Excalibur
15-11-2015, 11:26 AM
Recently, I've had a lot of venues with access by some atrocious paving, with huge valleys to trap the solid wheels on my cart, and shake the load off in a short time. I reached breaking point recently, and decided something had to be done.
First of all, I've had one of these (https://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/cpf300-heavy-duty-platform-truck) for ages, and it has served me well. it wasn't perfect by any means, and I got a big improvement by fastening a larger platform made from 3/4" ply on top of the existing one. This meant that my boxes fitted much better.
I've ordered some thumbscrews to allow easier fitting and removal of the handle, so that's another step forward.
The biggest improvement however, came from new running gear. For ages, I've agonised over spending £60 on pneumatic tyres. Finally, I bit the bullet, and purchased these. (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181308177466?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT)
Fitting them isn't a straight swap, we had to grind off the original bolts, and drill new fixing holes. Having done that, and put it all back together, I was very apprehensive, as it's now very heavy, and had the potential to be a costly mistake. A quick trip round the yard with my Father as the load was encouraging, but I still wasn't convinced I'd done the right thing.
Until last night. Wow. A very rough surface, with areas of gravel to negotiate, and a long distance to boot. The new running gear was fantastic, and there weren't the customary vibrations and dead stops as the solid wheels locked in a bad joint. Not only that, but it's way way quieter, which will be a huge bonus for a couple of venues.
There's a bit of fine tuning to do, like the F1 teams, I need to find the optimum tyre pressures, but already it's a huge improvement. Just to add a note of caution to anyone contemplating a similar conversion, it makes it very heavy to lift in and out of the vehicle, and fitting isn't just a case of bolting the new ones to existing fixings. Still a very worthwhile mod for me though.
First of all, I've had one of these (https://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/cpf300-heavy-duty-platform-truck) for ages, and it has served me well. it wasn't perfect by any means, and I got a big improvement by fastening a larger platform made from 3/4" ply on top of the existing one. This meant that my boxes fitted much better.
I've ordered some thumbscrews to allow easier fitting and removal of the handle, so that's another step forward.
The biggest improvement however, came from new running gear. For ages, I've agonised over spending £60 on pneumatic tyres. Finally, I bit the bullet, and purchased these. (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181308177466?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT)
Fitting them isn't a straight swap, we had to grind off the original bolts, and drill new fixing holes. Having done that, and put it all back together, I was very apprehensive, as it's now very heavy, and had the potential to be a costly mistake. A quick trip round the yard with my Father as the load was encouraging, but I still wasn't convinced I'd done the right thing.
Until last night. Wow. A very rough surface, with areas of gravel to negotiate, and a long distance to boot. The new running gear was fantastic, and there weren't the customary vibrations and dead stops as the solid wheels locked in a bad joint. Not only that, but it's way way quieter, which will be a huge bonus for a couple of venues.
There's a bit of fine tuning to do, like the F1 teams, I need to find the optimum tyre pressures, but already it's a huge improvement. Just to add a note of caution to anyone contemplating a similar conversion, it makes it very heavy to lift in and out of the vehicle, and fitting isn't just a case of bolting the new ones to existing fixings. Still a very worthwhile mod for me though.