training for it . Waiting for parts for the sprayer so I decided to tackle this issue . I did lay out parts switches and connections hooked up to a battery for a test run of what I wanted to do . 

 Put a Club Car micro switch here to activate the alarm when the handle is pulled up or left on .

Going to use a truck reverse buzzer  later . Just trying out different locations. I'll install one under the seat on the right middle by the frame.

Ok now comes the thinking part . What switch I was going to tie into ? The best option was to use the neutral interlock switch which is activated by pressing the brake pedal . My problem now is that it is only a 2 amp circuit and I'm going to need a bigger circuit to run for the buzzer etc.
The best way to get more amps was to use a relay . I'm using the one below .Just a common 4 pin one . #30 is direct battery power fused with a 10 amp fuse . Should be enough for what I need and won't burn out the CC micro switch since they have a 10 amp circuit . #85 and #86 cut or splice into the wires going to the neutral interlock switch . I cut mine closer to the relay panel before the harness connection . It shouldn't matter which one they go on . If the relay has a diode or there is a diode in the circuit then reverse them . #87 takes the 10 amp power to the micro switch . What happens is the magnetic coil between 85 and 86 gets energized when the foot brake switch gets activated . That triggers the points to close connecting battery power up 87. That way you won't blow the 2 amp fuse .

Running wire to # 30 on relay . 

Run a wire from micro switch to #87 of relay . Run another wire to buzzer and to ground  from buzzer . If it works in reverse then switch wires on micro switch.

Cut or splice in wires to 85 and 86 from neutral solenoid switch. I chose to cut and put them together on one end of butt connector . Do one line at a time so they don't get mixed up . 

Mount relay with the rest of them .

Wires hooked to micro switch.

A few more shots of wire connections 

Use heat shrink covers on connections . The butt connectors came with heat shrink built in . 

Picture of neutral lock solenoid . 

Great tool plug the clips on positive and negative battery terminals .

Then you can probe around and see what is negative and positive . green is negative. 

Red positive. Some wires will show green till a switch is activated then turns red  . 

Great for checking grounds .

Fantastic crimping tool . Perfect crimp every time . 

Cleaning up wiring cutting them to size and split wire loom them to give it  a factory install look . 

A few more pics below .

\Notice the battery location . Much better here .

After zip tying everything up I rechecked to see if it was working and to my surprise it did not . Found a broken ground wire and repaired it . 

Waiting for my truck type reverse buzzer to arrive . 

It's here.

 Wow now that is loud.