My Weldless Build Using Strut

Why did you make it so tall? Just curious. I'm tired of lifting stuff and standing on stools so I'm trying to get mine down as low as I possibly can. Hoping I'm not overlooking something.

 

Didn't truly realize the height until the casters went on. But honestly the pump moves all the liquid with ease. Even after brewing we pump water up top, toss some pbw in there, fire up the burner and recirculate. After a few more brews we may lower it a little but the beauty of the strut it that we can with ease. No welds to break, just loosen some screws , pull off the strut and cut it down a little.

 

http://www.strutchannelfittings.com...LACK-POWDER-PAINT--5-FOOT-LENGTHS-_p_511.html

Found this today, going to order this real soon. It looks like lengths down to 2' sections can be ordered, stainless, powder coated to name a few, plus all the fasteners and brackets too.

 

Strut seems pricey. $18 for a 10 ft section at lowes

 

Strut seems pricey. $18 for a 10 ft section at lowes

 

Not if you think about the man hours if you have to pay someone to weld this up, for me it's all about connivance and ease of build. Think about all the people out there who don't own welding equipment or the proper metal cutting tools and lets not forget paint too.

 

I might be wrong but I think he was stating that the powder coated strut from G-P LLC is pricy.

 

I was, I just posted my build using this stuff. It seems pricey from g-p llc is all I was going for. Their brackets and service are amazing though.

 

And it's great if you live in a state right next to them. Pretty much free next day shipping.

 

I just placed an order for a BIAB stand setup. Just for anyone's information, if you give them the lengths you need they will cut it for you for free and charge you by the foot. I paid the little extra $ than the Lowes channel to not have to hassle with getting a blade and cutting the metal. When you factor your time in its actually way cheaper and faster to have them cut your lengths.

Just an FYI

 

You're talking about g-p llc?

 

That is correct

 

Wish I knew about that, probably would have bought the black powder coat strut pre-cut.

 

Could you describe your design, or put up a sketch. I'm been playing with ideas for a BIAB design myself.

 

I'll do my best to describe it, since I didn't draw it out. I ended up going w a bit simpler design than my original plan also. To preface, I have a 62 qt Bayou Classic pot with the basket. Currently when I'm done mashing I pull the basket up by hand and have a buddy (or fiancé) put a stainless steel grill grate that fits exactly over my pot down, and I set the basket over that.

Anyway, my stand will be 16" wide x 16" deep. 24" tall. The stand will basically be a rectangle . I opted for the 8 hole angle brackets which ate probably overkill, but why not There will also be a strut piece across the front and back, about halfway down. This will have a piece of metal across it making a shelf for the banjo burner. I'm then mounting a piece of 10' strut to my garage ceiling. They make a "trolley" that has wheels and will slide within the strut channel. My plan is to hook up a motorized hoist (harbor freight $100) to that trolley and could assist brew friends lifting their bags out, etc as well as my own.

I will post the parts list of what I would have used if I attached a BIAB arm to the stand to help with lifting the basket out. I would suggest looking at their wing fittings, angle fittings, and shelf brackets and I guarantee you could envision any number of arm designs that would work.

Think erector set for adults

 

I'm then mounting a piece of 10' strut to my garage ceiling. They make a "trolley" that has wheels and will slide within the strut channel. My plan is to hook up a motorized hoist (harbor freight $100) to that trolley and could assist brew friends lifting their bags out, etc as well as my own.

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With a setup like this, anyone can have a hoist for BIAB or what ever you have to lift and move.

Mark

 

Quick question. I love the material design. I'm thinking of making the stand 6ft long to accommodate a 3 station burner setup. Do you think I will need to add center pieces for stability? If so what connections do you think I can use to get the center pieces in since I won't be at a corner?

 

There are lots of different bracket options. You could get L type brackets and have the strut facing sideways. That would allow you to bolt it to the bottom on 1 side by the channel, and on the other side by the slots in the strut.

If it were me and I was making one that big I would certainly but something in the middle for stability and to brace it. I am assuming you will have crossmembers on the "top" of your stand much like the original poster for your pots to rest on. I would bolt a strut to each one of this vertically in the front and back using an L or 90 degree bracket.

 

Good point! I think I'll have to get creative with the brackets and mounts so I can keep places to mount pumps and such

 

OK, another question occurs to me, looking at a couple of the designs (the very first one in particular).

