Pest Plant Burner Caddy With 3 D Printed Parts.

the decision how to get pest plant in gaps, flaggings and edges under control, has lead us now into the usage of a flame thrower.

Poison is more expensive than propane gas and not good for the environment especially when it gets floated in the groundwater by the rain. Rip the weed out by hand is effective and will took the weed with the roots, but hard work by kneeing as least. Burning it may create new ground for new pest plant seeds, but its easier to handle and leaves no hazardous chemicals.

To do that I used before that small flame throwers with little gas cartridges fixed on the unit. That was frustrating and needs many gas cartridges while holding the tiny flame for minutes over a single weed plant.

So i deiced to use the big one and made this caddy for a common 11kg propane bottle with a flame thrower connected. The big bottle can now towed or pushed easily all around the yard to the place where its needed. Also the caddy prevents the bottle from tilting and keeps the blower in place when not used.

The caddy is made of easy to obtain materials and 3d printed parts who keep it all together without makeshift and tipsy constructions. The parts are not designed to get the Red Dot Award and may look flintstones-car like. But sure good enough to ride with the caddy over the yard, streets, country borders and the lawn.

Step 1: Stuff You Need

BOM:

A wood board 350×300×19 mm

Wood screws 3,5 × 25 mm

Plumbing tube, steel zinc-coated 15mm dia. Other tube will do it too. At least it had to be strong enough that it won't bend much.

A small ratchet belt

A pair of wheels with ~ 3" and 20mm aisle. I get mine from a child's wagon. (Replacement-)Wheels from a sack barrow will do it too.
The construction is meant to clamp the aisle fix on the board. Not the aisle is turning, the wheels turn on their bearings on the aisle.

2 neodymium magnets 15mm dia. x 8mm high.

a Flame thrower set where you get on the garden mall or one who is used by roofers for melting bitumen layers. Also the propane bottle with 11kg who has 300mm diameter.

at least the printed parts from next page..

Tools and skills needed:

Some basic wood craft skills and tools like jigsaw, a sander and a hand drill.

Basic metal working skills and tools like a metal-saw, a file and maybe a tube cutter.

3d printing experience (or someone who has ;) ) and of course a printer (or some good friend who has one). I

THE WARNING SIGN:

use the propane gas stuff only as it s mentioned !!! The caddy is only designed to carry the bottle and equipment. It has not to do with handling or modifying the gas tubing! You are responsible if you burn your house, car, cats tail and your shoes accidentally ;)

Step 2: Print It

The files can be downloaded here as ZIP file. Inside the archive you will find the STL files and the freecad source files as well.

Parts List and description:

wrap = is for keeping the belt in position

tube_clamp = holds the blower tube with magnets. Print two

pod = upper part of the pod. Points to the board.

mushroom = bottom part of the pod. Points to the street.

handle = handle

edges = print two

clamp = holds the aisle. Print two

carrier = is the edge who keeps the main tube.

The fine print:

I used my mendel prusa with a 0,5mm nozzle armed and feed with PLA filament.

0,3 mm layers are fine enough for this rough parts. The handle was printed with 0,2 mm layer height without support except of a skirt. Also i print my PLA parts on a 60 deg C heated mirror tile.

Step 3: Put It Together

Place the bottle on the board and adjust it until the printed edges don t overlap the board. Mark and saw the both front edges of the board as round corners. Mark the screw-holes and pre-drill these and further holes with 2 mm drill bit. Fix all edges with wood screws.

Turn the board around and fix the aisle with the clamps close to the edge so that the caddy will have a good tilt point. Put the pod together with a short piece tube to a length the caddy will stand even. Fix the pod on the counterpart side in the middle. Mount the wheels with distance tubes so they can't touch the board while rolling. Prevent the wheels from loosing, (on highway e.g.) with the supplied end caps.

Cut the tube to a length that you can handle the caddy in an ergonomic and well balanced position. It ´s about 45 deg tilt in my case. Put the tube in the big edge named carrier with the hole. You may hammering it carefully with a plastic hammer in. Place the first tube clamp, then the belt keeper, another tube clamp and finally the handle on the tube. Don't forget to put the magnets in the tube clamps. Fix them with a drop of glue if they are not fit tight. Make sure that the handle fits strong. Fix it with glue in case of moving or re-design the handle with clamp screws ;)

Step 4: Tipps and Hints

The holes for the tube may not fit at first try. In this case i drill them by hand careful on a drill bit clamped in my wrench.

Also i printed the parts with the tube holes with 4 perimeters for having enough material for drilling out. The tube should fix tight and movement free in the holes.

The distance keepers for the wheels can made easy out of an old plastic tube that fits over the aisle. If your wheels have another aisle diameter you may need to re design the clamps for it.

Step 5: The Final Step Before Launching the Rocket..

Now fix the bottle with the belt around the belt keeper and make a test ride. The belt should placed on the upper part of the bottle where it ´s not sphere shaped.

Apply and tighten the gas stuff together. Keep in mind that all propane threads fit in left turn directions and open in right turn. Go outside and open the bottles valve and test the connections with leak detecting spray. Watch for bubbles all around the threads and nuts. No bubbles - all fine. Close the bottle at least.

Wait for new weed and enter mission control..