- Joined
- Nov 12, 2002
- Location
- Rootstown, OH
I wanted to share how I deal with my 150L dewar with everyone. You may have seen bits and pieces elsewhere, as many of you helped me figure out how to get the dewar onto and off of my truck... I ended up keeping it simple and it worked out pretty well.
I started by buying a set of tailgate ramps which cost about $20 and a pair of 8' 2x8's, however they had too much give when I got out in the middle of them. So I also bought a pair of 7' 2x4's to stiffen them up, and a 2' x 8' piece of OSB as a surface on top to make it easier to walk over. All in, it was probably about $60 worth of materials total.
This is what I came out with, and its great, but its HEAVY:
This is how I store it:
Then I also needed a better hand truck - my previous hand truck was only rated for 250-300 pounds, which worked fine for getting my old 50L up and down stairs, but just wouldn't cut it for the 500LB 150L dewar.
Here they are side by side:
The new hand truck cost me about $150, but was well worth it as it handles the weight pretty well, and it has another pair of wheels that lock into place and support the weight vertically - this makes it much easier to control the dewar on the ramp.
Here's the truck with the wheels locked into place:
Here's the ramp on the truck:
Here's another shot of the ramp, to give you an idea of the decline with an 8ft ramp. I park truck with the rear wheels at the lowest point in the drive to minimize the decline:
Here's the locking pins, which keep the ramps from slipping off the tailgate while I'm walking down it. I drilled 4 holes in my tailgate, I only use 2, and I had to remove the tailgate liner or otherwise it was near impossible to get the pins in:
Here's how I transport the dewar. Just 2 straps hooked onto the storage box... They are really tight, and hold well. I've had the dewar tip once against the side rail of the bed when the straps weren't tight enough and I was going too fast on the entrance ramp to the highway - I just pulled over, set it back upright, and tightened them up. I always tighten them now until I can see the eyelets on the storage box flex:
To unload, I strap the dewar onto the hand truck first, again very tightly. This hand truck is flat on the back which is less ideal for moving a cylinder but it holds fine as long as its strapped tightly.
Then I just lower the legs, and give it a tip before going down the ramp:
It also makes it easy to wheel around the garage:
And right next to my benching table - its pretty cool having it right there, no tipping, and I fill directly off the spout into my thermos. Pretty convenient once its in place:
Thats it.
I started by buying a set of tailgate ramps which cost about $20 and a pair of 8' 2x8's, however they had too much give when I got out in the middle of them. So I also bought a pair of 7' 2x4's to stiffen them up, and a 2' x 8' piece of OSB as a surface on top to make it easier to walk over. All in, it was probably about $60 worth of materials total.
This is what I came out with, and its great, but its HEAVY:
This is how I store it:
Then I also needed a better hand truck - my previous hand truck was only rated for 250-300 pounds, which worked fine for getting my old 50L up and down stairs, but just wouldn't cut it for the 500LB 150L dewar.
Here they are side by side:
The new hand truck cost me about $150, but was well worth it as it handles the weight pretty well, and it has another pair of wheels that lock into place and support the weight vertically - this makes it much easier to control the dewar on the ramp.
Here's the truck with the wheels locked into place:
Here's the ramp on the truck:
Here's another shot of the ramp, to give you an idea of the decline with an 8ft ramp. I park truck with the rear wheels at the lowest point in the drive to minimize the decline:
Here's the locking pins, which keep the ramps from slipping off the tailgate while I'm walking down it. I drilled 4 holes in my tailgate, I only use 2, and I had to remove the tailgate liner or otherwise it was near impossible to get the pins in:
Here's how I transport the dewar. Just 2 straps hooked onto the storage box... They are really tight, and hold well. I've had the dewar tip once against the side rail of the bed when the straps weren't tight enough and I was going too fast on the entrance ramp to the highway - I just pulled over, set it back upright, and tightened them up. I always tighten them now until I can see the eyelets on the storage box flex:
To unload, I strap the dewar onto the hand truck first, again very tightly. This hand truck is flat on the back which is less ideal for moving a cylinder but it holds fine as long as its strapped tightly.
Then I just lower the legs, and give it a tip before going down the ramp:
It also makes it easy to wheel around the garage:
And right next to my benching table - its pretty cool having it right there, no tipping, and I fill directly off the spout into my thermos. Pretty convenient once its in place:
Thats it.
