Pro Audio Design Forum

The replacement handles arrived and fatter then the originals so will require some tweaking. It looks like most of the holes line up fairly well

I already sheared one steel bolt in half, that one had a painted on nut.

Still have a few bolts to go... I have to hack away the wood so I can grab the bolt shaft with vise grip... not easy but not that hard.

Progress

JR

Nice progress... I had to use the long carriage bolts I bought to secure the pan last time I fixed this.
The thicker new handle cross section doesn't fit into the old cross brace, you can still see in first picture above. This cross brace supported using shorter smaller cross section wood handles. Since I now have single piece full length handles that are more robust, I think I can just forget the cross brace.

I am almost tempted to ask my neighbor with his table saw to cut up some new wedges, but these are not structural so I can reuse the tired old ones, its only cosmetic. The pan attachment bolts just go through the wedges. The wedges bolted to the cross brace no doubt to improve strength, with the old puny handles.

I think this wheelbarrow is part cat, and now on it's third or fourth life.

JR

PS: While searching prices to consider replacing the pan, I found a new complete wheelbarrow for only $50...

From a familiar story about an old axe.
When the pan is worn out, you change it, when the handles are worn out, you change them, but that still is the same wheelbarrow.

I need to rebuild my wheel barrow which is exactly like yours JR.

mediatechnology wrote: ↑Thu Nov 12, 2020 8:03 pm I need to rebuild my wheel barrow which is exactly like yours JR.

I hope its in better shape, I probably should have replaced my pan last time.

Apparently this is a classic design (AMES) that farmers (and cheap people like me) have been repairing forever.

They make plastic pans/trays, but steel seems like the right material, to take a licking and keep ticking.

I have hauled tons with the puppy, and it was given to me free by a neighbor who junked it years ago. This will make the 3rd time I repaired it, and most expensive.

First time was <$10 of wood from Lowes to replace rotted/termite eaten wood struts (original design handle was separate from rest of wood and standard 2x2 struts fit the brackets.

Second time I fixed it was maybe $10-15 worth of carriage bolts, washers, and red paint.

This third time, new handle set was like $38 or so...

I haven't seen any new wheelbarrow designs that make me wish I had one of them. I do take some pleasure from keeping this one in service so my neighbor can see me using it.

A replacement pan/tray for next time will be more like $50-$100

JR

More drama than expected but its back in service... already has the old handle wood loaded into it to carry over to the burn pile tomorrow.

JR

I love the irony/imagery in that photo.
The circle of life of a wheel barrow.

The fatter cross section handles are mostly a good thing but caused two problems.

The cross brace didn't fit, but in my judgement it was more about holding two shorter and smaller pieces together, instead of one long piece. I left it off and the wheelbarrow seems rigid enough.

The second issue was that my longer then useful for almost anything else, carriage bolts were not long enough in the front to reach all the way through the wedge and new fatter handle to catch thread with a nut holding on the legs. I resolved that by trimming about 3/4" off the fat end of the wedge...

Lastly the bolt pattern for the steel pan didn't line up with the predrilled holes in the handle, missed by about 1" front to back, easily resolved with my drill.

I can imagine making DIY handles with standard 2x2 lumber, but even I'm not that cheap.

JR

[update I am still considering replacing the pan/tray... best street price looks like $50... either $25 with $25 shipping, or $50 with free shipping. The dealer is in TX so probably $25 if you pick up from the store. I'm OK for now, maybe next year.

I have seen steel handles ($28 ea), of course they will be harder to tweak if any holes don't line up. /update]

new entropy incident...


Apparently the t&p relief valve on my hot water heater released some water into my laundry room, not much, but noticeable.

The problem troubleshooting temperature and pressure is figuring out which it was that caused the release...

I confirmed that my my hot tap water while near 150' was consistent with the thermostat setting is < than the 210' threshold for the relief valve. The over pressure threshold is 150# and I don't expect my tap water to be problematic (they suggest it should be less than 50#).

Just to be safe, I lowered the thermostat setting to more like 140' upper and 130' lower thermostat (separate thermostats for the two heat elements).

It looks like a one time release so far and I have a replacement t&p relief valve on order.

The hang tag on the relief valve says to check them every two to four years. It sounds like they expect you to remove it to inspect for evidence of overheating.

We'll see what I see after I get it out to inspect. At least another week until the replacement arrives.

JR

The hang tag on the relief valve says to check them every two to four years. It sounds like they expect you to remove it to inspect for evidence of overheating.

Isn't it simply operating the valve ( open then close ) without removal.
This to make sure it is not stuck.
Acid waters make corrosion. Alkaline waters make limestone scale. Choose your doom.
Some leak at the valve is normal, it is there to take care of expanding variations while temperature goes up, to make sure it will leak instead of the heater tank busting.