Stick Welding

[mitchash]

I am building a quick hitch (skidsteer style) for my tractor loader. The steel I am welding is 2"x2" square tube (1/8" thick), 1/4" flat and 1/2" flat stock (brackets and supports). It has been awhile since I have welded anything with a stick welder. I have a little Clark 135 MIG welder I use most of the time (I think it will be too lite for this job). I have a AC 225 Lincoln welder (I picked up at a flea market for $40 this past summer, it seems to weld fine) and an old PowerKraft 230 welder for back up. Any recommendations for rod size and type? Welding Amps? Tips? Thanks, Ash

 

[dstig1]

For 1/4" steel, 1/8" rod is perfect (and common).

Rod type depends on a lot of things. Non-critical general work, it is hard to beat 7014. On rusty metal 6011 is better, but harder to use. 7018 ac will work on your welder and us not too hard to use, but some would argue that.

All will work on your ac welder.

 

[k0ua]

Also 7014 is an "easy" rod to get back into stick welding with. It doesnt stick much and makes a smooth bead, and you can hold a close tight arc without sticking. But some informal tests by some of the contributors here have shown it to not be as strong as 7018 even though theoretically is should be. I don't know how 7018AC fares in the "knock the he77 out of it" tests

James K0UA

 

[gwdixon]

Here is a decent rod/amperage calculator that has AC entries.

Miller - Stick Welding Calculator

 

[cowski]

if it were mine i would weld it with 1/8 6011

 

[dex3361]

6011 and 7018AC 1/8" are a good combo for an AC buzzbox welder. I used the 6011 for the root pass and then the 7018 for cover passes. 7014 welds good but has less strength than 7018. Welding Chart

 

[undercut]

Personally, with your AC welder (good find by the way!), I'd go with 6011 to get the maximum penetration in the root pass and then top with 7014. Because you are using an AC box I've heard some people haven't had too much success with 7018AC rods. I could be wrong and if there are good 7018AC rods out there, use those instead. Don't forget to prep the material properly before hand. Good luck!

 

[snowjoker]

3/32 6011 rod, set somewhere around 75 amps should work for ya.. You don't need to do a root and cap with something only 1/8 inch thick.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Personally I prefer to use 1/8" 60XX rods and 3/32" 7018 when welding light gauge metal. 3/32" 6011(6010 for DC) dont carry a lot of metal, throw off tons of sparks, get hot and stick very easy and since they are so small you have to yank the holder off then let it cool to get them loose.
Folks talk about welding rusty metal better with 60xx rods, but in truth, you should not be welding rusty, dirty, greasy metal to start with. Clean it up, remove anything that isnt bright metal prior to welding expecially if you are a beginner welder. It hard enough to get molten metal to stay attached to the weldment without having to fight against rust, dirt, paint etc. which only causes the weld metal to pop, bubble up and basically be a crappy weld.

Not to question your design, BUT, 1/8" tubing for a quick hitch seems a little light. Are you sure that is heavy enough for your tractor. I would have used 1/4" minimum wall for any tubing on a QA hitch.

 

[mitchash]

Thanks for all the reply's and advice! I am thinking of not using the 1/8" thick square stock, I have a length of 1 1/2" solid square stock that would be much stronger but heavier.

 

[lostcause]

Thanks for all the reply's and advice! I am thinking of not using the 1/8" thick square stock, I have a length of 1 1/2" solid square stock that would be much stronger but heavier.

i'd say come up with your proposed design before you trash the idea of using the 1/8" wall tubing - especially if the alternative is 1 1/2" solid square. lighter weight with a little reinforcing may well be as strong as or stronger than the solid alternative, and at a lot of weight savings. I don't know what you have for a tractor, but mine is very small - something like 850lbs lifting capacity in the bucket. because of that, when i make any attachments or modifications i want to keep the weight at a minimum, otherwise i might not be able to lift anything other than an empty bucket.

when you think of strength, section depth is generally king, and not area. think of floor stringers: a 2x8 and a 4x4 have the same theoretical gross area, but if you were using one of them for a stringer you would choose the 2x8. steel is really the same thing. the solid 1 1/2 will be better suited to avoiding damage from crumpling, but it would probably bend similar to a 2x2x1/4, which is significantly lighter. on a loader attachment frame you're talking about something roughly 4 feet wide and 16" high. that's a fairly stout frame, and depending on how you brace it it could be fine.

the biggest issue i see when using thin steel is fatigue around bolt and pin holes. in those cases i'll generally weld a thicker piece on where i have a hole in order to strengthen the section and give the bolt or pin more bearing surface. otherwise, i'll make the hole even larger and weld a sleeve in for the bolt or pin to pass through.

 

[Gary Fowler]

i'd say come up with your proposed design before you trash the idea of using the 1/8" wall tubing - especially if the alternative is 1 1/2" solid square. lighter weight with a little reinforcing may well be as strong as or stronger than the solid alternative, and at a lot of weight savings. I don't know what you have for a tractor, but mine is very small - something like 850lbs lifting capacity in the bucket. because of that, when i make any attachments or modifications i want to keep the weight at a minimum, otherwise i might not be able to lift anything other than an empty bucket.

when you think of strength, section depth is generally king, and not area. think of floor stringers: a 2x8 and a 4x4 have the same theoretical gross area, but if you were using one of them for a stringer you would choose the 2x8. steel is really the same thing. the solid 1 1/2 will be better suited to avoiding damage from crumpling, but it would probably bend similar to a 2x2x1/4, which is significantly lighter. on a loader attachment frame you're talking about something roughly 4 feet wide and 16" high. that's a fairly stout frame, and depending on how you brace it it could be fine.

the biggest issue i see when using thin steel is fatigue around bolt and pin holes. in those cases i'll generally weld a thicker piece on where i have a hole in order to strengthen the section and give the bolt or pin more bearing surface. otherwise, i'll make the hole even larger and weld a sleeve in for the bolt or pin to pass through.

That is good advice. Solid bars are usually not as strong as a tubing shape of even the same dimension given an adequate wall thickness. I just dont think 1/8" wall thickness is enough for even a small tractor and doubling the wall thickness wont add that much more weight, and is nothing compared to a solid bar stock.

 

[mitchash]

I will be using all 1/4" thick steel now.

 

[scott123456789]

6011 root welding is for the pipeline industry not structural welding. 7018 AC would be good to use. Just be sure to bevel all of your joints so you can get full penetration. 200 amps won't burn completely through 1/4" steel.

 

[Shield Arc]

6011 root welding is for the pipeline industry not structural welding. 7018 AC would be good to use. Just be sure to bevel all of your joints so you can get full penetration. 200 amps won't burn completely through 1/4" steel.

I could be wrong, but I think you'll be hard pressed to find any pipe line where the root pass is run with 6011. 6010 yes.

 

[scott123456789]

Correct, 6010. But in production type situations with new/clean metal 7018 or 7014 should suffice.