...building a keezer but this dang shelf is takin up ALL the room

[mangoloid918]

hey y'all,
so i'm trying to build a keezer out of a chest freezer i rescued... it's plenty big enough for some corny's or even a couple carboys (dependent on what i'm doing), except it has a gigantic shelf thing (for lack of the real title) built into it that takes up like half of it (shown in picture). do any of y'all DIYers out there have any experience with removing that shelf thing? ... like with a saw or something. i don't care how bad it looks as long as it works. i'm pretty sure there's a compressor or some freezer component under it, but i can't imagine it being the size of the shelf thing cuz it's so huge. can i saw that shelf thing out and have the freezer remain functional? at the moment, buying another freezer more equipped is not an option (no matter how good of a deal it is) so anything i can do to make this work is just gonna have to do.
thanks y'all

 

[Homercidal]

That "Shelf Thing" is where the compressor and other components are located. You cannot remove it and expect the freezer to continue working.

You could put some 5 gallon cornys in the lower part, and maybe a couple of 2.5 gallon cornys on the hump.

 

[stratslinger]

Also, take a look around the forum for keezer collars. It's a fairly simple project to remove the door, install a couple 2x6's or 2x8's to "extend the rim" of the freezer itself, then reinstall the door on top of that collar, thus making the space on top of that compressor hump more easily usable.

 

[tracyk]

As Homercidal stated, you can not tear that apart and expect it to work.

If you are building a keezer with a collar, what is the height that the collar need to be so that ball or pin locks would fit on the top of the shelf? Then make a platform for the smaller area and have them all at the same height.