Large Dobsonian Telescope Trolly That Can Go Up Stairs

So a while ago I was faced with a problem where I own a fairly large dobsonian telescope. It's not that the telescope is heavy is what makes it problematic for transporting it, it's the fact that the telescope is unwieldy.

This trolly I had sitting around in the back of my mind for quite some time is designed to not only make it easier to transport the telescope it is also designed to bring it up a flight of stairs. This is a huge convenience factor with this telescope thanks to the cart I had made for it so enjoy!

1. Old kids tricycle.
2. A lot of 3/4" or similar sized square tubing.
3. The ability to weld.
4. Spray paint (optional).
5. A knife for cutting foam.
6. Foam noodles.
7. Paracord and lots of it.

The base is about 20" inches square with two bars welded inside it to keep the telescope in it. Not only that there are two wheels from a little kids tricycle in it, a bar pointing down to keep it angled right, and several bars preventing the telescope from sliding out of the cart when mounting the telescope to the trolly. Here is the steps in order for making this.

1. Weld a 20 inch square.
2. Weld a piece of metal going straight across the inside of the square.
3. Weld two pieces of metal going straight across the inside of the square perpendicular to the piece you just welded.
4. Remove two wheels off of the little kids trike. Then measure the diameter of the wheels (in my case the wheels were 12" big).
5. Cut a piece of metal that is 1" bigger than the radius of the wheels.
6. Cut three sides off the square inch tubing 1" off of one end of the square tubing you just cut off in step 5 and drill a hole in that side of the tubing so that you can mount the wheels to it through that hole.
7. Mount the wheels to the pieces you just made in steps 5 and 6.
8. Weld those pieces with the wheels on them to the bottom of the frame you made in steps 1 - 3.
9. Weld a piece of metal the diameter of the wheels to the other side of the square frame to balance the wheels off the ground so that the square frame is parallel to the ground.

1. On the back of the telescope weld two pieces of square tubing that are 2 feet long to the back of the telescope. Place them within 6 -12 inches of edge of the frame.
2. Then weld a 20 inch bar to the top of that making sure it does not exceed the bounding box of the frame.
3. Cut another piece at a 45 degree angle on both sides of the extrusion to form the handle. Make sure this piece is around 12" big.
4. Weld a straight piece of metal on top of that and make sure it exceeds the height of the telescope by just a little bit when the telescope is on the cart.
5. Weld a 12" bar to the top of that piece to form a handle for it.

Zip tie foam noodles to the part of the telescope where the tube is being in contact with the frame and the handles. To do this cut the foam with a knife on one side (only on one side of the noodle) and then just wrap a zip tie around it.

To make sure that the welds are sufficient try putting the telescope on the trolly and go up and down stairs carefully with it to see if you can find any bending in the joints. If there is any bending bend it back into place with a hammer and weld it on the additional sides of the metal to make the joints stronger than before. You don't want this thing falling apart unexpectedly on you while using it.

Cover up the parts you don't want to be covered in paint and go ahead and prime it with spray primer. Make sure the spray paint you are using is meant to be used with metal. You may have to do multiple layers but no more than two.

Use paracord to tie the telescope down to the trolly. To go up stairs the wheels should be pretty big so that they can bounce up and down the stairs easily and just roll with it literally. The wheels should be big enough while grabbing the handle you should be able to go up and down stairs fairly easily.

Someone literally needs to sell this exact design of a trolly. I have to bring my telescope up two flights of stairs and this makes it actually doable because otherwise I would just simply never use my scope. The scope weighs in at 40 lbs and granted that is not heavy what makes it bad is the fact you can't grab the scope from anywhere to bring it up a flight of stairs. Anyways I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Let me know of what you think. Thanks!