What is this cart ?

warsteiner · May 25, 2015

I am trying to figure out what this cart was used for. It is really heavy duty and the lever on the back is a brake. It is fairly old, the tires and casters are still US made.
One of my neighbors thinks it might be an old ammo/artillery shell carrier.

Any idea or input is appreciated.

IronMonster · May 25, 2015

Probably not what it was used for, but I have used a cart much like that for moving heavy beams around. I worked on a bridge crane install crew and for moving the runway and bridge beams into place many times you need a cart such as this to get them to where they can be picked

Unka-Boo · May 25, 2015

That would make an awesome welding cart.

Provincial · May 25, 2015

It looks like a smaller version of the cart used to calibrate a truck scale. Those are motorized, including a small hoist, and much larger because they use very heavy weights.

This one looks like it had a hoist bolted to the flat plate with four holes. The weights would have been carried on the open end near the dual wheels. Lift off weights onto the scale deck, wheel the cart off the deck and check the scale reading versus the known total weight of the test weights.

Just Jim · May 25, 2015

Looks like a cart for an arc welder.

Certaindeaf · May 25, 2015

K-mart ammo shopping cart from back in the old days.

mjbskwim · May 25, 2015

I'm going with Monster.It would make a great welding cart but no need for duallies .
It was for something heavy moved by man power,hence the brake

Garg · May 25, 2015

Based on the frame that it has, I would think it was purpose built to move what ever was the size of that frame. Not a usual item, such as a welder or beam mover, but something very specialized.

warsteiner · May 25, 2015

It definitely looks purpose built. It is well made and doesn't appear to have been done by somebody with to much time or to many cold beverages.

WAYNO · May 25, 2015

My guess is it is a cart locally fabricated for just one specialized purpose. At my work, we often had to rig very specialized equipment, and often built rigging equipment and carts that we'd use only to handle that one piece of equipment. There were many times a large and/or heavy piece of machinery would need maintenance where there was nearly zero access for rigging. We'd rig it onto a cart, bolt it to the cart, and roll it out to where we could access it for more conventional rigging.

Further looking at the photo, I might also be inclined to think this was just a welder cart or something similar.

WAYNO.