Bullnose Garage, Videos
by Ed
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Turns Out a Trailer Hitch Is My New Favorite Space Saver — Portable Vise & Grinder Setup

Published on November 13, 2025

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Part of the The Garage series.

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Show Transcript
If you’re anything like me, you have all kinds of stuff in your garage and basically know where to put it. I should pan around the garage and show you what a mess it is most of the time. It’s not because I’m a messy guy; it’s because I have so much stuff and so little space. That’s a common garage issue. I’m always looking for ways to make storage make sense. One of the things I recently did was teach myself how to weld. I’m not an expert yet, but I can at least stick two pieces of metal together with fire, which is cool. I built a welding table and I’m pretty happy with it. It works really well. If you work with metal, you need a bunch of tools: a vise, a grinder, flap discs, an angle grinder, a welder, and all the accessories. To simplify storage, I built a quick interchange system using 2-inch hitch receivers. I want to show it to you because you might want to use it too. So, take a look. [Music] Howdy folks, Ed here. Welcome back to Bono’s Garage. This is my 2-inch hitch receiver mount system. You can see one here, another on the wall for storage, and this one is an old truck rim, a driveshaft, and a 2-inch rotating hitch receiver that lets me mount my grinder or vise in any of these positions. It’s super simple. I use 2-inch receiver mounts with a rotating head. You can pull a pin and rotate the head. They were only about $20 more than a regular mount and give much more flexibility. With a vise it’s not necessary since the vise itself can rotate, but it adds another axis for extension. It’s simple: you slide it in, pin it, and screw it down so it doesn’t move. Now I have a vise that can move around the shop. This is handy because I can take the tools outside to grind metal without filling the garage with metal shards that stick to every magnet. I can work in the driveway, keeping the garage clean. I can also mount the grinder. These setups are heavy, but they work. There we go. If I want to grind some metal outside, I can do that with this too. I put this little foot on the bottom to keep it from rocking forward, and it works pretty well. I’m never going to be able to wrench on a 10-foot pole with this, but that’s not what it’s designed for. It’s designed for me to take stuff outside and grind on it out there, keeping it out of the way of the garage. When I’m ready to work inside on a more stable platform, I can take this off, bring it over to my bench, slide it in, and plug it in. Now I can grind here. If I need to use my vise instead, I slot that in and store it on the wall. I have these screws on here to keep it from moving, which makes it hard to install if I don’t undo them. There we go. Now my vise is ready to use. It’s pretty stable, though it flops a bit. I have some screws in the hitch receiver I can use to lock it down better. This is never going to be as stable as a full bench-mounted vise, but for what I’m doing here, it’s perfect. And now for the really cool part. Howdy, folks. It’s your slightly desperate channel support reminder. You can keep Bono’s Garage running strong by joining the crew on Patreon or picking up some merch at bonar.com. I promise every single penny goes straight into parts and channel upgrades. I buy my own beer. This 2-inch hitch receiver sits on the end of a steel pipe that runs underneath the table through two pillow blocks, so it can rotate up and down. I’m using DJ light bar braces—the kind used to hang DJ lights from a truss system mounted under a table—to keep the steel pipe from rolling up and down, and it works. If I loosen this, I’m going to take the vise out because I don’t want it dropping down on me; that would be really embarrassing. It’s held down with wing nuts, so I use my wing nut wrench to loosen them. This isn’t meant to be adjusted all the time because I won’t use it like this often, but when I want to, I can rotate it up and mount it straight up and down or out here if I need to. If I had to come at something from underneath or needed a different angle, no problem. I’m holding it because if I don’t, it’ll flop down since I haven’t tightened the braces. The whole thing will go up and down, and all I have to do is tighten it down there to keep it from moving. I’m not sure I can do this hand-tight enough to keep it from moving on camera. Let’s see—oh. Hand-tight is enough to keep it from moving so I can show you. That’s how it works. I couldn’t wrench on this in any major way because it would move on me, but there we go—it’s moving because I had to tighten it down. That’s what I have the wrench for. It’s a short video this week. I wanted to show this system I put together because I think it’s pretty cool. If you wanted to use something like this in your shop, you could: put as many hitch receivers on the wall as you have room for and hang as many tools as you want. I’m thinking about getting a smaller drill press to put on here, one of the magnetic ones. There are a couple other tools that might work on a platform like this. If I wanted to, I could take this out and put it in the back of my truck, right on the hitch of my newer Ford. Will I ever do that? Who knows. But now I can, and that’s half the fun of garage projects—you make things so you can use them that way, even if you never do. The link to all of the stuff I used to make this happen is in the description. Some of it’s kind of expensive, but not terrible, and it should last a long time. Now I have a great way to move projects for welding, grinding, cutting, or any metal work in and out of the garage to make the workflow more efficient. That’s it for now. Thanks so much for watching. If you have questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions—if you want to know more about how I did this or have done something similar—drop them below. I really appreciate it. We’ll see you next time. It’s following me around—can you stop? If you want to dig deeper into the builds, the side projects, and the stuff that doesn’t always make it on YouTube, or just want to get to know me better, come hang out on patreon.com/bullnose Garage. It helps keep the lights on, the beer fridge full, and the builds funded. Appreciate you being part of the garage. Thanks again for watching; we’ll see you next time.

