Getting Started with the ‘Rumble Honey Smith’ Project
Alright, let me tell you about this thing I called the ‘Rumble Honey Smith’. Wasn’t anything official, just my name for a problem I had and how I fixed it. See, my beehives were sitting on these flimsy wooden stands. Every time I worked them, especially pulling heavy honey frames, the whole setup would wobble. Felt like it was gonna tumble down, bees and all. Not good. Plus, the ground out back is uneven, making things worse. I needed something solid, something that wouldn’t budge – hence the ‘rumble’ part, ’cause it needed to handle some shaking. And ‘honey smith’ because, well, it was for my honey operation, and I basically had to bang it together myself, like a smithy.
Figuring Out the Plan
First thing, I tossed those old wooden things. Useless. I decided I needed metal. Stronger, lasts longer out in the weather. I sketched out a rough idea – basically a super sturdy table or bench, low to the ground, wide enough for two hives, with adjustable legs for that darn uneven ground.
Here’s the basic thought process:
- Get some steel square tubing. Not too thick, not too thin.
- Cut it to size for the frame and legs.
- Weld the main frame together. Got my neighbor, Dave, to help with his welder, since mine’s ancient.
- Figure out adjustable feet. This was tricky.
- Paint the whole thing to stop rust.
The Actual Work – Getting Hands Dirty
So, I went down to the local metal supply place. Got myself some decent gauge steel tubing. Felt good, heavy. Hauled it back home. Measuring and cutting took a whole afternoon. Lots of sparks flying in the garage using my angle grinder. Made a heck of a racket.
Then came welding. Dave came over, we fired up his machine. Took a bit to get the settings right. Laid down some beads to tack the main frame together first. Checked if it was square. Mostly square, good enough for bees, right? Then we finished welding all the joints. Solid as a rock already. Added some cross braces just to be sure. Overkill? Maybe, but I didn’t want any ‘rumble’ except the one I planned for.
Now, the adjustable feet. This part stumped me for a bit. I ended up welding thick nuts inside the bottom of each leg tube. Then I got some heavy-duty threaded bolts with wide flat pads welded onto the bottom of the bolts. This way, I could just screw the feet in or out to level the stand perfectly, no matter how wonky the ground was. Simple, but it worked.
Finishing Touches and Putting It to Use
Last step before deployment was paint. Cleaned off all the grime and welding splatter. Put on a couple of coats of good outdoor metal paint. Chose a dark green, hoping it would blend in a bit. Let it dry for a couple of days.
Finally, hauled the finished ‘Rumble Honey Smith’ stand out to the back. Thing was heavy, definitely needed two people. Set it down, adjusted those screw feet. Got it perfectly level in minutes. Felt incredibly stable. Lifted the hives onto it. No wobble. None. Nada. Pulled out a heavy frame later that week – rock solid. It just sits there, doing its job. No more worrying about knocking things over. Made working the hives way less stressful. That’s the story of the Rumble Honey Smith. Just a solid stand I hammered together because the old way wasn’t cutting it. Sometimes you just gotta build it yourself.