Looking at a few welded brew stands, I've seen various methods designed to ensure that the kettles stay right where they belong - whether there's a "lip" that runs around the outside edge to keep the kettle from ever shifting, or cross beams going at 45 degree angles across the corners to catch the kettle should it ever shift, there's usually _something_ there.

But in most of these strut designs, I just don't see that. And I don't think I see any strut components that would seem appropriate to the purpose. Am I missing something, or just overcomplicating things?

 

Question to those of you who have a direct-fire pot next to a plastic cooler Mash Tun on the same level on your stands:

How far apart do you have the kettle and the mash tun?

I want to go with a single tier system like the one in my diagram, but I’m concerned about getting the burners too close to the mash tun and ending up with a melted pile of plastic and grain instead of wort. At the same time I don’t want to make the cart 7 feet long unnecessarily.

Thanks for the input! Great thread!

View attachment BREW CART-Model.pdf

 

This had came to my mind as well, so here was my thought on it: You are bolting(with brackets) the bars that the kettles will sit on to the channels of the leg pieces. So you have an infinite amount of height adjustmet. My thought was to leave 2" or so of each leg piece above where the kettles sit. Since your round kettle will be sitting on a square, none of the 4 corners would be overlapped by the pot (in my design). So if the legs coming up on your corners rose a couple of inches higher than where your kettle sits they would act as a sort of "gaurd".

That was my thought at least. In general though, I would think with 40-80 lbs of liquid (5-10 gals) in a pot, the weight alone should keep it there without issue. I currently use a 13 inch square bayou classic burner with a 15 gallon pot and there is definitely nothing "keeping" the pot from falling off, yet I have never came close to having it tip or fall. That sucker is heavy to move anyway!

 

With a setup like this, anyone can have a hoist for BIAB or what ever you have to lift and move.

Mark[/QUOTE]

Yes! This has been done and awesomely. But how do you turn a 90* corner? I'm getting ready to fire up the torch and find out because it seems to be undone...if they make a trolley, why not make the channel sections one would need for a nice trolley setup? Some long radius 90* and 45* would be fine but NO! Am I the first one to think of this? If so, send money to....

 

Grainger sells strut that is powder coated with green urethane paint.

 

I am running two Blichmann burners, one for the Boil Kettle and one for the Hot Liquor Tank. I have a cooler mash tun with a stainless 11 gal kettle inside it between the HLT and the Boil Kettle. Also, the HLT and the cooler are on the same tier, and the Boil Kettle is down lower on its own tier.

My stand is 60 inches long (5 ft which is half of one full length strut stick. I figured I could cut one stick for the length, and I made everything else fit).

With a 60 inch length, I have approximately 20 inches for each vessel. My Boil Kettle is approximately 15 or 16 inches in diameter -- if is a 15 gallon kettle. The mash tun is approximately 13 or 14 inches in diameter -- it is a rubbermaid Home Depot beverage cooler. My Hot Liquor Tank is approximately 20 inches in diamter -- it is a 20.5 gallon Bayou Classic kettle. The HLT pretty much covers the burner and keeps a lot of heat away from the cooler. Also, I am not experiencing a lot of heat coming up from the boil kettle to the Mash Tun cooler. I also fashioned a heat shield for the boil kettle to keep the heat wave from boiling the liquid in my sight glass. That has been real effective. Finally, I do have the Mash Tun Cooler sitting on some wood that has been encased in some metal sheeting. So I am not experiencing much heat around the Mash Tun.

Some pictures of my stand (not quiet complete) are found here.

I hope that this bit of information is useful to you. Mark

 

LuiInIdaho, that was exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!

 

LuiInIdaho,
Can you post some more pics of your rig? How did you mount the Blichmann burners to the strut? Also, I'm assuming you plumbed both burners to a single tank. How'd that work out?

Thanks for the help! Nice job.

 

Here are some photos of my stand in the vertical position. The first photo shows how I attached the Blichmann Burners to the strut. I used four of each: four bolts, four strut nuts, and four 1 5/8 x 1 5/8 square flat washers. I sandwiched the each leg of the burner between the square washer and the struts on which the burner is mounted. The flat washer clamps the burner leg to the strut. I used one assembly for each leg.

