37PackardMan Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 I have this 'wheel dolly'? that is stamped CELLO....East Boston, Mass. on the hinged black ramp. The hole in the front suggests it had a handle of some sort. Does anyone have a clue as it its original purpose???? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capngrog Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 Well, it was obviously used to move cellos. It appears to have been made of stamped steel and doesn't appear to be overly robust. How much load do you think it could carry? What are the dimensions? I see an axle on the ramp end of the thing. What is the diameter of the axle? Whatever it is, it looks pretty cool. Cheers, Grog 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Car dolly with a flip up tire block? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Reminds me of a old car wash dolly. see a newer type; 2006 Dually Dolly Fast - YouTube ▶ 2:05 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUHWgFjSkcM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emjay Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Recently on another forum someone posted a British film of something very similar for flat tires. Drive the flat onto/into and then proceed to repair site. The lack of swiveling casters indicates this type of function. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 1 hour ago, emjay said: Recently on another forum someone posted a British film of something very similar for flat tires. Drive the flat onto/into and then proceed to repair site. The lack of swiveling casters indicates this type of function. How can you. Both sets of wheels on the shoe are fixed you can only go straight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capngrog Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 1 hour ago, emjay said: Recently on another forum someone posted a British film of something very similar for flat tires. Drive the flat onto/into and then proceed to repair site. The lack of swiveling casters indicates this type of function. That's interesting, but the unit shown in the O.P.'s photo doesn't appear to be nearly strong enough to handle even the smoothest of road surfaces. The rear wheels (assuming the rear is the ramp end) look like they are of light gauge stamped metal with toy-like rubber tires. I just can't see this rig going down the highway at any speed. It might be entertaining to see one of these things get spit out from under a rear wheel when the driver "gave 'er the gas" I could see it being used in an application similar to that shown in helfen's "Dually Dolly Fast" video, but who knows? Where is 37PackardMan with more info? Cheers, Grog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe in Canada Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 5 hours ago, helfen said: How can you. Both sets of wheels on the shoe are fixed you can only go straight. For rear wheels only!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 1 hour ago, Joe in Canada said: For rear wheels only!!!!! I'm sorry that just doesn't work. Think about what you are saying and how rear wheels react in a turn. The pivot right at the center of the tire. If you have two fixed wheels at the front and two wheels fixed at the rear you can only go straight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe in Canada Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 13 hours ago, helfen said: I'm sorry that just doesn't work. Think about what you are saying and how rear wheels react in a turn. The pivot right at the center of the tire. If you have two fixed wheels at the front and two wheels fixed at the rear you can only go straight. I was not serious about that comment just tying to lighten the mood. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinneyhill Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 There is no indication how big it is. I don't think it is automotive at all. One cold imagine it under a fridge. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capngrog Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 It was obviously used to trundle one's hot water bottle from the boiler to one's bedside. Note the Cello brand hot water bottle pictured below. These were manufactured by the A.S. Campbell Co. of Boston, Massachusetts. If it's not the above, I'm thinking along the lines of a deck shuffle board Disc Spring-Powered Assist Launcher (DSPAL). As shown in the Original Post, some parts are obviously missing: the spring, the launching handle, the cocking mechanism etc. These of course are mere details and not worthy of consideration by contributors to this thread. Cheers, Grog 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
37PackardMan Posted May 22, 2016 Author Share Posted May 22, 2016 Thanks for all the comments. Tomorrow (May 22) I will get more pics and dimensions of the 'whatever'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
37PackardMan Posted May 22, 2016 Author Share Posted May 22, 2016 (edited) OK, here's the skivvy... Overall length....32.5" outside width....9.5" inside width....7.25" inside length....21" wheels....6" nuts on axle....5/8" axle diameter..... .421" hard rubber tires...... Any other specs????let me know and I will get them. Thanks for looking Edited May 22, 2016 by 37PackardMan add data (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
37PackardMan Posted May 22, 2016 Author Share Posted May 22, 2016 Looks like it had not been used much....the peak on the tires is not worn down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScarredKnightfan Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 On May 19, 2016 at 6:05 PM, capngrog said: Well, it was obviously used to move cellos. LOL! As a cellist, this would be helpful at times. Car dolly would be my guess ... looks somewhat wide enough to have a car roll onto it. Perhaps something to put a car on to roll it around if you don't want or can't start it. Course, if that's true, you'd have to have at least 2, if not 4. OR ... could be for a motorcycle, perhaps? Cort > www.oldcarsstronghearts.com pigValve.paceMaker.cowValve | 1979 Caprice Classic (needs new owner) "This is not where you belong" __ Restless Heart __ 'Why Does It Have To Be (Wrong or Right)?' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hudsy Wudsy Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 I can't think of any use for a non-steerable dolly except some linear short distance purpose similar to the car wash idea someone mentioned earlier. It doesn't look anywhere sturdy enough to have had an industrial (assembly line) origin, nor likely, a road purpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
