The "Not So Pro" discussion thread...of course Pros are welcome!

[Skeans]

Leave your shop trailer at the job. Lincoln ranger, gas op air compressor, oxy acetylene and hand tools etc. Lots of spare hoses, oil, parts, spill kits etc too. Its rigged up with some cheap parts store LED lights to the welder battery. Everything fits into a 16 ft trailer nicely along with shelves and a workbench

you should be able to pick up a trailer for not too much to get started?

Great minds think a like, hell even something small like bolts and grease fittings can add up. Then take it home on weekends and reload it.

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[northmanlogging]

So you guys are talking about my crummy then?

Pretty much all of my hand tools are in it, as well as most of my air tools and grinders, along with the various timber falling debris, rigging, fuel, oil etc

the welder and oxy,acetylene, are very portable, only take a few minutes to load, that person what invented the wheel... should get an award or something.

If and when something breaks bad enough to require welding, I'm pretty much done for the day anyway, too pissed off to work, so I might as well go home and get the welding stuff loaded. That and since I pretty much always fall in the morning and skid/shovel in the afternoon that is when something big will break anyway, so quitting an hour early or so isn't a real big deal.

Pretty much going to shoot the next day or more in the foot as well, so I like to get started with major repairs in the morning, If I finish then I can pretty much pick up where I left off and have a fairly normal day of it, unless its a clutch issue then its several weeks of dicking about.

 

[Skeans]

So you guys are talking about my crummy then?

Pretty much all of my hand tools are in it, as well as most of my air tools and grinders, along with the various timber falling debris, rigging, fuel, oil etc

the welder and oxy,acetylene, are very portable, only take a few minutes to load, that person what invented the wheel... should get an award or something.

If and when something breaks bad enough to require welding, I'm pretty much done for the day anyway, too pissed off to work, so I might as well go home and get the welding stuff loaded. That and since I pretty much always fall in the morning and skid/shovel in the afternoon that is when something big will break anyway, so quitting an hour early or so isn't a real big deal.

Pretty much going to shoot the next day or more in the foot as well, so I like to get started with major repairs in the morning, If I finish then I can pretty much pick up where I left off and have a fairly normal day of it, unless its a clutch issue then its several weeks of dicking about.

Man if I did that every time we had a break down nothing would get done, time is money how much is your time worth? To me it sounds like a ton of lost time that.

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[northmanlogging]

Also I've been thinking that a service body on the ole crummy would look pretty good, used a guy can pick one up for under 1k, then the welder and compressor would be permanently mounted, as well as having nice fancy drawers for all the hand tools and what nots.

The down side to a service body, is it invites assholes and tweekers to steal your ****, same goes for a trailer in these parts.

I rarely lock the tool box in the crummy (I should) and no one thinks twice about it, Hel I don't even lock up the saws overnight at home (I really ****ing should) but park a service truck in the yard and the locks get smashed on a monthly basis.

One of the neighbors worked for a large land developing company, he lives farther off the beaten path, but same neighborhood, had the company service truck broke into 3 times in one year.

 

[northmanlogging]

Man if I did that every time we had a break down nothing would get done, time is money how much is your time worth? To me it sounds like a ton of lost time that.

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Yer absolutely right.

One of the reasons I'm gentle with the machines, maintenance and understanding what they will put up with go a long way to not much down time.

Any of the major welding jobs I've needed done have been long foreseen, and scheduled accordingly, (them ****ing 440a blades ) so most of the time I can just take a day and get it done rather then pushing it and half assing an important fix.

 

[Skeans]

Also I've been thinking that a service body on the ole crummy would look pretty good, used a guy can pick one up for under 1k, then the welder and compressor would be permanently mounted, as well as having nice fancy drawers for all the hand tools and what nots.

The down side to a service body, is it invites assholes and tweekers to steal your ****, same goes for a trailer in these parts.

I rarely lock the tool box in the crummy (I should) and no one thinks twice about it, Hel I don't even lock up the saws overnight at home (I really ****ing should) but park a service truck in the yard and the locks get smashed on a monthly basis.

One of the neighbors worked for a large land developing company, he lives farther off the beaten path, but same neighborhood, had the company service truck broke into 3 times in one year.

That's one reason I'd do a trailer over a service box, one the compressor and welder aren't out in the weather all the time, two you can always throw better locks on them we have a few on ours, three your bed is cleaned out if you do have to bring something big back.

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[northmanlogging]

Though when a hydraulic cylinder is cracked and spitting fluid everywhere... it should be welded or replaced fairly soon....

I may have taken 3 weeks to fix that....\

 

[Skeans]

You know I got some good advice some time back about going out on my own, one don't quit your day job till it gets in the way completely, two start out sub contracting to learn the ropes, for sub contracting either cut with a machine or do a processor so you can get an understanding of how the bidding works and how to get stuff done efficiently.