I have both burners working off of one gas manifold, and one LP tank. The manifold is made from half inch black pipe. I used one 12" section and three 10" sections. I also used five 90* elbows and one tee and one 2" nipple. I fastened all the pipes using a pipe dope recommended for propane. I fastened the manifold to one section of strut using the strut pipe clamps (half inch). Because of the way it is oriented, I used a zip tie to hold the pipe in place on the other strut.

I also wanted to add that I had the Blichmann Floor burner already, and I incorporated it into this build. However, I wanted two burners. So I ordered the Blichman Top Tier Burner, not the Floor Burner, so that I would get the needle valve and the stainless gas line to connect to the manifold. I also ordered the Blichmann Burner Conversion kit that is used to convert the Floor Burner to the Stand Burner -- again I wanted the needle vavle and the stainless gas line.

For the table section for the mash tun, I had some 3/4 particle board in the garage. I used this but I covered it with some metal sheeting. I cut the sheeting larger than the wood, and then I clamped the sheet to the wood and formed the sheeting around the wood shelf using a rubber mallet. Because this was not thick enough, I made two long shims out of 2 x 4 and used them to raise the shelf to the same level as the strut. I bolted them on using 3/8 by 2.5" carriage bolts and some two-hole joiner plates for the strut. I am really plesed with how well this came out.

Finally, I used the same metal sheeting to fashion a heat shield for my boil kettle. This is simply to keep the heat wave from making my wort boil in the site glass. It works real well.

Overall, I am pleased with the stand. I have used it a couple of times now, and I like that everything is close together. It doesn't take up as much room as my earlier system (a ladder holding my mash tun standing next to the kettle burner). This really makes setup and cleanup much easier.

I hope that this helps you in your build.

Mark

 

You all inspired me to give this strut thing a try! My previous stand was a mobile workbench that I modified to make it a three tier. It was starting to fall apart on me and IMO was becoming a little dangerous. The stoutness of strut and the ability to easily modify it as I change my brewing practices and equipment really appealed to me. So, here it is so far:

At 66 inches, it's a little longer than I really wanted it to be but I decided that it's easier to cut it down shorter than to make it bigger if things change down the road. It will be 30" high once I put the correct wheels on it (the ones on there now will be moved to the side for storage similar to LuiInIdaho). Some heat shielding, a switch box for the pump and a few other odds and ends and it'll be ready to go!




For now I'm using the burners from the fryers that were on my old stand. Some flat stock and left over pieces of strut make for some very adjustable mounts.

 

Cracked1

I like what I see. Simple but very functional.


Mark

 

Thanks! Simple and functional is all I need right now...

I also just discovered that, according to their literature, this particular type of galvanizing from Superstrut is paintable. They call it GoldGalv and say it acts as a primer. Might have to come up with some over the top, obnoxious paint scheme.

The cashier at Lowes thought that Superstrut would be a good beer name. Superstrut Imperial Red??? "I'll take a S.I.R, please."

 

does anyone have a Google SketchUp file for their single-tier build that they would be willing to share?

i'm just starting the planning phase of my rig and was hoping to take inspiration for others' work. still learning sketchup, so far so good...

thanks!

 

I'm going to download the trial version now...if I get a chance I'll draw up the one I'm in the middle of building, but its a three tier gravity fed rig.

 

I can give you mine. I have to make some small adjustments to if first.

 

thanks bobbrewedit and LiquidFlame. you could attach it to this thread, or e-mail it to me - sweetcell(a)gmail.

gawd this board rocks.

 

I have one of my two level build if you want to dink around with it

 

again, that would be awesome. it's always easier to edit something that is there, rather than starting from scratch. thanks!

 

OK - this thread is starting to drive me nuts. It's been 3-weeks and I haven't ordered anything besides a pump.

Everytime I sit down to put together my parts list I see someone else's build and think 'That's exactly what I want!'. Then I have to start all over again. I've gone from a 2-tier, to a 1-tier, and back to a 2-tier. I've switched from propane to NG twice. I've gone from 7-tips to 23-tips to 10-tips on my NG burners. Now I'm stuck on powder coat vs. no powder coat. When I finally get this thing worked out it's going to look like it was cobbled together by Dr. Frankenstein, it'll weigh 1,800 lbs, and I'll have to take out a second mortgage to pay for it.

Can there please be a 24 hr period with no new pictures? That's all the time I need. Or at least post a few crappy builds so I won't want to copy them.

 

I'm going to start mine hopefully tomorrow...so u better hurry!

 

Thanks for your cooperation. I just put my order in.