What's your opinion?

[phiferpharm]

I had both of the corners on my grapple bend into a "J" shape when a person I hired was picking up tree debris with the tractor. I don't believe he did anything to cause the issue, and my only reason for mentioning him is he "knew" a local welder who would bend them straight and add a support for a reasonable fee. The guy was supposedly set up as a mobile service, but when we contacted him, wanted us to bring the grapple to him. Again, not big deal as it was maybe a 4-5 mile trip to his home.

So, you can see what he did-- Heat the corners, pound them straight, cut two pieces of steel for a gussets, and weld them into place.



My question is what you might consider a reasonable fee to pay for this. I will post up what I paid after I get a few responses on this. I have some other work I need done and will judge my best options for who I get to do it once I figure out how reasonable his charges were.

 

[ENC]

Should have had the gussets there in the first place. My grapple does. Around here welders prices vary a lot but all do quality work. I propably would have it done for around $100 which I would expect is a minimum charge.

 

[bdog]

Welders around here that do farm type repairs charge $40-60 / hr and most have a two hour minimum.

 

[Gary Fowler]

My thoughts from looking at the weld is that he is not that good of a welder and $40 per hour would be highly overpaid especially if he has a minimum of 2 hours. Material cost would add to that figure also.

Most shops would have an hourly rate for the welder (this could be $75 or more per hour to cover overhead) + cost of electrodes, steel, cutting gases etc added in which could significantly affect the pricing at the end. Kind of like mechanic shops that have 100 per hour then charge you disposal fee for rags, environmental std fee regardless of work etc to add to their bill.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Welders around here that do farm type repairs charge $40
I don't think a minimum rate should be charged if you bring the item to their shop. Mobile rigs- for sure including mileage but not at a shop. I would think a 1 hour minimum would be more than sufficient for taking out the tools and restoring them when a 5 minute job is required.

 

[phiferpharm]

Well, I appreciate the input from all. I agree that it should have had the gussets originally, but I didn't know enough about what to look for when I got it several years ago. I don't weld so I can only compare it to what the weld looked like that was used to put on two hooks on my bucket, which was a $60.00 job and the $130.00 this fellow charged me looked like. to be honest, the weld on the bucket was a nicer looking weld, but as long as this stays put, I will be happy.

I took the grapple to his place about 11:30 in the morning and went back over about 2:00 to get it. I know he was doing something else when I got there in the morning, so I don't really know how long he worked on it. I think my best bet will be to go back to a shop that worked on a horse -drawn farm wagon and did a great job for me for the other work I have.

 

[Shield Arc]

My thoughts from looking at the weld is that he is not that good of a welder.

Yeah no kidding!:shocked::shocked: I've fired welders who could weld better than that.

 

[Industrial Toys]

My guess is it will break! It's a neat weld but I'm thinking that there isn't much penetration. I could be wrong. At least you didn't get royally ripped off in the money department. I guess a guy has to eat, even if he isn't the best at what he does.

 

[firemanmike69]

If you were 4-5 miles from me I would have come to you and welded it for that price and I would have done a nicer job. He didn't do a very nice job or even paint it

 

[Arc weld]

I have to agree it's a pretty poor job for $130. I'm sure someone with experience could have fixed both sides in an hour or less and it would look a lot better.