Legs + Casters for Sanke fermenter?

[moxie]

I want to put some legs/casters on one of my slim sanke fermenters... Any idea how much this type of job would cost if farmed out to a local welder? I have no welding background whatsoever, but I would love to be able to roll my fermenter around and have it elevated to gravity fill corneys. I have seen this type of equipment listed on Ebay as a "Uni-Tank" fermenter. What would the metal cost? Any of you guys able/willing to do one of these up for me?

I made up a little MS Paint drawing to supplement my description:

[mr x]

How high to you need the legs? I might be able to come up with some ss angle for you.

[ratchet]

the other thing - if you're going to make it as tall as your sketch... you'll want a reinforcing hoop down by the wheels, or it'll likely break.

[moxie]

How high to you need the legs? I might be able to come up with some ss angle for you.

Well, just hoping for enough height to gravity fill a corny, whatever that is... 24 inches? I suppose a few inches less due to the height of the casters...

Ratchet makes a good point about the strength of the legs. Some sort of "hoop" around the bottom would work, right? Maybe a triangle would be easier since it could be made to any size.

I have no idea about the work/costs associated with welding, can anyone give me an idea about what I should expect to spend on a project like this?

Thanks for the info.

Seems a little overkill for a sanke fermenter, but it's all in the quest for better beer!

[mr x]

You know, I have no idea what people would charge to do that. But I should be able to get three pieces of SS angle for that. At the least, I can get 1/2" ss pipe for sure, which will do just as well I think, maybe better.

[ratchet]

your best bet for the welding is to find a small welding company and ask how much it would cost to stick em' together.

I'd expect anywhere from some beers to $40.00

[moxie]

You know, I have no idea what people would charge to do that. But I should be able to get three pieces of SS angle for that. At the least, I can get 1/2" ss pipe for sure, which will do just as well I think, maybe better.

Sounds perfect. How much do you want for it?

I've emailed a couple of welders from Kijiji, so hopefully I can figure out an overall cost for this stuff, then start moving ahead with it!

[mr x]

Don't worry about price. How quick do you need this stuff?

[moxie]

No rush, like most of you guys I've got about a million "projects" on the go. You can send me a PM or email me if you find anything, and we will work out a fair price. Is anyone as intrigued about this concept as I am?

[mr x]

I can probably find something by next week. It's an interesting idea, but just isn't practical for my brewing setup.

Until I break some discs in my back.

[Jmac00]

price up those oil drum dollies at princess auto. If they're cheap, that could be the bottom part perhaps...would save some fab time.

[ratchet]

oh... one other thing... you may want to look at flaring the legs out (make them further apart at the base), it will help prevent the sanke from being extremely top-heavy (read: tippy)

[derek]

I can probably find something by next week. It's an interesting idea, but just isn't practical for my brewing setup.

Until I break some discs in my back.

That's why we have pumps. Don't know what our vacuum pump cost, but less than a stainless sankey with legs, I guess!

[moxie]

I would think so.

By the way, this is the one offered for sale online:



As you can see, this one has been fixed with a corny lid and ball lock fittings... Pretty awesome little toy there. The lid would be a bit more convenient in moving beer with C02 (instead of pumps) pressurized fermentation, etc. You could also use this one vessel to ferment, secondary and carb! Hell, you could probably even serve from it. I am not going nearly that complicated, just want to get it off the ground/mobile so that I can drain into corny kegs and roll it around.

[mr x]

Yeah, that's probably solid with good welds. The slim style might be a bit more tippy, but should be ok. The main issue will be getting the legs parallel, but they should have enough bend to get them right.

[ratchet]

wait... don't the sankes have a large lip on the bottom that you could bolt to??

if so - you could easily drill through the ends of the tube, then put a bolt through the whole thing, clamping it all together with a few pieces of bar (hell... since it's not going to touch the beer, you could use aluminum)....

Gimme a few minutes and I'll throw up a sketch of what I'm talking about over my lunch .

[moxie]

What does it take to drill through stainless steel?? Would that be an alternative to welding?

Looking forward to the ideas... The concept is percolating nicely now.

[mr x]

I was thinking of drilling and bolting as well. I think there's enough space to get two bolts in each leg. Not hard at all, but you will need a half decent drill and bits. I think 5/16" - 3/8" bolts should be enough.

[ratchet]

like this - the casters can be bought at any hardware store, and the support band at the top can just be a few large hose-clamps.




make it from 6061-T6 Aluminum - it's easy to get... relatively cheap... and it's easy to work with (hand-drill and hacksaw easy).

If you do use aluminum... be sure to use washers on all of your bolts.

[moxie]

I need to build that! What type of aluminum should I use? Bolts would probably be better than welds since I could remove if I needed to.

[derek]

Gimme a few minutes and I'll throw up a sketch of what I'm talking about over my lunch .

Fortunately you didn't throw up your lunch over the sketch...