Got it Welded

Hey guys!!

So, I recently picked up a little job from the local scrap yard. They wanted their skid-steer forks re-welded. I accepted the challenge, and brought the thing home.

This is what I started with:





So, I had my work cut out for me (no pun intended). I took it in to school with me on friday, and got the old weld out, after spending some quality time with the arc-air and a 7" grinder.


Then, I brought it home and started welding. I was running 5/32" 7018s at 210 amps on AC with the stickmate. I ran it at its maximum duty cycle for 6 hours straight, and it never missed a beat. The leads, electrode holder and the welder itself tho were all nice and toasty when I finally called it a night. I love that little welder, but I do wish I could afford a bigger one...

Anyway, I got up this morning early and took it in to the scrap yard. They were really happy with it, and watching them hook it up to the bobcat for the first time was the most nerve-wracking thing ive done in a while, because if that doesn't fit, it wouldn't be fun getting it back off of there. It slid right on, and the clamps worked like they should, and so its a job Im happy with. I asked them how they were getting along without it, and the guy said "we aren't". I got paid and now I think Im going back to bed. Or maybe i'll just drink some mountain dew.

So, here it is!! I did 10 passes on the top, and re-did all the welds on the bottom. I bought the biggest grade 8 bolts that I could find (1 5/16") and torched out a couple of holes for them, and put them in there. The top piece that mounts to the main plate was bent really badly, and I had to cut part of it in the middle just to bend it back to being straight. It was still too warped to weld the underside of it, however.

The before pictures looked horrible!!! I can see why you were confident in your ability to improve it! Looks much better now.

Looks Great Lanse!! Glad you stuck with it and got it completed on time. Good Job!

Good work! Ron Mn.

That looks a lot better!

Good job! Someone expressed a concern about
liability and while it is something to keep in mind
I don't think you have to worry about anything,
(what can they take from you?) Taking pictures is
good if there ever was a problem, nothing like a
picture for evidence!

Very nice, Lanse! Having a junk yard on your good side is a VERY handy thing if you like turning other people's trash into your own treasures.

WOW! That must have been one of the last projects Ray Charles did before he died! :lol:

In time you won't be nervous with your welding abilities. I remember one of my first jobs was building a template for a cofferdam. We were about 40-feet off the ground, and the riggers were flying beams up to me and my partner. I would tack one end of the beam, and the other end cantilevered out into open air about 30-feet. Soon as I gave the OK the rigger would single the crane operator to put some slack in the rigging, and he would run out and un-rig the beam. Boy wouldn't that be embarrassing if my tacks didn't hold!:lol:

You said AC, did you mean DC ?

good job,and a long one too! bet you were glad when you finished AND it fit like a hand in a glove..

So.. how much did ya git paid fer it?
we all wanna know

Good job. Did you use 7018 AC rods?

Thanks man!!

Nope, just regular 7018s. I generally hate AC stick welding, but the little stickmate actually does a really nice job of it, atleast on higher amperage stuff like this. They started hard at first, but once things warmed up, they lit right off and burned really nicely. The main difference I noticed was the sound. Way different than DC. I remember getting really mad about arc-outtages with my old lincoln tombstone, but I only had 2 or 3 of them last night, on all these welds. It wasnt that bad.

When I was shopping for 7018s on my way home from school, TSC did have some, but they were almost twice the price, so I passed.

Not enough

Haha. Id rather not say, I guess its kinda like my videos that way. Sorry...

Kind of.

Anything in position, I ran with AC, 200-210 amps. Anything out of position, I ran at 160 DC amps (machines max).

good job Lance. the befor pic, makes you wonder what some one thinks is ok to do and try to pass off as good work. your's is so much better. David

BAHAHAHAHA thats a good one

lol. Im gonna remember that, Im thinking of a
couple people in my class... Nevermind, haha...

Jeeze, thats intense!! Haha, I dont even know what
that'd be like, especially if someone decided to
walk under said beam. Musta been some tacks?

Im just looking for more work. How the heck are
you supposed to find it?

Thanks man!!

These guys are really cool, and hopefully I can buy something cool there, and rebuild it and sell it again this summer, when I have some more time on my hands, and some more money to throw around. They have a couple of trailers that need some TLC, and they sell anything for 30% over scrap. So, even if I couldnt fix it for whatever reason (unseen damage, etc), Id only be out 30%. Ive had way worse deals than that before.

