240g tank move DIY

[bullet reef]

I am going to be picking up a 240g tank setup about 4 hrs away from my home and because this tank is hrs away and it would be so difficult to find enough people to help in both places, my innovative husband came up with a different plan... he built a tank mover.

The ledge sticking out on the left will have a hand winch bolted to it rated for 1200 lbs. The top is a platform made of 2x4s. It is bolted in with colored bolts so he can quickly identify which screws to unbolt when we get it out to his truck. The tank will be wrapped to protect it and then have a strap around it and be connected to the hands winch cable. The winch will be cranked and the tank will slide onto the platform/mover straight from the same level that it's currently at on it's stand slowly and gently... then it'll be strapped to the cart and rolled out to the truck and the hand winch will be unbolted from the rolling cart and bolted to a 2x6 that is in the truck bed. And then the tank will slowly be pulled into the truck, gear by gear. We may use a floor jack to raise it to the level it needs to be to be the same as the current stand and the same level as the tailgate. He made it a little shorter to give the room to work with whatever height we need it to be and we'll also use wedges to go under the cart to help accomplish this. So, what could possibly go wrong!? Lol :/

Half done

Finished

What do y'all think? 240g tank move DIY

 

[Saltgator]

Good job! I think it will be fine. GL

Country Boy using tapatalk on his EVO

 

[bullet reef]

Good job! I think it will be fine. GL

Country Boy using tapatalk on his EVO

Thanks!

 

[tidus10]

i have those caster wheels on a rack of mine (about 80lbs) and they dont move well under weight. id be cautious with them for sure

 

[bullet reef]

4 new tires and wheel housings

$69 I wish I could've put towards corals... :thumbdown:

Winch rated for 1200lbs

Cable rated for 840lbs

There were a couple of things really bothering me about the cart, one being that the legs didn't go down and rest on top of the bottom wood pieces so all the weight would be supported by the screws (which he said were more than sufficient... but...) and two: the casters not rolling well and smoothly. He got all ****ed when I told him I wanted him to take off the wheels and put on pneumatic tires instead and told him I don't like how the legs of the cart don't rest on top of the bottom pieces so all the weight is on the screws. He told me he was 100% positive it was fine the way he built it and was not gonna change it.....yesterday he came home with tires and large deck bolts that can hold 300lbs each bolt to fix the wood I wasn't happy with. :-D
I didn't even know he was going to do that or even thinking about it! I was shocked!

Hoping to be able to pick it up next weekend as long as the weather is nice and my husband is off work.

 

[larangcon]

That's a monster tank, great job on the tank mover, very clever...

 

[tidus10]

those wheels are way better!! good call! didnt mean to make you spend an extra $80 but the piece of mind is priceless. Now get that tank home! ^__^

 

[bullet reef]

those wheels are way better!! good call! didnt mean to make you spend an extra $80 but the piece of mind is priceless. Now get that tank home! ^__^

I agree! Peace of mind is definitely worth it and it wasn't just cuz of you... I wouldn't have pushed the issue with the hubby if I didn't feel strongly about it as well

That's a monster tank, great job on the tank mover, very clever...

Thanks

 

[Planedoc]

Nice mover

Harbor freight is really good on returns

Tapatalk on Galaxy S3

 

[bullet reef]

Today's the big day!!!! Wish us luck and say a few prayers if you think about it. Lol
I'm really nervous....

 

[roc5288]

Good luck with the move.


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[bullet reef]

Thank you!

 

[tidus10]

GOOD LUCK!!


~Tidus

 

[Bayoureef]

Good luck with the move. I moved my 240 acrylic with stand into my house by myself. I had a trailer and furniture dollies. I used 1" wooden dowels to roll it off the trailer. I didn't notice your location until I saw the Harbor Freight receipt. Nice to see another big tank in Shreveport. I have made many drives to Dallas to pick up equipment, corals, and fish from DFWMAS member and their LFS's.

 

[roc5288]

Just take your time. And take your time again. I broke the side panel of my 240 during a move.
Again good luck.
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[bullet reef]

Good luck with the move. I moved my 240 acrylic with stand into my house by myself. I had a trailer and furniture dollies. I used 1" wooden dowels to roll it off the trailer. I didn't notice your location until I saw the Harbor Freight receipt. Nice to see another big tank in Shreveport. I have made many drives to Dallas to pick up equipment, corals, and fish from DFWMAS member and their LFS's.

Awesome! So glad to find another Shreveport reefer! I knew there had to be more of us around here! I just moved to LA from Southern California at the end of Jan where I was involved in 3 reef clubs. I've been kinda bummed there are so few reefers around here. Did you go to Nextwave? MACNA?
That's cool that you moved yours all by yourself. We get innovative when we need to, huh!
I'd love to see your tank sometime! And maybe we could do some frag trading. Another Shreveport reefer and I have been talking about starting a club so North LA reefers can get together and network.

GOOD LUCK!!


~Tidus

Thanks Tidus!

 

[bullet reef]

Just take your time. And take your time again. I broke the side panel of my 240 during a move.
Again good luck.
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That's terrible. Sorry to hear! I'm praying everything will go well. What happened to cause it to break? Other than taking our time, do you have any other advice for us to avoid something like that happening to us?

 

[roc5288]

My mistake, was purely my own fault. Both side panels of the tank were drilled for a closed loop. Tank was in wall. When I moved the tank I don't know what possessed me to leave the bulkhead in. I wasn't moving far. I guess when I stopped the truck, tank slide just enough for the tank to moved. Hitting bulkhead breaking the glass.

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[bullet reef]

My mistake, was purely my own fault. Both side panels of the tank were drilled for a closed loop. Tank was in wall. When I moved the tank I don't know what possessed me to leave the bulkhead in. I wasn't moving far. I guess when I stopped the truck, tank slide just enough for the tank to moved. Hitting bulkhead breaking the glass.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

Awww man... I know that had to be one of those moments where you were just so ****** at yourself! I know we've all had them.
Did you replace the panel or just get a new tank?

 

[roc5288]

I was just so disgusted I went ahead and picked up new tank.

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