If your garage is bursting at the seams with tools and “stuff I might need someday,” welcome to the club. I got tired of playing floor-plan Tetris every time I wanted to grind, weld, or clamp something. So I tried something a little ridiculous that turned out to be… not ridiculous at all.

Short version: I built a portable vise and grinder setup around 2-inch trailer hitch receivers. Now I can mount a tool on the wall, at the welding table, or on a freestanding base, and move it outside when I don’t feel like sandblasting the shop with metal dust. It’s simple, stout, and way more flexible than I expected.

The 2-Inch Hitch Receiver Mount System

The heart of this setup is a set of 2-inch hitch receivers and interchangeable tool mounts. I’ve got three main locations:

  • A receiver on my welding table
  • A receiver on the wall (for storage and quick swaps)
  • A freestanding mount made from an old truck rim and a driveshaft

For the tool-side mounts, I used 2-inch receiver pieces with a rotating head. They cost about $20 more than a standard fixed mount, but the extra axis is worth it—especially for the grinder. With a vise, it’s not strictly necessary because most vises rotate on their own, but the added articulation makes positioning easier. It’s a slide-pin-tighten operation: drop the mount in, pin it, snug the screws so it doesn’t wiggle, and you’re in business.

Why Hitch Receivers Work in a Small Shop

Hitch receivers are built to locate and secure heavy things quickly. Turns out they’re perfect for tools, too. The big wins here:

  • Interchangeable tools: Swap a grinder for a vise in seconds without dedicating a chunk of bench space to either one.
  • Mobile dust control: I can drag the grinder mount outside and keep the garage from looking like a glitter bomb hit a magnet factory.
  • Modular storage: The wall receiver doubles as a parking spot when a tool isn’t in use.
  • Flexible angles: The rotating head and the table-mounted rotating pipe (more on that in a second) make awkward workholding less awkward.

The Components (and Why They Matter)

Rotating Receiver Mounts

These are just standard 2-inch hitch receiver mounts with a rotating head. Pull a pin, change the angle, drop the pin back in. They add another axis of alignment so you can bring the work to you instead of contorting around the tool. For grinding and light fab work, they’re ideal.

Vise and Grinder, One System

The vise and the grinder each live on their own hitch insert. When I want to grind outside, the grinder goes on the freestanding base. When I need to clamp and beat on something, the vise moves to the welding table. When one’s in use, the other can hang out in the wall receiver. Easy.

Locking It Down

Receivers are solid, but tools still need to be tightened. I’ve got screws on the mounts to snug them in the receiver and keep the play down. That also means if I forget to back those screws off, the swap can be a bear. Ask me how I know. The message here: snug for stability; loosen before you yank on it.

