Out of the Box Thinking Brew Rig

Now that I have your attention: After looking at what seems like thousands of steel, aluminum & wood brew sculptures, I want to try something different. I am in the process of building an electric brew rig using a Cajun 10 gallon SS pot for the HLT, 15 gallon Sanke keg for the Boil Kettle, Igloo rectangular mash tun and a typical PID electric control panel. I also have a heavy duty Rubbermaid style 24"x36" cart that I have been thinking about using as the portable rig. The cart I have has a 500 lb. load capacity which is well within my design limits even when both kettles contain liquid. http://www.harborfreight.com/24-x-36-two-shelf-industrial-polypropylene-service-cart-69444.html

I am just an occasional all grain brewer so this unit will not get used every weekend. One of the concerns I have is the ability to heat the kettles without affecting the integrity of the plastic. I plan to set the kettles on a 1"x6" pine butcher block style base setting directly on the top shelf of the cart. Has anyone fabricated a similar type of setup? Do you have any data regarding the bottom temperature of a boiling Sanke kettle? All pictures and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

I've been thinking about doing the exact same thing. I've been looking for a wooden cart though. I'm not sure how the plastic cart would hold up to the heat. I imagine the butcher block would act as a good insulator and not let the plastic get to hot, but I'm not sure. Good luck with the build. I'm interested to see how it turns out.

Rickochet said:

Do you have any data regarding the bottom temperature of a boiling Sanke kettle? All pictures and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

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Umm...just shy of 212. I doubt you will not see that much heat transfer from the sanke base to the cart. The sanke bottom rim will keep it away from the plastic and should not be problem.

Perhaps even a folded bath towel on top of the cart would suffice.

When it's nice out I pull the power cord to my CP out the window and brew on two plastic Rubbermaid folding tables, I wondered if it might leave a mark but it doesn't. If your BK is in the center of a shelf over time I'd image it could start to sag.

Have you measured the temps at the base? I would estimate they are quite a bit cooler than the water temp. Heat rises and the kettle sheds about 10% of the heat value, so I am going to proceed with my build. I will post pictures and data as I go.

I work at a place and use those exact kind of carts every day. They will handle heat well and should clean with out to much trouble but they will probably stain over time. The only problem that I could possibly see is that they are kind of small and things would be tight once you put everything on there. If you have any more questions about then feel ferry to pm me.

I use a similar Rubbermaid cart to move my fermenter from the kitchen to my beer room. The main problem that I see is that the wheels are located sufficiently far under the shelf to allow the cart to be top heavy and a little unstable. It's not a problem with a 5 gallon fermenter, but I would be very leary of 7 to 8 gallons of HOT wort boiling away. A tipping accident could prove fatal.

+1 the wheelbase looks a bit short