Farm Welding

[Jim Timber]

It ran all weekend once. Came home to find a cheap hose popped off a barb and I'd forgotten to shut the lines off. Shop temp was probably over 100F from the damn thing. That was 7-8 years ago. Didn't even phase the pump or motor, but our power bill spiked that month. lol

 

[Tap]

I didn't read all the posts so I apologize if this was already mentioned...
My neighbor has a gasoline powered welder that he's used to fix some stuff for me. Very portable and great for fixing broken stuff that may be out in the field away from a power source when the broken item can't be easily moved.
Disclaimer: I know almost nothing about welding. I keep threatening to take a class.

 

[yoderjac]

Tap,

Thanks. I've got a loader on my tractor as well as a fairly hefty 3-pt hitch. I would think I could get most of what I would weld into the barn. Welding in the barn would also give me the advantage of using a gas shield without wind issues. Right now, I'm not thinking portability would be a big issue for me.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Plottin'booners]

I fab and weld for a living and if I had to have 1 welder it would be a stick welder(Miller) and I would have 6011 and 7018 rods. We weld all the new metal in the shop with mig, but I hate rusty metal and mig. If you don't mind grinding on rusty metal and cleaning it up first you will be fine with mig. As far as the HF machine goes I am sure as much as you are going to use it you won't have any problems. Just keep the whip straight and don't let your wire get rusty.

 

[yoderjac]

I fab and weld for a living and if I had to have 1 welder it would be a stick welder(Miller) and I would have 6011 and 7018 rods. We weld all the new metal in the shop with mig, but I hate rusty metal and mig. If you don't mind grinding on rusty metal and cleaning it up first you will be fine with mig. As far as the HF machine goes I am sure as much as you are going to use it you won't have any problems. Just keep the whip straight and don't let your wire get rusty.

Do you think the Miller 215 will handle 6011 and 7018? It seems to have a lot of flexibility. I've been told mig is the easiest to learn and my first couple lessons went pretty well. I'm sure I'll have some projects with new metal that is easy to clean-up and even aluminum. Hopefully some mig practice will give me a better feel for a good weld verses a bad one. The 215 can be used for stick but I'm not sure I've learned enough about stick to know what all it will support. It even has a TIG option you can buy. I'm not sure I'll ever have a need for that but it is nice to know the option is only a few hundred dollars away with the TIG kit for the 215.

Since I've never done any stick welding, I'm not sure how fast I'll pick it up. I was reading that if you use flux core wire with a mig welder it will tolerate more rust and such but has more spatter. How does that compare to stick welding? Does it tolerate even more rust than mig with flux core?

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Red Picqua]

Do you think the Miller 215 will handle 6011 and 7018? It seems to have a lot of flexibility. I've been told mig is the easiest to learn and my first couple lessons went pretty well. I'm sure I'll have some projects with new metal that is easy to clean-up and even aluminum. Hopefully some mig practice will give me a better feel for a good weld verses a bad one. The 215 can be used for stick but I'm not sure I've learned enough about stick to know what all it will support. It even has a TIG option you can buy. I'm not sure I'll ever have a need for that but it is nice to know the option is only a few hundred dollars away with the TIG kit for the 215.

Since I've never done any stick welding, I'm not sure how fast I'll pick it up. I was reading that if you use flux core wire with a mig welder it will tolerate more rust and such but has more spatter. How does that compare to stick welding? Does it tolerate even more rust than mig with flux core?

Thanks,

Jack

jack..
Miller 215 will handle it. Any stick welder (shielded metal arc welding SMAC/stick) tolerates rust way better than wire feed (mig). Flux core welders generally don't have a shielding gas like argon. I would steer away from anything that is a flux core wire feed welder and quite often they are 110v vs 220v. Mig essentially needs cleaned metal to be welded and a SMAC/stick welder can generally weld just about any condition of metal. With that being said, I clean all the metal to be welded. SMAC is very different than MIG but in my humble opinion you will be on a SMAC welder a long time to learn up welds and down welds. MIG is easier and more forgiving but also a pain in the butt when if comes to clean metal, the gas, the spool, the tips, the tools. SMAC grab a rod and start welding.

fyi.. splatter is not good welding.. you want it to sound like bacon frying.. I am not an expert welder, but I get the job done and it holds! I can do both, but 220V, MIG with argon, it is nice and it makes amauters like me look like a PRO! I am very confident that Plottin' Booners on a stick is like watching an artist paint

 

