Wheels on coop -HELP!

[i-love-my-honey]

This is my coop :

13 inch wheels 400 lbs 10'x4'. 5/8" bolts. All nuts are no-slip.

The problem is the wheels. The wooden levers do not stay tight and there is just about 1/2" of play in them. That renders the wheels REALLY hard to move.. I do not have the time to keep tightening them (1x/week). I think part of the reason they get loose is the fact that I can only put one wheel down at a time and the coop weighs about 400 lbs.

If anyone has a suggestion as to how I could make a permanent fix I would TRULY appreciate it. I would need any info on how to do it - where to go to get things, etc...

 

[WthrLady]

Although I can't see the structure very well, I can tell right off the bat that the wood your tires are attached to is no where near large enough. For that size and weight, it shod be ateast a 2x4.

 

[i-love-my-honey]

Although I can't see the structure very well, I can tell right off the bat that the wood your tires are attached to is no where near large enough. For that size and weight, it shod be ateast a 2x4.

The lever is shaped like a paddle. It is a 2x4 at the base where the wheels attach. I had to saw it into a 2x2 at the other end so I could grasp it.

 

[WthrLady]

Hmmmmm. Forgive spelling errors... this site lags with my phone and typing speed.

So, the thin levers coming off the left of each wheel are just to raise and lower the wheels?

So the wheels aren't staying tight how? Loose on the mount? Or does the lever mechanism pop under the weight of the coop while you are trying to move it?

If it is the second, then maybe a simple locking pin to hold the tire lever in place?

 

[i-love-my-honey]

Yes, the levers are thick until the handle, then they are thin. Sort of like an oar. I grab the thin part and rotate it, causing the wheels to drop and bear the weight of the coop. I got this idea off of the internet, but the guy's coop was not nearly as heavy...

The wheels worked great at first, I got them SUPER tight on. Over the past few weeks they have loosened up and the tires are at a slight slant (out at the ground and touching the handle at the top). This makes it next to impossible to move, and I am pretty strong. I have thought about putting some sort of axle on there, but I am COMPLETELY clueless on how I would do that, who I would contact to make the parts, etc. I do have access to someone who can acetylene weld if I had some sort of diagram. I am afraid, though, that the lever would just break the stinking coop is so heavy.

 

[WthrLady]

Could you post a close up photo of how the wheels are mounted on both the outside and backside?

 

[WthrLady]

Might just need a washer and locking nut.

Sounds like movine the wheels is unscrewing them.

 

[WthrLady]

If your wheels have a simple hole in the middle and you have simply screwed them onto the wood, that is what is happening.

Creating a simple axil for each wheel is simple.

Get a carriage bolt for each tire that is just smaller than the center hole. Get two washers for each bolt and a locking nut.

Take the bolt, slide a washer onto it, put it through the tire, another washer, and locking nut.

This will some day wear at your wood hole, but they DO make metal tubes to line wood holes to protect it. Just fi d tube a tiny bit larger than bolt, and drill the wood to fit the tube.

I hope some of that helps.

 

[aart]

Need a close up(s) of how they are attached in order to see what might be done to fix it.

 

[i-love-my-honey]

I put the locking nuts on to keep them loosening. I put washers next to the wood before every nut and in between things (tire and wood, etc).