Glen Wasmuth takes his tools to the job, whether in the shop or around the yard. His shop on wheels is loaded with tools of all sizes, from wrenches and bits to grinders, cutting torches, drill presses and welders, not to mention parts and other supplies. Even the bench top serves double duty.

"The biggest challenge in building it was getting the 3/8-in. steel for the top of the bench the way I wanted, with one long edge square and the other rounded," says Wasmuth. "I took it to a local manufacturer of stock trailers. He had a huge brake and rolled the front of the bench for me."

The 2 edges work like a giant anvil for Wasmuth, letting him hammer tin or light metal round on the front side. He left the back edge square for hammering 90-degree angles. 

The bench is 10 ft. long with a 30 by 72-in. work area in the center with 2 shelves beneath it. He used 1/4-in. steel plate for the bottom shelf and 3/16-in. plate for the middle shelf, connecting all 3 surfaces by welding them to angle iron.

"If I was doing it over, I would have made the shelves adjustable," says Wasmuth. 

The front end has a 6-ft. tow bar with a caster wheel assembly using 8-in. wheels salvaged from a combine pickup reel. The drill press and cutting torch are mounted over it, as are drill bits and a propane tank for the torch. 

The rear axle, mounted under the back end of the work area, rides on 12-in. wheels from a Deere rod weeder. 

"The front wheels swivel more than 90 degrees, which allows me to spin the bench in its own length," says Wasmuth. 

The bench has its own breaker box with individual breakers for the welder, 5 hp. compressor, and cut-off saw. It is designed to plug into available circuits in the shop and out of it with a 50-ft., heavy-duty cable. In the shop, Wasmuth uses a 30-amp welder plug on one wall. Welder plugs at either end of the bench for his mobile MIG welder and 2 separate circuits add to versatility.

"We can use the MIG and the AC welder at the same time," says Wasmuth.

A 20-drawer mechanics chest holding parts and tools sits at the rear end of the work area. More storage drawers ride on the first shelf under the work surface. An adjustable shop light mounted over the work surface ensures jobs are well lit, while a rack over the mechanics chest carries welding helmets and angle grinders.

The all-steel workbench weighs in at more than a ton. It can be rolled around the shop floor by a single person or towed around the yard. It can also serve as a dead weight when needed.

"I can turn the front wheels sideways, hook a come-along to it and straighten metal on an implement," says Wasmuth.  

Although it appears that every square inch of space is dedicated to a tool or accessory, Wasmuth admits that he had no plan to follow when building it.

"I bought a kit of drawers and parts from a bolt company and set the height of the upper shelf to fit them," he says. "I knew I wanted room on the lower shelf for the air compressor and welder, so I set the lower shelf for that. Otherwise, I just started building."