[yoderjac]

jack..
Miller 215 will handle it. Any stick welder (shielded metal arc welding SMAC/stick) tolerates rust way better than wire feed (mig). Flux core welders generally don't have a shielding gas like argon. I would steer away from anything that is a flux core wire feed welder and quite often they are 110v vs 220v. Mig essentially needs cleaned metal to be welded and a SMAC/stick welder can generally weld just about any condition of metal. With that being said, I clean all the metal to be welded. SMAC is very different than MIG but in my humble opinion you will be on a SMAC welder a long time to learn up welds and down welds. MIG is easier and more forgiving but also a pain in the butt when if comes to clean metal, the gas, the spool, the tips, the tools. SMAC grab a rod and start welding.

fyi.. splatter is not good welding.. you want it to sound like bacon frying.. I am not an expert welder, but I get the job done and it holds! I can do both, but 220V, MIG with argon, it is nice and it makes amauters like me look like a PRO! I am very confident that Plottin' Booners on a stick is like watching an artist paint

Thanks Red! I've got a lot of learning to do in this area.

 

[Rlsbowhunt]

Agree with plotting boomers, if you can only have 1 I would get a stick welder

 

[Rlsbowhunt]

Stick welding is becoming a lost art. Even when I was in high school not many knew how to use one. Our senior ag class ( I was a freshman) was doing a project to enter in some regional thing. Well the mig welder quit working so the project was shut down and they weren't going to take anything to the contest. I ask why they didn't just finish it with the old miller stick machine in the corner. Nobody including the teacher knew how to use it. Growing up on a farm that's all I had ever used. After about 2 days of welding (got me out of alot of classes) I had there project put together.

 

[Catscratch]

What are you welding? I've got a 110v wire that I run flux through. I burn tons of wire through it while welding up rusty old demo cars. It works great for that but I wouldn't touch it to weld up a cattle guard. Stick all day long for that type of work.

 

[yoderjac]

What are you welding? I've got a 110v wire that I run flux through. I burn tons of wire through it while welding up rusty old demo cars. It works great for that but I wouldn't touch it to weld up a cattle guard. Stick all day long for that type of work.

I'm not sure exactly what I'll be welding and that is part of my research trying to get feed back on approaches. Certainly one thing I would do would be to repair implements. We have already had bushhogs crack and bend and have had them welded. Same with brackets on tractors and such. I had a tiller that was welded several times before it finally bit the dust. Probably some capability improvement projects. For example I had the tractor shop weld some hooks on to my FEL bucket for lifting and moving implements. I bought a cheap FIMCO 55 gal sprayer and added a home made "Po Boy" foamer. There was enough stress on the frame that supported the sprayer that it started to crack. Again, I had the tractor shop weld some angle iron to strengthen the frame. My little Kasco no-till drill doesn't like trash and it tends to get caught between the opener and mud scrapers clogging the tubes. I also have an old York rake that is all bent up. I was thinking of trying to somehow put a tine in front of each opener to move debris out of the opener path.

As for new projects, I could see building specialized ATV/UTV racks, archery target holders, and stuff like that on the farm. Right now, I don't see a big need for fine work like furniture and such. Any indoor stuff I currently see would be for the barn.

One of the things I like about the 215 is that will weld MIG steel and can be used as a stick welder off the shelf. With an added spool gun it will weld aluminum, and with a TIG kit I could even to TIG if I ever felt I have to. From the posts I've read so far, it seems like MIG steel and stick would cover most of my bases.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Catscratch]

About the only thing I can say; is that welding good enough to get metal to stick together is easy (Not to take away from the guys who do it for a living. When I was a machinist the welders in the shop were about the most knowledgeable people in the plant, and almost artists in what they did.). To weld on the farm just takes a little practice. I like to duplicate my job and practice. If I need to weld quarter inch cold role then I find some of that in scrap and try different settings and weld styles until I can't get it to break in a vice. Then I know how to weld the part.

As far as machines goes... Miller is top notch from what I've seen and since you want to play with different things the 215 sounds like a good venue to do just that.

 

[yoderjac]

Any thoughts on sources for scrap metal to play with? Do metal recyclers resell it at a reasonable price?

 

[Catscratch]

I don't really know if you can pick it up cheap. I'm sure that your local recycler will sell it by the pound. After a lifetime of tinkering on crap I have a scrap pile that I raid for practice materials.

If you have to buy any new material for your project buy an extra foot for practice.

One thing to be aware of if you are working on implements is anything that is cast. Cast doesn't weld well if you don't know exactly what you are doing. Also be aware of fumes when welding stainless or galvanized.