"Im just looking for more work. How the heck are
you supposed to find it?"

Lanse print up some business cards, and start passing them out. But be really careful what you take on, with out product liability insurance you're out there a mile!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There's a guy around here who's known as the man to call when you can't get a weld to stay together. He's hard to get a hold of though, spends most of his time in the strip mines west of here putting their equipment back together. No shortage of work for someone with the right reputation.

Lanse,An old dairy farmer I worked for gave this bit of advise that he got from his father.Take care of what you have and it will get you more.He was right on.Just keep an eye out out for a bigger welder.You will need it later on.For now use your welder to earn cash and save up for a bigger welder.Dont push your LX to far.

fair enough... but no matter what, you learned a lot I am sure, and it was good experience I think you did a very good job!..

It's all about time you'll be as busy as you want to be in a few years. I am no great welder I just have a few cause I like to play with it and people drag stuff over to my place all the time. I wish you lived closer, I would send them to you.

Lanse
Nice job on the repair.
I have 2 suggestions.
Before starting a repair on something in that condition take it to the car wash and get it as clean as possible. It will help insure against contamination of the welds and helps with number 2.
The second is buy some fast drying paint in a rattle can. When you are done with the repairs give it a quick coat of paint. It makes the unit and you look better in the eyes of the person handing over their money.

Scott

Looks great Lanse, thanks for the pics. I'm glad you didn't listen to the naysayers and took on the job. The conditions you describe with the glass, etc, and the mess of a weld you had to start with are exactly what I was talking about the other day when I said there are no perfect conditions in the field. Throw in a little more oil and grease, or rust, or all three, and then put the machine in 6 inches of mud (or 40 feet up in the air) with an outside temp just above freezing (or 90 plus degrees) and then you'll experience real world repair welding. One thing I saw mentioned already in the comments is that when you do a job, and it's feasible to do it, prime and paint your work when your done. Given the posts you've had on here so far I think you already know that, and in this case it would have been nothing but a waste of time and money for the paint, but still, keep it in mind as it will set you apart from alot of others.

As for finding more work, word of mouth is your best friend. I'm at a point in my business where I'm having to rebuild it due to losing customers to the economy. I've made up and sent out close to 150 brochures about 6 months back. From them I've had alot of calls asking about rates and things not on the brochure but so far have only picked up one new customer that way. Other than the one, all of my new customers have come my way by being told about me by someone else I did work for. That said, the best way to start is make you up some business cards and pass them out, hang them up on the bulliten board at Tractor Supply, etc, etc. The one thing you have to be willing to do is admit your limitations when taking to a customer. Nothing will kill your reputation worse than telling a potential customer you can definately do something and then not being able to do it. That's not to say be afraid to try new things, simply don't be afraid to tell the customer if your not sure and give them the option to give you a chance at the work or move on to someone else. You might lose some work like this but you'll typically earn the respect of the customer and they'll be willing to give you a chance at more/different work in the future that you will be able to handle.

As far as the business cards go I've got Microsoft Publisher on my computer and would be glad to put something together for you if you want. I did my own cards and tri-fold brochures with the program and they look as good as the 'professionally' done ones you pay an arm and an leg for. In mass the cards can be cheaper going through someone else but for no more cards than I typically hand out I really like having my own, custom cards and doing them on the break apart card stock that you can get from Wal-mart, etc. They are usually around 4 bucks for 100 cards, and 100 cards last a long time unless you get plain out wasteful with them.....Just let me know on the cards and I'll be glad to help you out and send you the file to where all you have to do is hit print.

You asked me the other day what all I had done over the years. I grew up messing around the shop with my Dad and learned to stick weld there repairing machines and implements. When I got out of the Navy I spent several years MIG welding building service truck bodies. From there I moved into industrial maintenance and did welding on everything from conveyors, to material silos, and anything else that got broke and needed attention. From there I went into business for myself and over the years have done everything from repairing crane booms, to repairing cracks in the mainframe on cranes and other construction equipment. Then there was a 600 ton shear at a local scrap yard, a complete rebuild and hardface job on a 980 CAT loader bucket (wish I could find the pics of that one), plating and hardfacing a 345B CAT excavator bucket, to rebuilding and hardfacing cable plow blades. I've also done a good bit of buildup work in holes of various sizes, and in various types of implements and machines, with both a stick and MIG, to get them back to size and allow them to be line bored back to a standard size. I've also had the opportunity to do some MIG work using a bronze alloy wire to build up worn out pump impellers for a past employeer. Beyond those few things mentioned it's always been pretty much been a matter of seeing what was broke, and regardless of what it was getting it repaired so the customer could get back to work.