padgett Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Motorcycle ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restorer32 Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 You guys are way over thinking this. It is obviously an early skate board. The ramp is actually a brake. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emjay Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 (edited) I found the video I was referring to. As you see VERY light gauge. I forgot about the pair of swiveling castors. It could work with fixed castors with just a bit of scuffing. All dual (or more) axle truck and trailer scuffs. With the picture of this obviously older unit, the patent pending status will have to be rejected. Edited May 23, 2016 by emjay (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emjay Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 (edited) Unless the patent refers to the improvement of swiveling castors and that the vehicle weight is mostly on the rear wheels to improve steering geometry/effort. With a rear wheel weight bias, it would be easier to scuff fixed front castors. Those claims might be enough to get a patent as an improvement to previous art. The driver is quite peeved (shuts door) and has the device very handy in the boot. He must get a lot of flats. Edited May 23, 2016 by emjay (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capngrog Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 emjay, Cool video, and I think that might be the purpose of 37PackardMan's much heavier duty gizmo; however, it just doesn't look to me to be "real world" practical. I'd like to see it used on a rear wheel of a rear wheel drive car ... I think it would be launched to the rear as soon as the car was placed in gear. I also think that the road surface would have to be unrealistically smooth ... no cobble stone streets for this rig. If they don't work out, these things could be used as skateboards as suggested by Restorer32. Cheers, Grog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emjay Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 It would be useful to move a Model T Ford back and forth in a garage since there isn't a true neutral Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KMILLER Posted November 8, 2016 Share Posted November 8, 2016 I have one of these that my dad purchased in the late 1940' s or early 1950' s. It was designed to be used on a flat rear tire so you could get to a service station to fix the flat. It was plenty strong enough to enable our 1947 Buick Super to go about 4 miles to a service station; I remember it well. Today, I used it as a dolly to haul off a 1500 pound tree stump. Picture attached .... My dad would have been pleased that I found a use for it after all these years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Walling Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 On 5/20/2016 at 2:57 PM, emjay said: Recently on another forum someone posted a British film of something very similar for flat tires. Drive the flat onto/into and then proceed to repair site. The lack of swiveling casters indicates this type of function. When I was 18 I had a suspension malfunction and I actually used a dolly with casters to drive my car home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenHupp20 Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 I know exactly what this is for! When I was a kid there was one in the garage,left by the previous owner.Playing around the neighborhood we found a cannonball out in the bushes.It was so heavy we had to roll it home.Ya,sounds dumb now but as a kid of course you bring it home. Well we figured that old gizmo would be great to move our new "toy" around.So we got it in there and pushed it out the driveway across the street and started up the neighbor's drive.It was a bit of incline so we needed to push.I was in the back and dontcha know it started rolling back right over my fingers. Jeez hurt like hell,ran into the house,mom put it in cold water I guess.She briefly thought about taking me to the doctors to get it looked at .In the end she decided not to,she didn't want to have to explain how her son had been run over by a cannonball. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozstatman Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 Great story! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimacar Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 Yes, Ken, great story....and glad you still have use of all the digits! A lot of songs over the years use a similar phrase, "Catch a Cannon Ball", and sometimes it refers to catching a train, as they were called that if they were fast. On the battlefields of the Civil War, though, it was at one time thought fun to "catch a cannon ball" as it rolled across the field, not spent nor exploded. Many men lost limbs trying this trick, as the momentum and rolling force of a heavy ball is not to be trifled with... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenHupp20 Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 Thank you.Fun growing up back then. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderbolt1 Posted May 18, 2019 Share Posted May 18, 2019 https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/c1940-nojax-emergency-flat-tire-truck-522492631 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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