He Mounted Scaffolding
On A School Bus Chassis
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“I bought an old school bus with the idea to use it for storage or as a shop office, but after removing the body from the chassis, I decided to make the chassis into a rolling scaffold platform to help me build my man cave shop,” says Texan Frank Surber.
Surber gained new building skills as a teenager by working in a blacksmith shop, then joining the Army, where he cross-trained as a heavy-duty machine mechanic. He used his engineering degree to design and build oil rigs and start his own engineering and manufacturing company. “All that experience gave me plenty of ideas for retirement,” Surber says.
He started the scaffold project by placing three old postal service warehouse carts across the frame rails of the bus chassis. Adding a pair of 6-in. wide flange beams on top of those rails provided two perfect channels for the scaffold posts. He put wood blocks between the beams to stabilize the scaffolding and then chained everything securely to the bus frame. While working on the scaffolding, he placed pipe stands at each corner of the bus frame to add more stability.
Surber made the work platform on top of the scaffolding out of five 2 by 4 stringers and 4-ft. by 8-ft. sheets of plywood. “I could easily and safely work the full length of the 24-ft. long platform,” Suber says.
“The walls of my shop are 18 ft. high, and the trusses were another 7 ft. above that, so the rolling scaffolding was very helpful for installing the purlins, especially since I did 90 percent of the construction myself,” Surber says. “I could reach between three roof trusses without moving the bus.” He used a high lift loader to hold the trusses while he installed the purlins.
After framing the roof, Surber used the mobile scaffolding to roll along the outside of the building and install the first sheets of metal roofing. “Using the rolling scaffold was a lot easier than setting up stationary sections, saving me a lot of time,” Surber says. “I’ll probably be able to find several other uses for it around here.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Frank Surber, Peacock, Texas.
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He Mounted Scaffolding On A School Bus Chassis BUILDINGS New Techniques “I bought an old school bus with the idea to use it for storage or as a shop office but after removing the body from the chassis I decided to make the chassis into a rolling scaffold platform to help me build my man cave shop ” says Texan Frank Surber Surber gained new building skills as a teenager by working in a blacksmith shop then joining the Army where he cross-trained as a heavy-duty machine mechanic He used his engineering degree to design and build oil rigs and start his own engineering and manufacturing company “All that experience gave me plenty of ideas for retirement ” Surber says He started the scaffold project by placing three old postal service warehouse carts across the frame rails of the bus chassis Adding a pair of 6-in wide flange beams on top of those rails provided two perfect channels for the scaffold posts He put wood blocks between the beams to stabilize the scaffolding and then chained everything securely to the bus frame While working on the scaffolding he placed pipe stands at each corner of the bus frame to add more stability Surber made the work platform on top of the scaffolding out of five 2 by 4 stringers and 4-ft by 8-ft sheets of plywood “I could easily and safely work the full length of the 24-ft long platform ” Suber says “The walls of my shop are 18 ft high and the trusses were another 7 ft above that so the rolling scaffolding was very helpful for installing the purlins especially since I did 90 percent of the construction myself ” Surber says “I could reach between three roof trusses without moving the bus ” He used a high lift loader to hold the trusses while he installed the purlins After framing the roof Surber used the mobile scaffolding to roll along the outside of the building and install the first sheets of metal roofing “Using the rolling scaffold was a lot easier than setting up stationary sections saving me a lot of time ” Surber says “I’ll probably be able to find several other uses for it around here ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Frank Surber Peacock Texas
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