(800) 853-2651
SHOP NOW

Welding Mistake

F

FBH44

Well-known Member
Almost set the tractor on fire yesterday. Was in a hurry, had to weld a couple of bolts to the light bar on a Farmall H, to rig up a dash-board light. Can;'t see at night.
Got set up, realized the sparks and spatter would mess up the paint, rushed into the barn, grabbed whatever was handy for a spatter shield; cardboard, rags, oily rags, rags soaked in diesel.... covered everything, got going, smelled fire, couldn't see any fire, kept on going.. couldnt' see fire because the face shield did it's job. Finally smelled too much oily smoke, raised the face shield ... HOLY S##T. Had the thing nicely blazing away. Put out fires, no damage, learned a good lesson.
Hope this helps somebody.
 
I think anybody who welds has had something like that happen. It's just gonna happen. One time I was welding a piece of equipment for my brother (who can't weld). He wanted to watch so he had on a helmet and was standing there close by. He said, "what's burning"? I said I don't know but I smell it too. About that time he started dancing around like a crazy man all the while his lower pants legs were on fire! 'Last time he ever watched.
 
When I was in high school, ag shop class we were practicing cutting with an arc welder. I had some coveralls I got frm my dad with some ragged cuffs. I was cutting along and noticed smoke, yep my coverall leg bottom. Put out fire and started again but hard to hold steady when worried about setting myslf on fire again and like mentioned you can't see the fire with helmet on.
 
It"s no wonder why insurance rates are what they are. Even plywood makes a poor spark barrier. Keep some valley tin around for that use. Stay in the shop at least 15 minutes after torching or welding.
 
Was doing some overhead welding once and saw a fire reflected in my helmet. Thought nothing of it since I was where there was nothing to burn really, thought it was just a rag on the ground. After a bit I could feel my beard burning and my face got hot. That's when I looked down and saw the Forrest fire in my shirt pocket burning my folding money. The thought of my hard earned on fire brought me to swift action, I smacked my pocket to put out the fire. It worked good too, except for the 4" diameter burn covering my left nipple. You have not enjoyed pain til you've burned your nipple.
 

A neighbor was welding in his back yard and didn't notice the fire in the dried grass of early spring until it was going good, and then of course tried putting it out himself for a few minutes before calling FD. I was spreading manure and had my portable radio with me and got there a little after the first truck. Everyone went to the address but I drove past it downwind and into my field. By the time I got a unit reassigned to ahead of it where I was, it was in the tops of sixty foot pines, jumping from one to the next heading for the biggest house in town. We pulled a two and a half and stopped it where it hit a gap in the trees. Lucky.
 
Seems like even when I police the area where I'm welding or using a torch, I'll inevitably have to put out a flame or two. Recently was using an angle grinder on my workbench. Was working in one direction for a while when I noticed smoke wafting up. The sparks were directed at my belly and my sweatshirt had started on fire. Walked into the house where my wife was reading a book on the couch and she saw my sweatshirt was full of decent sized holes, some still smoking. Her comment: "I hope that's not a good shirt underneath there". Didn't say "omigosh, are you all right? Were you burned?" Nope, maybe in our first year of marriage but after 40 years her concern was the t-shirt.
 
I was doing some grinding with my angle grinder in the shop when I picked up the smell of burning plastic. Looked all over the shop then noted it got stronger as I approached a window. Neighbor down the street was burning trash including some PVC pipe. My heart rate returned to normal.
 
Working on the job just after Christmas, welder wore his new flannel shirt. What a suprise when at the first spark ALL the fuz burned off. Nobody hurt. joe
 
As stupid kids will be, in welding class at school, back when I was in school we would sneak up next to the guy welding holding a bottle of wd-40, he get done welding you give it a couple sprays and poof a blast of fire! Really makes a guy jump! Back then it was funny now it it was just stupid, still kind of funny, had it done to me also. They say what goes around comes around.
 
The idiots in engineering at work hired a bunch of bigger idiots to install a new E-coat system. They found out visqueen doesn't make a very good fire curtain, had a pretty big fire going before they did anything about it. The place smelled like burnt plastic the rest of the afternoon. Guess that wasn't exciting enough for them so the next week they got jackhammers and started "working" on the floor above us, 3- 5 pound hunks of concrete started falling on us. That and their propensity to haul Oxy acetylene tanks around on forklifts with no DOT caps or chains I found it wise to seek employment elsewhere.
 
One of the guys I used to work with had his coat on fire while he was welding, but he didn't know it. His son, who has a dry sense of humor saw his coat burning and casually walked up to him and said "are you feeling warm"? Jim
 
Friends shop burned, another friend of his did some grinding and 2-3 hours later shop was on fire. They decided sparks landed in some rags and smoldered before igniting. Be careful!
 
(quoted from post at 04:04:49 09/25/14) Friends shop burned, another friend of his did some grinding and 2-3 hours later shop was on fire. They decided sparks landed in some rags and smoldered before igniting. Be careful!
Click to expand...

That is how my Grandpa burned down his shop/machine shed when I was a kid.
 
A few years ago I was cutting a 4" steel pipe with the torch in the shop, when a tractor caught on fire. There was a small gas leak from the tractor on the floor I didn't notice until a spark hit it. I couldn't get the fire out and had to call the FD. Nothing else burned but the TO-20 tractor in the pole barn. I learned things that day.
 
Some years ago a friend ask me to stop by to help him weld a bracket on the draw bar on his H or M (cant remember). Good looking old tractor and he had everything ready to weld. About the time he struck an ark I asked if he unhooked the battery? BOOM! And a bigger flash and BOOM! The tractor is on Fire! The battery exploded and the battery box cover blew up and hit the gas tack putting a hole in it and setting it off, Blew the tank apart. The only good thing was it was sitting outside the shop and all the damage was to the Farmall only. $500 in parts we had it back running and forgot about the bracket. Bandit
 
A cousin worked as a welder for years, at the one shop they appearantly had some cots. One of the guys fell asleep, and someone else lit his crotch on fire. He had to show his wounds to the nurse before she could send him to the hospital.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

J
CHOOSING WIRE SIZE AND WELDING
2 3
Replies
44
Views
3K
DoubleO7
DoubleO7
A
PSA on oil pump gears and losing prime
Replies
5
Views
643
Anardo
A
Southern Ray
Changing battery on welding helmet
Replies
16
Views
3K
showcrop
showcrop
D
1950 Model M Questions Again
Replies
7
Views
1K
Danny in CO
D
Ed S.
SHOP & SEAT TIME - Troubleshooting + Midnight Plowing
2 3
Replies
40
Views
2K
Ed S.
Ed S.
Tractor Parts Tractor Manuals

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Copyright © 1997-2024 Yesterday's Tractor Co.

All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.

Yesterday's Tractors - Antique Tractor Headquarters
Website Accessibility Policy

Back
Top