Carpenter’s Basket
I’m not sure how many tradesmen and women exist in the world, but I have no doubt that if you grab just about any one of them, they’ll recognize the ubiquitous design of the “man mover basket.” A simple steel cage, made of box steel, angle iron, and expanded sheet metal. With a few extra safety features on top of these materials, these are the absolute work horses of home construction crews, and countless other tradespeople.
One of my most regular customers came to me in a bit of a rush; he'd found some great success this year, and wanted to outfit his new crew with a shiny new basket. He asked me on a Monday, if I could have it done for him that Thursday…well, my answer had to be “no,” for no other reason than the steel supply chain being a little lagged behind demand. But the following Monday? Well there’s a comfortable timeline. I ordered the steel that Monday; picked up the steel on Friday; delivered the finished basket the following Monday. It was a mad-dash to the finish, once I had the steel in-hand, but that’s what makes this job fun. A little panic now and then.
The foundation of the whole man-mover basket is, obviously, the most important part to get right.
If your foundation isn’t level and square, then the whole basket will be out of square, and this is entirely unacceptable when peoples’ lives are at stake in the event of a failure! Don’t be afraid to be a little anal when it comes to keeping folks safe.
This is 3/16” wall thickness, 4x6 tube, with full weld beads at every contact point. I sent the wire feed rate and the voltage to the moon to ensure extremely strong welds.
Just keep building up…
The theme of this build was “build the crap out of it.” At every turn, my aim was to use the strongest material I could without going TOO overboard. The base of the basket itself was 2x2x1/4” angle iron. Heavy, thick, and strong material.
Measure, cut, weld…
These baskets are simple things and not a difficult build. Just emphasize straight 90 degree cuts, square joints, and strong welds, and you’re going to be golden. Here’s the finished product, ready for delivery…after one of the most painful trailer loading experiences of my life…don’t worry, I added a couple more ratchet straps before hitting the highway.