Good luck in all you do and I look forward to seeing more of your work in the future.

Good job for sure. Lanse only suggestion, make sure you have some type of liability insurance if you are charging for this work. Where I used to work millwrights used forklifts for people platforms working overhead. Nuff said. Please I would tell my son the same. Dave

As far as business cards ,Vista Print ,online is super cheap ,they also have a lot of designs to pick from or make your own custom cards

I think there are two options you need to consider for liability.

Option 01-Do all the work at school. That way if there is a problem and someone gets injured, it is the school and the teacher, who should carry tons of insurance, who get sued. You might but you are a minor, right?

Option 02-There really isn't an option 02. If something goes amiss and you are a minor, your parents might get stuck with the bill. If they don't have an umbrella policy then it might be pretty bleak. Maybe if there were an option 02, you would get a job at a welding company, use their machines and put the liability on them.

Remember, even if you do it all correctly, people can sue for no reason.

Hello Lanse,
Just one comment for you.
The holes for the bolts should have beed drilled to size. I know the are an insurance measure. But if the only thing olding were the bolts, and the holes were bigger, the 2 plates could move right?
You can already weld better then some people the get paid as welders.
If you sign your work with excellence, then more work will be coming your way.
Guido.

Dear Old Farm Tractor. Ya thats real good advice to tell a kid to do it at school so the schools liability insurance picks up the tab! Thats half the reason this country is in the shape its in. Take responsibility for your own actions!

P.S. Good job on the repair Lanse! It looks good.

(quoted from post at 16:03:13 05/21/11) Thanks man!!

Nope, just regular 7018s. I generally hate AC stick welding, but the little stickmate actually does a really nice job of it, atleast on higher amperage stuff like this. They started hard at first, but once things warmed up, they lit right off and burned really nicely. The main difference I noticed was the sound. Way different than DC. I remember getting really mad about arc-outtages with my old lincoln tombstone, but I only had 2 or 3 of them last night, on all these welds. It wasnt that bad.

When I was shopping for 7018s on my way home from school, TSC did have some, but they were almost twice the price, so I passed.

Click to expand...

Lanse, what brand 7018's did you end up using?
I'm using a Miller Thunderbolt which is same as your Hobart Stickmate except mine is AC only.
I'm looking for the easiest brand rods to use on AC.

BTW, very good job. And good idea with the bolts as backup.

As for the liability thing, I got a rider put on my home insurance policy for a home based business. Didn't cost all that much, might be more for welding. I install remote car starters and custom car audio, remote systems for classic cars etc. and I wanted to be covered for the "just in case" things. It is worth at least asking about, that way your rear end is covered!

I burned some Esab atom arc 7018 this weekend 1/8" on the loader frame of my tractor. Now I'm no welder, in fact Lanse you probably have more experience than I do even though I'm probably 20 years older but I'm starting to get the hang of it. Compared to some rods I had (Lincoln) and some I borrowed from a neighbor the weekend before (not sure what they were), I thought the Esab rods started much easier although maybe that's 'cause I'm getting better or because they were fresh ones.

I was reading that unless you just opened a new hermetically sealed container of 7018 less than 6 hours from when it was opened or 7018 that was in a rod oven,you may as well weld it with 7024 or 7014 on a flat weld.Actually unless you have it in a rod oven it is not necessarily any better than any other 70 series rod except that you can weld in all positions with 7018.For flat only you can use 7024.7018 Rod in a plastic wrapped box,even brand new,is not good for critical welds.Rods with moisture loose their low hydrogen properties to the weld.Of course you can still use the 7018 in all positions,it wont have the low hydrogen quality to the weld.
So to make a big buildup weld like that,where it was flat,it would have been alright to use 7024,as long as you had the old weld cleaned off and ground down and as long as every bit of slag was cleaned off before the next pass was laid down.
Just so you know,in case you do something like that again.
If it was alloy or something real thick,heated up low hydrogen in a rod oven would be the way to go with a 6010 or 6011 root pass.