25lb Little Giant

[HWHII]

I would like to make my 25lb Little Giant portable. Has anyone seen anything that may be useful or ideas to make this happen?

[macbruce]

I would like to make my 25lb Little Giant portable. Has anyone seen anything that may be useful or ideas to make this happen?

Get a horse.....

Or maybe a truck with a lift gate...........

[ThomasPowers]

Pep made a bracket for his pnuematic cherry picker that would grap a LG at the inside top of the C and then could be easily pushed around on it's casters. Of course his was a 50# IIRC.

[trying-it]

Not sure how much this will help, but the 100# LG I bought was mounted (and still is) on what I would call a base frame.

Frame is slightly larger than the machine's total footprint and it is fabricated from 3 pcs of I-beam (flat down ), covered by a sheet of 1" plate steel welded to all 3 beams, covered with a sheet of 3/4" plywood bolted to plate. Entire unit can be easily moved with a small forklift or a hydraulic hand pallete truck. Power cord is a 3-phase cord and plug ends that I call the "plug 'n play" wiring method. To date this machine has been used as is and where ever set without any additional bolting down. It was used this way at last yr's hammerin here by all that attended.

A note on the plywood used, it does make the unit a lot quieter during operation.

Sorry I am still at other farm healing or I would gladly get a few measurements and pics to post. Can do shortly if needed and requested.

[HWHII]

Not sure how much this will help, but the 100# LG I bought was mounted (and still is) on what I would call a base frame.

Frame is slightly larger than the machine's total footprint and it is fabricated from 3 pcs of I-beam (flat down ), covered by a sheet of 1" plate steel welded to all 3 beams, covered with a sheet of 3/4" plywood bolted to plate. Entire unit can be easily moved with a small forklift or a hydraulic hand pallete truck. Power cord is a 3-phase cord and plug ends that I call the "plug 'n play" wiring method. To date this machine has been used as is and where ever set without any additional bolting down. It was used this way at last yr's hammerin here by all that attended.

A note on the plywood used, it does make the unit a lot quieter during operation.

Sorry I am still at other farm healing or I would gladly get a few measurements and pics to post. Can do shortly if needed and requested.

Thanks! You discribed it very well and sounds like a good start. I am trying to come up with a drop wheel set up. I am thinking on using some flat free all terrian wheels.

[Bentiron1946]

Harold, At one time I was thinking of putting it on a base of 3"x3" heavy duty box tubing with a 3/4" steel plate with a 6" heavy duty box tube up the back to a trailer hitch and then have a trailer axle that was sufficient to carry the load. This was so that all I had to do was use the 6" box tube as a fulcrum to stand the hammer up or to pull it back down onto the wheels to tow it where ever I want to. Add lights and breaks to the trailer plus a box for hammer tooling and sure enough some other smith could make a real steal!
You could also rig it up with some out riggers or better stability, you know like cranes have, these could be blot on or pin on, just something to keep it from toppling over.
So other than that, how are things going? :huh:

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

Portable as in in the shop, or across state lines to a hammer in?

In shop, put risers under it, and look for a pallet jack. I have bought them for $25-$50 used.

Put an axle across the back, and a spot to stick an automotive hydraulic jack in the front. The jack has the swivel plate for steering.

Now for heading out of town, I would look at the small landscaping trailers that hydraulically lower to the ground. The city I grew up in had some for the riding mowers that were used in the parks. They lowered straight down till they were flat on the ground as the side mounted axles pivoted upwards. This way they could drive straight onto the trailer, then pump the whole mess up with the hand pump mounted on the tongue. Could do the same thing with air bags.

[Bentiron1946]

Big Gun, That's a heck of an idea! The hydraulic thing that is, put a hydraulic ram to raise it into position and lower it like they use on the landscape dump trailers. A small battery operated hydraulic pump and a ram will raise it up to sit on a structural steel box tube and steel plate base with some additional hydraulic levelers or maybe for that just some heavy duty screw jacks to take the load off of the trailer and them start hammering away. You could even have a generator on board to run the electric motor or run a line shaft to work other old tools like an old drill press, grinder or what ever else you can collect. You can have a portable old time blacksmith shop on wheels to go do your demos with. :P

[HWHII]

Harold, At one time I was thinking of putting it on a base of 3"x3" heavy duty box tubing with a 3/4" steel plate with a 6" heavy duty box tube up the back to a trailer hitch and then have a trailer axle that was sufficient to carry the load. This was so that all I had to do was use the 6" box tube as a fulcrum to stand the hammer up or to pull it back down onto the wheels to tow it where ever I want to. Add lights and breaks to the trailer plus a box for hammer tooling and sure enough some other smith could make a real steal!
You could also rig it up with some out riggers or better stability, you know like cranes have, these could be blot on or pin on, just something to keep it from toppling over.
So other than that, how are things going?

Jerry this a great idea! I am going to give it some thought. Things here are normal or as close as they get around here. Thanks for asking! ;)

[HWHII]

Portable as in in the shop, or across state lines to a hammer in?

In shop, put risers under it, and look for a pallet jack. I have bought them for $25-$50 used.

Put an axle across the back, and a spot to stick an automotive hydraulic jack in the front. The jack has the swivel plate for steering.

Now for heading out of town, I would look at the small landscaping trailers that hydraulically lower to the ground. The city I grew up in had some for the riding mowers that were used in the parks. They lowered straight down till they were flat on the ground as the side mounted axles pivoted upwards. This way they could drive straight onto the trailer, then pump the whole mess up with the hand pump mounted on the tongue. Could do the same thing with air bags.

I would like to take it out for demos. I have a enclosed trailer with a welder in it and would like to load it in there along with all the rest of the gear.

