On Jun 21, 9:45*pm, "RogerN" wrote:
I'm looking for something I can carry out to work on the lawn mower,
bicycle, *tractor, go cart, car, and backhoe. *I don't expect a set to have
everything but more of a variety than most of Sears smaller sets would be
nice. *I also have metalworking and wood working machinery but have tools
handy in the shop. *It's just everytime I go to repair something outside, I
spend more time running back and forth getting tools than I do fixing
anything. *If I have a job to do on the backhoe, I expect to lug out the
larger tools as I don't want to carry all these to fix the lawn mower, etc.

RogerN

A bicycle, car, tractor, backhoe can carry their own small tool kits
containing only the specific tools they need. I put a few cheap
wrenches, screwdrivers and spare sparkplugs in a small tackle box and
find or weld on a place for it on the machine. One or two sockets and
a tee handle substitutes for a socket set and ratchet. The hardware
you commonly remove probably isn't rusted on tightly, so cheap tools
work OK. I'd rather lose a $1 wrench in the mud than one from a good
set.

If they need serious work they go back to the garage where the jack,
compressed air and good tools live.

When I build a machine I try to use as few different sizes of hardware
as I reasonably can, to keep the kit small and maintenance easier. My
sawmill uses almost entirely 3/8" hardware so a 9/16" combo wrench and
a tee-handle socket are enough to assemble it and level the track. The
log splitter needs only two 1/2" wrenches, an Allen for the pump
coupling and pliers for pins and hose clamps. Everything likely to
shake loose on the garden tractor can be checked with a 3/8 X 7/16 and
a 1/2 X 9/16 open end wrench. The special sparkplug/bar nut tee wrench
for chainsaws is usually enough to disassemble them, if not I add a
Phillips, hex or Torx driver to the kit.

I use an old Rubbermaid utility cart from an auction as a workbench
and tool shelf outdoors. The tools go out individually as needed but
they all come back piled up in the cart which I can roll around the
shop to put stuff away wherever it goes. I'm looking for a metal one
with a few drawers under the top shelf, or may add drawers to this
one. There is a fancier version for factory maintenance crews that has
drawers and a cabinet, a wooden top surface and a bench vise. The
casters limit what you can do in the vise but I've found that a
blacksmith's leg vise works very well on a lightweight (Metro) cart.
It wouldn't be too hard to make a steel or wooden cart with large
outdoor wheels and a trailer hitch or towing handle. I've dragged that
Rubbermaid cart all over the neighborhood and out in the woods to fix
machinery and build sheds.

Jim Wilkins