RustyBus
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- 124
So my dad called me up and said he was fed up with having to charge 12V batteries to run the electric fence. A bit of research showed that a panel of about 12W should keep the battery charged all year round. Maplins had some on sale (Part No. N31XC) for £40 so I volunteered to go a pick one up. Unfortunately I failed to look at the dimensions, it only just fitted into the car boot. There was no point in giving it to him like that, he would just prop it up on a fence post until it got knocked over and broken. The only solution was a stand to hold it.
A quick sketch of the design:
A quick flick through E-Bay for some material £18 for 4off 2.5m 20x20mm 2mm wall square tubes from ukroy which I picked up as he's local to me.
Cut the material up, only required 2 lengths and still had some left over.
Here I got a bit carried away and welded it all up without taking any pictures in between. I guess it doesn't matter on the order but the way I went was:
1) bend sides at the 30 deg joint and weld
2) hammer over the points on the ends, this left a bit of a gap but it was easy to fill with a bit of weld and the grind back.
3) attach all the cross members to one side first.
4) line up the other side and attach.
5) Add a couple of caps to the tops of the uprights.
and this is how it ended up.
Next I laid on the panel, marked out the holes, drilled and at tapped m4.
Trial fitted.
Next I painted it with hammerite smooth spray paint.
Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the unit installed in the field but it inserted up to the cross member and holds solid.
If I were to do another one the changes I would make would be:
1) make the top joints at 45 deg to avoid the 2 capping bits.
2) make the spikes at the bottom by cutting off the tube and using a piece of plate to close of the tube.
3) use anything but hammerite, even after careful degreasing it barely adhered.
Cost: £9 plus a bit of paint.
Time: An afternoon and an evening for paint.
This is the first time I have been welding new steel instead of a rusty VW bus, what a difference! Perhaps I need to cut the rusty metal back a bit further in future.
Arran.
A quick sketch of the design:
A quick flick through E-Bay for some material £18 for 4off 2.5m 20x20mm 2mm wall square tubes from ukroy which I picked up as he's local to me.
Cut the material up, only required 2 lengths and still had some left over.
Here I got a bit carried away and welded it all up without taking any pictures in between. I guess it doesn't matter on the order but the way I went was:
1) bend sides at the 30 deg joint and weld
2) hammer over the points on the ends, this left a bit of a gap but it was easy to fill with a bit of weld and the grind back.
3) attach all the cross members to one side first.
4) line up the other side and attach.
5) Add a couple of caps to the tops of the uprights.
and this is how it ended up.
Next I laid on the panel, marked out the holes, drilled and at tapped m4.
Trial fitted.
Next I painted it with hammerite smooth spray paint.
Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the unit installed in the field but it inserted up to the cross member and holds solid.
If I were to do another one the changes I would make would be:
1) make the top joints at 45 deg to avoid the 2 capping bits.
2) make the spikes at the bottom by cutting off the tube and using a piece of plate to close of the tube.
3) use anything but hammerite, even after careful degreasing it barely adhered.
Cost: £9 plus a bit of paint.
Time: An afternoon and an evening for paint.
This is the first time I have been welding new steel instead of a rusty VW bus, what a difference! Perhaps I need to cut the rusty metal back a bit further in future.
Arran.