A few month back you may recall one of our readers, Cory in Missouri, bought a pair of Eastern Tools & Equipment LPG 3500 Generators after seeing our review of the product. He wrote in and shared a photograph of how he made his own wheel kits for the generators to make them a little more mobile and easy to manage while tailgating. The photo below is the finish product of his handy work.
We asked Cory if he would be so kind as to share his knowledge and experience with a do it yourself job of making his own wheel kit for his generators. He was more than happy to help out and his expertise is your gain. Here is how he did it.
For the wheels I used two pneumatic replacement dolly wheels. I got a three foot piece of 1/2 inch galvanized rod stock for the axle and four galvanized fender washers and two 1/8 inch cotter pins. I had to use a 1/2 metal drill bit to size the axle mounts on the generator and wallowed it a little to make it bigger than 1/2 inch.
I slid the axle rod through the mounts and assembled the wheels (which have the bearings already in them) and a washer on both sides of the wheel to allow it to spin freely. Once it was all on I marked the rod stock and left room to drill out holes for the cotter pins on the ends.
After I cut the axle to the right length, I drilled out a hole on each end about 1/4 inch in from the end. The holes were drilled out with a 1/8 inch metal drill bit then the axle was slid into the axle mounts on the generator. Then a fender washer goes on first on each end, then the wheel, then the other washer and finally cotter pins. The axle doesn’t turn, just the bearings inside the wheels.
The front feet was a bigger chore because I had to completely fabricate it myself. I won’t bore you with the “bad ideas” but I used the pre-drilled holes in the front. The items I used were two “pipe feet”, two 3 1/2 inch male to male galvanized pipe threaded on both ends, four washers, two 4 1/2 inch zinc plated lag bolts and a specialty item called a 1/4 inch “tee nut”. It’s used for furniture repair. It’s basically a nut that flares out into a washer.
I screwed the 3.5 inch galvanized pipe into the pipe foot making one piece. Then a washer (that I bent in the shape of the tube frame of the generator to help it hold) goes on the 4.5 inch lag bolt, the bolt goes through the frame and another washer (that stays flat) goes on next. Then the pre-made pipe with a foot on it goes on next. Now, the bolt should be a little short coming all the way through the pipe. That’s a good thing.
The “tee nut” goes up into the foot and screws onto the lag bolt and because it’s flared on the end it doesn’t go through the pipe! Make sense? Then just tighten the top on the lag bolt and it’ll snug the whole thing together.
The cost for one wheel kit was about $20 – $25 depending on the cost of the wheels. They were the highest in price being about $10-$15 a set. With most wheel kits I priced at about $50 this is a lot cheaper.
So there you have it. If you already have an ETQ LPG 3500 Generator this might be an affordable way of making it a lot more transportable once you get to your tailgating space.
Good luck and if you believe you have an easier way of improving on this technique, feel free to share them in the comments section below.