[AndrewOC]

Hi All,
I have seen a photo of an Alldays & Onions mounted on railway sleepers/ railroad ties. It was powered by an old tractor- flat belt drive. The hammer was probably a 2cwt, it sat on the ground. This was a demo set up at the 2009 National Historical Machinery Association rally at Murray Bridge.
I think the photo is in someones' album- a real one of paper! Try as I might I can't find it online.

Do tell us how big a footprint is needed under the 25lb-er to stop it toppling over in use on plain ground; I'm thinking of doing this with my Duffy, Todd & Williams which is about a 75lb spring hammer, and hook it up to my mates stationery engines.

enjoy!
AndrewOC

[peacock]

I would like to make my 25lb Little Giant portable. Has anyone seen anything that may be useful or ideas to make this happen?

I move my hammer around alot, several domos a year the best thing
I have found is as follows. I bolt my 25# to a 30x48x5/8 plate.
Drill and tap, put belting between the hammer and plate to make sure
the draft on the bottom of the hammer does not pull the outer edges
of the plate up. When you want to move the hammer pry the edge
up put some 3/4 round under it and on a good floor it will roll
with ease. When you haul it the larger footprint makes it much
more stable.

[DonS]

I have a Jardine 25 Lb Canadian Giant, almost identical to the original LG. I need to be able to move it around in my garage, so I did the following:
I bolted the base to a 30-inch x 3/4 inch steel disk with the back trimmed to fit a pair of 6-inch wheels.
There is a 1/8 inch "gasket" between the disk and the casting to match the irrecularities of the base.
There are two layers of 3/4 inch exterior grade plywood under the steel disk to raise the hammer up a bit.
On the steel disk, a few inches behind the center of gravity, I welded a pair of steel bushings to accept axle stubs.
When I want to move the hammer, I pry up the steel disk about 3/8 inch and insert an axle/wheel assembly. One on each side.
The front of the disk has a 1/2 inch thick steel loop attached, which I use to lift the front edge, and drag the hammer into place.
I still have to make a "Y" shaped bracket with a castor at the front and a hook in the center to grab the loop so that I can roll the hammer around more easily.
With the wheels in place, there is just over 1/8 inch clearance to the floor. The wheels are hard polymer material with very little give and rated at 2000 lb. I have run the hammer with the wheels attached, but I normally take them off.

I will try to load up some photos.

Note: I originally had 1/4 inch rubber from a truck box liner under the plywood, but the hammer rocked from side to side at some speeds. I removed the rubber and just have the plywood sitting on the concrete, and it is OK now.

I also have a 34 lb Rusty style hammer, and originally had it on a small trailer so that I could haul it outside for storage. Even with the jack stands in place, it did not hit very hard until I moved the hammer over to a solid base. The original anvil/ram ratio was 8:1. I replaced the trailer with a 300 lb bench firmly standing on the floor, it now is OK.

-Don

[HWHII]

Don, Thanks for the photos. This is what I was originally thinking off but with larger all terrian tires and a axle which will drop and lock it to place when the hammer is tilted. I would like to have 4 wheels altogether. There has been some good ideas here. I am thinking about combining some of them together. I am not in a hurry so I have some time to think it out.

[Bentiron1946]

When Mr. Kenyon first started making his hammer, one rainy night a friend and I went out to his place to take a look see, it was then that I first started thinking of building a smaller version that was portable for demonstrations. I thought it would be easy to get a smaller "I" beam and attach a small trailer axle and springs to the beam and a hitch and tow it anywhere I wanted to. However like a lot of things in life getting the crap knocked out of me by some fellow trying to stuff a Binky back in his kids mouth and ramming his pickup truck into my car sure changed a lot of things. I still have a dream every once in awhile of building such a hammer. That way you could really do a "hammer in" up right. Every body bringing in their own air hammer. What fun that would be! :D

[Dragons lair]

When Mr. Kenyon first started making his hammer, one rainy night a friend and I went out to his place to take a look see, it was then that I first started thinking of building a smaller version that was portable for demonstrations. I thought it would be easy to get a smaller "I" beam and attach a small trailer axle and springs to the beam and a hitch and tow it anywhere I wanted to. However like a lot of things in life getting the crap knocked out of me by some fellow trying to stuff a Binky back in his kids mouth and ramming his pickup truck into my car sure changed a lot of things. I still have a dream every once in awhile of building such a hammer. That way you could really do a "hammer in" up right. Every body bringing in their own air hammer. What fun that would be!

Hey Bent, My thoughts exactly. Found a guy who shrunk a Kinyon to bench size. Sadly no info on how to. Would love to have a small portable hammer. Roll it out when needed roll it ina corner when not. Wish ya well my bro. 12 yrs ago
the bone man said " hope ya have a deskjob" Told him "I work with hot iron" He said ya won't last a yr. For me it's mind (and burbon) over matter. Re met a guy today say's "I got metal poisoning from 3 yrs inna shop" Told him I
spent 40yrs heating and beating and still going hard. 15 yrs ago Doc said DON'T even pick up a pencil. Today I
Removed a 300+ lb mower. Weldid it and reinstaled it. Works great. I have every intention of dieing doing what
makes me happy. Remember pain tells ya ya are alive. pain is good. Uncle Sam taught me that.
K

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

And now for something completely different..................


Air cushion, like a hovercraft. Some refineries move the huge storage tanks with nothing more than medium farm tractor, and a blower.

48"x48" = 2,304 square inches of area, so 1psi would lift 2,304#. 5psi would lift 11,520#.


Some rubber skirt on a base, and a gas engine powered backpack blower might do the job.


Now to be real blacksmithy you could use hand crank forge blowers B)