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[Skeans]

Though when a hydraulic cylinder is cracked and spitting fluid everywhere... it should be welded or replaced fairly soon....

I may have taken 3 weeks to fix that....\

I've welded them depends on where the crack is, do you have a picture of the crack Matt?

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[northmanlogging]

I had some pics, don't know where they got off too though.

Blade cylinder, where the cap welds on to the tube? the weld itself had cracked maybe 3/4" long total.

Drained as much fluid as possible, and pulled the piston/gland all the way to the other end. used the grinder to search out and find the end of the cracks, MIG'ed it together fairly quick like, took a couple tries cause of some contamination probably fluid or gasses?

Anyway that was late last winter early spring, been no trouble since, You would have to be a realy detective to find the weld too, laid in better then my normal crooked mess... Only the slightest hint that there is a weld that wasn't machine made.

really though I think most of my welds look ok, fairly flat, good tie ins, good penetration, I just can't get em in a straight line to save my life, and there always seems to be a booger or blob on one end or both.

 

[Skeans]

I had some pics, don't know where they got off too though.

Blade cylinder, where the cap welds on to the tube? the weld itself had cracked maybe 3/4" long total.

Drained as much fluid as possible, and pulled the piston/gland all the way to the other end. used the grinder to search out and find the end of the cracks, MIG'ed it together fairly quick like, took a couple tries cause of some contamination probably fluid or gasses?

Anyway that was late last winter early spring, been no trouble since, You would have to be a realy detective to find the weld too, laid in better then my normal crooked mess... Only the slightest hint that there is a weld that wasn't machine made.

really though I think most of my welds look ok, fairly flat, good tie ins, good penetration, I just can't get em in a straight line to save my life, and there always seems to be a booger or blob on one end or both.

Doing the cylinders I'll do all of that as well as acetone flush them, the surface for welding then preheat them to get the extra oil out of the crack then cap the fittings with a hole in one cap, and throw an alunimun slug as close to the area to be welded.

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[Skeans]

This would be a question for Nate but is there a purge gas for steel running short circuit mig and dual shield Flux core. Tig I'd purge with argon especially on a cylinder.

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[northmanlogging]

I did preheat, to get as much oil away as possible, acetone seemed overkill, but I did use some brake cleaner (non chlorinated) which promptly caught everything on fire, Seems I didn't let it dry enough before welding...

Plugs cost extra, but paper towels in the ports is nearly the same thing right?

I removed the cylinder and took it home for the welding. I have a sort of welding table/area, in the back yard, its just a 55g drum with some 1/4 plate slapped over the top, but it works for most of what I do.

I would strongly suggest mowing around the entire area though...

 

[northmanlogging]

This would be a question for Nate but is there a purge gas for steel running short circuit mig and dual shield Flux core. Tig I'd purge with argon especially on a cylinder.

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Seems that any gas you are using would work as the purge gas? straight argon or 75/25 mix?

I seem to remember someone saying you could use 100% co2? but I've never done such a thing.

 

[Skeans]

I did preheat, to get as much oil away as possible, acetone seemed overkill, but I did use some brake cleaner (non chlorinated) which promptly caught everything on fire, Seems I didn't let it dry enough before welding...

Plugs cost extra, but paper towels in the ports is nearly the same thing right?

I removed the cylinder and took it home for the welding. I have a sort of welding table/area, in the back yard, its just a 55g drum with some 1/4 plate slapped over the top, but it works for most of what I do.

I would strongly suggest mowing around the entire area though...

I'd use acetone over brake clean even the non chlorinated stuff still isn't good to breath when welding. I'd do plugs or caps myself to really seal the area.

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[Skeans]

Seems that any gas you are using would work as the purge gas? straight argon or 75/25 mix?

I seem to remember someone saying you could use 100% co2? but I've never done such a thing.

I've only purged for tig doing hydraulic tubes to Jic fittings with no filler then stainless as well. I would think so but I'm not sure be interesting to test for a good solid weld and clean on the inside. CO2 would sure be active I'd think you'd want some inert gas in there too.

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[Metals406]

This would be a question for Nate but is there a purge gas for steel running short circuit mig and dual shield Flux core. Tig I'd purge with argon especially on a cylinder.

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Dual shield wire on steel is co2 or argon. For purge, anything heavier than air and inert will work (with obvious exceptions).

Co2 is the cheapest.

 

[Skeans]

Dual shield wire on steel is co2 or argon. For purge, anything heavier than air and inert will work (with obvious exceptions).

Co2 is the cheapest.

Cool good info Nate, would you recommend purge?

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[HuskStihl]

I have no idea WTF you boys are talkin' bout. Carry on you glorious bastards!

 

[Metals406]

On a cylinder? I reckon it wouldn't matter if you had to remachine the bore.

Could do a small land and gap, and just keyhole it.

Purge is usually used in situations where the inside of the weld, has to be as good as the outside.