HopSing
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2007
- Messages
- 145
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- 184
I upgraded my brew kettle to the 60L version of the DigiBoil / Brewzilla to do double sized BIAB batches. Lifting the basket after mash out by myself with 50+ pounds of wet grain became a bit tricky due to the height and weight. I thought about using a ratchet pulley mounted to the ceiling, but I wanted something that was portable. So I built a cart and a "grain crane" using stuff I had laying around and a few parts available from Amazon. It works really well so I wanted to share a few pictures.
With the fold-down shelf down it doesn't take up much space and the storage under the platform is perfect for hoses. The rubber wheels also lock so it moves when it needs to and also stays put when locked.
With the fold-down shelf up. The hinges will hold 130 pounds. Perfect for holding the sparge water pot.
The handle of the cart comes off and fits on top of the kettle. The trailer winch is rated for 600 pounds and comes with steel cable. I replaced the steel cable with paracord rated for 500 pounds since it is more flexible and easier to work with in this application.
Most of the weight is transferred to the rim of the kettle, not the handles. Once there is some weight on it, it becomes extremely stable.
After it is lifted out, I secure the basket with 3 stainless S hooks so I can remove the grain crane to make sparging much easier.
If you build one or have something similar, please post picts, especially if you figure out how to make the crane fit multiple size kettles.
~HopSing.
With the fold-down shelf down it doesn't take up much space and the storage under the platform is perfect for hoses. The rubber wheels also lock so it moves when it needs to and also stays put when locked.
With the fold-down shelf up. The hinges will hold 130 pounds. Perfect for holding the sparge water pot.
The handle of the cart comes off and fits on top of the kettle. The trailer winch is rated for 600 pounds and comes with steel cable. I replaced the steel cable with paracord rated for 500 pounds since it is more flexible and easier to work with in this application.
Most of the weight is transferred to the rim of the kettle, not the handles. Once there is some weight on it, it becomes extremely stable.
After it is lifted out, I secure the basket with 3 stainless S hooks so I can remove the grain crane to make sparging much easier.
If you build one or have something similar, please post picts, especially if you figure out how to make the crane fit multiple size kettles.
~HopSing.