Well OklahomaDog, I’ll chime in to agree about the benefits of more room. 
 
Alternately, you might want to look at a small cart if you have to push it 50′ uphill into the garage every day.  I didn’t really think about that at first.

My material cost so far is around 275.  I like lorna have alot of materials on hand.  It is the nature of the beast so to speak in regards to my current trade.  I own a welder and plasma cutter.  I am sure not EVERYONE can build one that inexpensively.  I am just fortunate enough to have a lot of the materials on hand.  Left over stuff from jobs, horse trading and bartering for work.  Now, from scratch with no materials, I would probably have spent close to 1500 before assembly.  That is the only reason I said 500 to build mine.  I have the materials, now I just need to put it together.   

I purchased my cart from Ben at Ben’s Carts.  My cart has not been problem free, however I would buy another cart from Ben because he takes care of his customers and works hard to make things right. 

Jerry… we built our cart. It cost us in cash about $500.  BUT that was the first version (It’s changed a little since then[8D]). We also used stuff we already had.. and we had a lot of stuff… The flatbed cargo trailer (which we cut down), the corian, the metal framing, the aluminum skin was all stuff we had… even the insulation and the wiring we had on hand. We had the umbrella as well. We bought our steam pans and lids used (except for the two aluminum hotel/waterbath pans). NOW we have alot more into it… mostly because we have had to buy NEW stuff. And we ended up replacing the floor that the NC HD required.

Well Oklahoma Dog, I have done some research.  I know you can buy carts relatively inexpensively.  However, in this state you can build your own cart depending on your mechanical skills.  I am opting for this.  I can build a cart for around 500 bux.  I have priced and checked.  The biggest thing is most of the cars I looked at to purchase did not have sneeze guards.  Those are a requirement in this state.  There are so many different variations to each cart.  If you purchase one used from another state, expect to shell out cash for upgrades to meet our states HD codes.  You cannot serve any, “open” condiments.  If you opt to utilize chili you will have to use, “vegetarian” chili.  Your cheese cannot be open either.  I am going to utilize squirt bottles from Sams.  They are big and you can load them up.  You can go to http://www.tulsa-health.org www.tulsa-health.org and type in hot dog vendor in the search.  The Tulsa county HD does not apply to your area, Enid.  But you can be rest assured that if it passes Tulsa County it will pass for state as well.  State guidelines pretty much work for every county except Tulsa county and Oklahoma county.  

I know of a vendor that is coming to your area.  He sells Sabretts and has been very successful in Bartlesville.  I don’t think he will be setting up there though, his wife will be.  Unfortunately this gentleman has an illness that prevents him from being outside too long. 

That is all I know thus far. 

Hope this helps.

John

I built my cart. Respectfully, I say there is NO WAY you can build a cart for $500.
John, I think you will find this out when you get your material list together.
 
Jerry

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention.  You are going to be required to utilize a commisssary.  You cannot prepare anything at your home.  It all has to be done at the commissary.  So be sure to add that cost into your budget as well.  My insurance costs me 633/yr for 2 MIL GL.  One of the requirements for a commissary is it must be able to, “house” the cart.  I don’t know if your county will require that for sure or not.  I now Tulsa does.  Hopefully your county will not be so strict.  The only two counties that are going to require you to jump through ridiculous hoops is Tulsa County and Oklahoma County.

Well Oklahoma Dog, I have done some research.  I know you can buy carts relatively inexpensively.  However, in this state you can build your own cart depending on your mechanical skills.  I am opting for this.  I can build a cart for around 500 bux.  I have priced and checked.  The biggest thing is most of the cars I looked at to purchase did not have sneeze guards.  Those are a requirement in this state.  There are so many different variations to each cart.  If you purchase one used from another state, expect to shell out cash for upgrades to meet our states HD codes.  You cannot serve any, “open” condiments.  If you opt to utilize chili you will have to use, “vegetarian” chili.  Your cheese cannot be open either.  I am going to utilize squirt bottles from Sams.  They are big and you can load them up.  You can go to http://www.tulsa-health.org and type in hot dog vendor in the search.  The Tulsa county HD does not apply to your area, Enid.  But you can be rest assured that if it passes Tulsa County it will pass for state as well.  State guidelines pretty much work for every county except Tulsa county and Oklahoma county.  
 
