Wheel barrow handles - anyone tried them?

[Thiink]

Im on a quest to make my dob easier to move around at the moment, and am throw a few ideas around. We recently moved from a house back into a unit, and as such the scope has moved back inside (it was in the garage at the old place). I have a pneumatic trolley that I was using to move it outside, but it would be too cumbersome to move around through the unit.

Im thinking about making up some removable handles that attach to the bottom of the dob base (locking the plates together), with some wheels on the front, in a wheel barrow type arrangement. Has anyone tried anything like this? I know Orion mentioned he had some handles for his monster, but Im looking for some images/advice from those with the GSO type base arrangement. I know I could just pick the thing up and move it outside, but that gets boring very quickly, and I am just plain lazy. Having (suspended) wheels on the front would make it easier to move around the drive way as well if I added some door handles as well (can post some pics if someone doesnt understand what I am trying to do).

[AstroJunk (Jonathan)]

http://www.sdmtelescopes.com.au/SDM6_1.html

They work for me!

Note the wheels are on the inside, to keep things narrow.

[Thiink]

Thanks Astrojunk. Ive seen pictures of them on bigger truss dobs, but none for solid tube dobs. Maybe Im getting too lazy..

[cjmarsh81]

Thiink I have the same problem. I store my Dob in the lounge room and it is a pain to move outside.

I have tried the trolley idea that Iceman has posted in the articles section, but find it too hard to navigate through my cramped house. Also, getting it out the back sliding door there is a ledge and I cannot seem to take it down without a jolt that knocks the primary out of alignment.

I was thinking of screwing lockable casters to the bottom of the base to make it easy to move. I haven't found any sturdy enough yet to try it though.

The wheelbarrow idea is a good one for Truss Dobs, however I think a solid tube would be too heavy and extremely hard to move around tight corners when stored inside.

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

Try and track down Astroron. He has a wheelbarrow type set up for his 16" truss dob. Works like a dream. Looks very similar to the picture in the link

[Orion]

Hi Simon,
This is what I was talking about but I am sure you can modify your telescope to suit your needs.

[AstroJunk (Jonathan)]

Originally Posted by cjmarsh81

I think a solid tube would be too heavy

I wouldn't be surprised if my primary was heavier than your whole scope!

All dobs should have barrow handles - they are way to bulky for one person to carry around without risking a back injury. At least the big dobs admit to this from the start

[cjmarsh81]

Yeah, your probably right astrojunk. I think if I had your scope I would be leaving it outside with a tarp over it.

At least, with yours the majority of the weight is in the primary as you said, down the bottom. With a tube dob, they are top heavy so I wouldn't want to tip it too much on a wheel barrow arrangment.

[Roger Davis]

Handles worked real well on the 27" that we made for the ASV. Used 6' pneumatic tyres & the handles were about 3.5m long!

[astroron (Ron)]

Ed's is the same setup as mine,but my handles are made metal,and they do the job just fine .astroron