light weight portable brewstand ideas needed

[Rivenin]

Hey all!

So i have my brewstand now... previously it was a simple brutus 20 setup, however, my father in law got me a cooler that i turned into a mash tun, so now i need to change up my brewery a bit.

However, when i'm brewing, 90% of the time it's in the back yard on the deck, now the problem comes into play with it being a larger brew stand, thus having more weight.
Right now it weighs maybe 20-30lbs, which isn't bad, but i have to lug it across the yard from the shed (pics below) and up some steps and it's a pain, so i've been trying to think of some sort of something that is cheap and very light that i can lug across the yard during brew days...


Here is the brew stand and shed pics.

basically, i pull it from the shed to the side of the deck to the stairs and put it right next to where i'm standing, so lugging that stand is kind of a pain in the butt.

anyone have ideas for a ligth weight stand? i bought a conference table (one in the brew stand pic on the left) thinking it'd work, but alas, it started bowing in the middle after 3 brews

originally i was thinking 3 of these (as i have one, that currently holds the HLT on brew days now a days, works just fine) but i'd like something a little more fancy

 

[Photopilot]

My current stand is made of 2x4s. It is collapsible each component weights little, but putting it together on a daily basis would outweigh other inconveniences.

You should build a nice single tier brew platform out on your porch and tell your wife it is a picnic table when the brew gear is not on top.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[maierhof]

I take it you seen the thread with all of the brewstands, right?
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/show-us-your-sculpture-brew-rig-46578/

Also, thinking about your needs makes me think of the ladder approach... just a thought.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/brew-ladder-443254/

 

[teesherv]

I use two lightweight AV carts. They have locking wheels, so easy to move, and the height is adjustable. I got lucky and a local school was getting rid of some due to an upgrade.

 

[tom_hampton]

I have a very similar setup. I keep my Geer in my shop, which is about the same distance from my covered porch where I brew. I use a folding step ladder in the same way as the brew ladder.

The ladder is one of those lightweight home step ladders that has the large top shelf for a gallon of paint. The steps are plastic so I added some plywood tops for reinforcement and to lengthen them to fit my coolers. I also added stops to keep the coolers from being able to slide off. The normal frame is an upside down U. I cut to top off of the U to make room for the hlt.

The pix might not be great, but I'm working today and this is all I have on my phone.

 

[tom_hampton]

Grrr. Sorry about the sideways pix. I guess my phone automatically rotates them for viewing.

 

[wilserbrewer]

How about putting some wheels on the stand you have?
http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=caster

I also like the idea of modular wooden stands for each component at a height that works for your system....

 

[wbarber69]

I use table saw stands

http://www.harborfreight.com/Universal-Tool-Stand-69805.html?utm_referrer=direct/not provided

 

[Rivenin]

Thanks for the idears gents! I think i am going to go with the casters on the stand... funny story now, though...
So i got a hair up my ass and looked at kettles instead of keggles... than i thought about going back to propane.
So i am going back to propane and i bought a 10 gallon kettle as well. Fear not, i'll still have my electric setup, but with just 2x1500w elements, it's far too slow for me to get water heated up. So once i get into a place where i can do 240v, i'll be back to electric, but for right now, it's not in the works :-S

so i'll be back to this.

 

[wilserbrewer]

but with just 2x1500w elements, it's far too slow for me to get water heated up. .

Yes, 3000w is low, but also think the keggles with the top and bottom rims are heavy and energy hungry, almost like radiator fins...cheers!

 

[doc5md]

I run two keggles and a cooler mash tun. I have a pump in a box. I sit the keggles right on the original burner (SQ14) stands and the cooler sits on a plastic folding table from sams club. no other brew stand stuff needed.

 

[Rivenin]

I run two keggles and a cooler mash tun. I have a pump in a box. I sit the keggles right on the original burner (SQ14) stands and the cooler sits on a plastic folding table from sams club. no other brew stand stuff needed.

I would do that in a heart beat if i didn't already have all my propane stuff and burners though. i probably have close to $200 in propane stuff. so spending more on extra burners would make the SWMBO kill me :fro: - although it did get debated in my head

Yes, 3000w is low, but also think the keggles with the top and bottom rims are heavy and energy hungry, almost like radiator fins...cheers!

funny thing about that too, this is how it looks within the past few months. tops are completely gone

it did help, but not by too much.

 

[Rivenin]

as a last update for this...
Got a concord pot delivered yesterday

did some test runs with the burners attached... went from 80* to boiling in about 35 minutes with 5 gallons of water in the pot

forgot to weld in some small supports for heat to escape and the burner to breathe so it doesn't choke, so i used my old keggle top, worked fine for now at least

 

[flars]

Taking your equipment across a lawn with caster wheels would be difficult. They tend to sink in and cause a lot of bucking and bouncing. Go to Harbor Freight for 10" - 12" pneumatic lawn mower wheels. That size wheel can even be pulled up steps.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

I just put a set of these 10" pneumatic wheels on my single tier stand. Be careful because they add at least 12" to take height depending on how you Mount them. It makes the top of my 30 gallon kettles impossibly tall... live and learn I guess.