A MIG welder and gas cylinder are heavy pieces of equipment, often with a combined weight of over 100 lbs. The best way to securely keep these together in your workshop and have the ability to move them about is with a welding cart. A good welding cart will have enough room for all your equipment, be study and easy to maneuver. Below are our top picks and a buyers guide to help you choose the one that’s right for you.
Top 5 Welding Carts
1. Hot Max WC100 Welding Cart
Best Overall
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Price: $$$ |
The HotMax welding cart is made from solid steel with a nice black powder coat finish. It has two safety chains on the back where you can attach your gas cylinder up to 55 lbs with a 9″ diameter. The three tiers give you a nice storage tray in the middle to store your tools and wire. It’s big enough to fit pretty much any welder or plasma cutter that doesn’t already have wheels! Just make sure to check your dimensions. It’s easy to move about with the handle on the front that doesn’t get in the way of your welder settings. Another nice touch is the lead hooks on the side to give you more control over your cables. The full dimensions are 13″ wide, 33″ deep and 29″ high. The assembly instructions are quite basic but are easy to understand. Overall this is a good sturdy cart that will nicely fit a Hobart 190 or 210.
2. Giantex Welding Cart
Best Cheap Welding Cart
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Price: $$ |
If your looking to spend a bit less money on a reliable cart but don’t need quite as much room as the Hot Max. This has a very similar design but isn’t quite as solidly built, although it’s pretty sturdy for the price. There’s hooks on the sides for your cables, a front mounted pivoting handle to help maneuver it around your workshop and two chains on the back to secure your gas cylinder. The full dimensions are 14″ wide, 28″ deep (not including handle) and 26″ high. The assembly instructions aren’t great and it’s a bit fiddly to put together, but if you have an instinct for these things then you should be fine. It’s a perfect choice for anyone who wants to save a bit of money and owns a welder that has relatively small dimensions
3. Yaheetech 3-Tier Welding Cart
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Price: $$ |
The Yaheetech is another welding cart that’s great value for money. The rubber rear wheels are a bit bigger than usual and are good at providing that bit of extra stability and maneuverability. It states a high load capacity but the steel frame is only thin so I wouldn’t load it with much more than a 140 or 180a welder. It’s relatively easy to assemble but uses head screws instead of bolt heads which aren’t as good for tightening. Overall this is another good value welding cart, there’s really not much between this and the Giantex cart.
4. Metal Man UWC2 Universal Welding Cart
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Price: $$$ |
This is a more basic but solid welding cart. On the back there’s enough room to store a cylinder that weights up to 80lb and has a 7.5″ diameter. The top shelf area is wider with this design so it’s useful if you have a larger welder. You can also fold down the handle to put it out the way so it’s easier to access your welder settings. You may need to place a block behind your welder to stop it slanting into your gas cylinder because the top tier is lower that on the three tier carts. The simplicity of the design makes it easy to assemble and the steel is solid. If you want a basic model that’s solid, easy to put together and has enough room for a larger welder then this is a great choice. Overall Dimensions = 32.3 in. x 18.3 in. x 29.7 in.
5. Goplus Welder Cart
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Price: $$$ |
This is a bit of a different style design to your usual welding carts that’s perfect if you have a small welder and need some extra drawers. There’s four sets of drawers on the front that are perfect for storing all your tools and any other bits you have lying around the workshop. The top drawer has a lock on it as well so you can store any valuables here. The top shelf is relatively small so you won’t be able to fit your Hobart 140 on there, it’s best suited for welding under 10 inches wide. The instructions manual is poorly put together and is basically just a picture, but it’s still quite a simple design. There are also two chains on the back to secure your gas cylinder. Overall this is a cool design, although not the most practical for most welders.
What to Look for in a Welding Cart
There are lots of things to look out for when choosing a cart for your welder. Below are some of the top factors that we considered when choosing our top picks.
Gas Bottle Storage
Gas bottle storage is one of the key characteristics of a welding cart. If you’re MIG or TIG welding you’ll need area at the back of the cart to keep an upright gas tank and the ability to chain it securely to the cart. If you switch between MIG and TIG then it would be useful to have space for two welding gas bottles so you can easily switch between, but this is very rare and most only have space for one. Some carts have just one chain and others have two. Carts with two chains will offer more security. If you have a regular gas cylinder supplier, check the weight and diameter of the cylinder to make sure it will fit on the cart.
Angle of Welder
When you place your welder on the cart you’ll need to have it at an angle so the front of the machine is tilted upwards to help you access all the knobs and settings on the panel of your welder. A sloped welder can also help you to access these settings. Note that sometimes you’ll have to place a small block at the back of your cart to stop your welder from hitting your gas cylinder because it’s leaning back.
Welding Cart Wheels
The main benefit of having you welder on a cart is that it makes it a lot easier to move about. Obviously, for this you need wheels! Larger wheels can provide extra stability and make it easier to maneuver. If you’re in a very small work space then you can consider a cart with a zero turn radius with four swivel wheels. Usually, you’ll have two swiveling casters and two larger read wheels. Take care not to place the cart on any sort of incline or you put it at risk of rolling away. When wheeling the cart, always maneuver it with the handle that is attached to it.
Wire Hooks
Having lots of machinery in your work space means lots of wires. These can be a big safety hazard as you could trip over the wires or they could get tangled. Wire hooks on the side of your cart can help you to manage your wires and keep them out of your way and keep you safe.
Load Capacity
The load capacity of your cart is the maximum weight it can support without buckling. Welders and gas cylinders can be very heavy, so check the weight of all your equipment before buying a cart. Many of the cheaper carts use thin steel and won’t be able to support 2 welders, tools, and a gas cylinder.
Ease of Assembly
No one wants to get a new cart and get a load of parts that are impossible to put together. If you need detailed instructions to assemble a cart then stay away from carts that only provide a picture in the instruction manual, unless it clearly has a very simple design. When you assemble the cart, make sure everything’s fastened together tightly. Double check everything to see if there are any loose bolts.
Room for Tools
It’s useful to have a bit of spare room on your cart to store any tools and equipment you have lying around. You could use the bottom shelf to store your welding helmet and the middle shelf to store pliers, wire, your, spare gloves etc. A welding cart with draws is also useful to organize your workshop and keep the dust off everything. Draws that are lockable provide a place to store valuable items and protect items when you’re wheeling the cart about.
Number of Shelves
Most welding carts have either two or three shelves to store equipment. If you own two welders then you can fit these nicely on a three-shelved cart. Make sure to measure the dimensions of the shelves to see if your welder or plasma cutter will fit. If your welder has a door chart, check you have enough room to be able to open the door to access your settings.
Building your own Welding Cart?
One alternative to buying a welding cart is making your own. I’ve seen some great homemade carts of the years. The benefit to these is that you can craft it exactly to your requirements and it can be a fun project to work on. You might also just want a basic cart and find it easier to put one together yourself. It’s hard to know the load capacity if you’re an amateur so you might be better buying one with a set load capacity so you know not to overload it. Have a browse on Pinterest and try sketching out a cart. These days welding carts are much better designed that they used to be and you can buy a great cart for not much money.