The Freestanding Rim-and-Driveshaft Stand

This is the portable workhorse: an old truck rim for the base, a driveshaft for the upright, and a 2-inch rotating receiver on top. It’s heavy (which is good), it rolls enough to move around (also good), and it has a small foot at the bottom to keep it from pitching forward under load (very good). I’m not trying to pull on a 10-foot cheater bar with this thing—because that’s not what it’s for. It’s for taking the grinder (or a vise) outside, doing the dirty work there, and bringing it back in without dragging half the driveway in with it.

Stability-wise, it’s plenty for normal grinding, fitting, and light clamping. If you’re expecting bench-vise rigidity on a freestanding stand, you’re going to be disappointed. But for the intended use, it’s right on the money.

The Wall Receiver

The wall receiver is the simplest piece, and it earns its keep. It stores whatever tool isn’t in use and doubles as a quick-use station when I just need to make a fast touch-up. Receivers aren’t just for trucks—they make solid wall mounts too.

The Welding Table: Rotating Pipe Mount

Here’s where it gets fun. The receiver at the end of my welding table is welded to a steel pipe that runs underneath the table through two pillow block bearings. That pipe can rotate, which means the whole receiver can swing up, down, or anywhere in between. I’m using DJ-style truss clamps (the light bar braces used to hang stage lights) under the table to lock the pipe in position. They’re hand-friendly with wing nuts, and I keep a wing nut wrench nearby to give them an extra snug when I need it.

Use case: if I need the vise vertical, horizontal, or somewhere off the edge of the table to get under a part, I can swing the receiver to where I want it and clamp it in place. Hand-tight can hold for light duty; for anything more convincing, a quick hit with the wing nut wrench locks it down nicely.

Could I reef on this setup like a fixed bench vise? No. It’ll move before the steel does. But for positioning, odd angles, and making the most of limited table space, it’s a killer option.

What It Can (and Can’t) Do

  • Can: Let me mount a vise or grinder in multiple places, change orientations fast, and move the mess outside.
  • Can: Keep the shop cleaner by doing grinding in the driveway so the magnetic gremlins don’t collect every tiny metal shaving.
  • Can: Save space by using one set of mounts for multiple tools.
  • Can’t: Replace a bolted-to-the-floor industrial vise for high-torque work. It’s not designed for that, and I’m not pretending it is.

Future Add-Ons I’m Considering

I’m eyeing a smaller magnetic-base drill press to drop into a hitch insert. A couple other tools would adapt nicely to a platform like this, too. And yes, I could stick one of these mounts right into the hitch on my newer Ford and have a field vise in the driveway or on a job site. Will I? Maybe. The point is, I can—and that’s half the fun.

Build Notes and Tips

  • Receiver choice: The rotating head mounts cost a bit more than fixed mounts, but the flexibility pays off immediately—especially on the grinder.
  • Snug matters: Set screws or clamp screws in the receiver make a big difference in how “solid” the tool feels.
  • Balance your freestanding base: A wide base (like a truck rim) plus a small anti-tip foot keeps things composed when you’re leaning on the work.
  • Use the right clamps under the table: Pillow block bearings let the pipe rotate smoothly, and truss clamps with wing nuts make locking it down fast and tool-free most of the time.
  • Know the limits: This is not a dragline anchor. It’s a smart way to reconfigure common tools and move work zones around without rebuilding the shop.

Parts I Mention and Link

Links to the mounts and parts I used are below.

Why This Silly Idea Works

Because it’s simple. Hitch receivers are an existing, standardized interface with great mechanical engagement and fast changes built in. Add a rotating head, give yourself a few places to plug in around the shop, and suddenly the same tools have three lives: on the wall, on the table, or out in the driveway. When space is tight and your tool list is long, modular beats permanent every time.

Wrap-Up

That’s the whole setup: receivers on the table and wall, a freestanding rim-and-driveshaft stand, a rotating pipe with pillow blocks, and a couple of tools on hitch inserts I can swap in seconds. It’s not fancy, but it’s absolutely effective—and my garage is a lot less sparkly because of it.

Want to see it in action? Check out the video and let me know what you’d add to the system, or how you’d tweak it for your space. Questions, ideas, or better ways to keep the dust outside—drop them in the comments.

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