I know of a vendor that is coming to your area.  He sells Sabretts and has been very successful in Bartlesville.  I don’t think he will be setting up there though, his wife will be.  Unfortunately this gentleman has an illness that prevents him from being outside too long. 
 
That is all I know thus far. 
 
Hope this helps.
 
John

yep, I’m living proof !!!  I opted out of the 12 ft trailer for an extra $100. Being new to the game, my theory was: it’s 2 feet. HOW much more room is that really going to give me for an extra $100. Granted I was already spending thousands on the trailer. It didn’t hit me until after I was in the building phase, and I was kicking myself in the ass the entire time. GO BIG !!!  LOL

I am just thinking of starting off slow with dogs, chips and drink for 5 bucks, not sure if this will work but worth a try. I will do standard toppings to start off. I have only heard of one other vendor in town but have never seen him. I don’t have alot of money but am figuring on spending about 3500.

You should be able to find a cart on Craigslist for $1000-$2000. Just make sure it passes your health department requirements before you purchase it. You can use the extra money for your other fees as Trentondog said (HD fees, liability insurance, product).
I can’t agree with Wild Dog more.  Once you start I assure you that your going to want more cooking room.  When you have limited cooking space it is a huge hassle.

You’ll want to factor in general liability insurance, licensing fees, business vehicle insurance, commisary fees, lease fees (where you will be selling), etc. and so on. If you want to be conservative, have about 10K in cash for startup.
 
-Trent (a proponent of regional food purity…….)
 
 

I would contact your HD to make sure you can serve the condiments you want before you go full force, also when looking for a cart, get the schematics and send them to your HD rep to make sure it’s passable. DO NOT just run out and buy a cart to get one. Take your time and do your homework. This forum is a gold mine of info for newbies.
 

WD has a point. Just wanted to add that the 525 is their “large” cart and the 510 is the small cart. I have enough room on the 525 to serve chili and cheez whiz dogs, polish sausage, and potato knishes.
 
-Trent (staying within the lines while thinking outside the box…..)
 
 

Last year I bought a Custom Mobile “525” cart. (not a pushcart, but a towable cart), I use an SUV to move it around.
 
The manufacturer is in Hammonton, NJ – so I was able to visit their shop before I put any money down. These folks have been in biz since the fifties and they make full blown mobile kitchens for the red cross, FEMA, and hollywood caterers – so a hot dog cart or vending trailer is childs play for them. Standard equipment includes your 4 sinks (one handwashing, and three for wash/rinse/sanitizing of utensils. It features pilot burners (for safety – if the flame goes out, it shuts the gas off) and a separate burner for the hot water (rather than a coil of tubing around your main burner). The heath dept. was impressed with the that. It has a lockable bread drawer on roller bearings, and hinged covers on the steam pans. (nice TIG welding) I needed to add a food prep tray and that’s about it. It did cost quite a bit (almost 6K) but it is built to last. I was able to pick it up myself, but they crate them and ship them all over the country.
 
Maybe try and find one of these on craigslist and save some bucks, they pop up every so often.
 
-Trent (a professional hot dog vendor from Trenton, not a self taught chef from an undisclosed location)
 
 

first and foremost, you can NEVER have too much space to work with. if you buy small, you stay small ( so to speak ) You can’t add to it. If you go big, and you don’t use the space right away, that’s ok, you can fall back on it later.
 
Lots of different things make up a good cart. First is manufacturing, how well it’s built, how long it’s going to last, what grade metal is used. Warranty is the next hurdle.
 
What is your budget on buying a cart ? Are you thinking of going with new or used ? 
 
Roadfood has a great search query for carts. You can/will find alot of great threads on here about cart discussions.  Not bashing, just saying… I was once new on here too 😀 We all gotta start somewhere.
 
What are you thinking of selling on the cart ?