Estimate of the Cost of Welding

[katyhorn]

Hello Everyone,

One of the braces on the mower on my riding lawnmower is breaking off and needs to be rewelded. I've never had this done (newbie at working land) and have no idea how much it costs for say a 3-4 inch "re-weld" or prep and weld. Any idea (range) of what I should be paying for something like this? Thanks!

 

[4570Man]

It would only take a few minutes. Whatever minimum the shop is charging.

 

[katyhorn]

Here is a pitcture

 

[ArlyA]

I'd add a gusset to that bracket, to help keep it from breaking again.

 

[WranglerX]

Find neighbor with home/shop welder and give him a 12 pack of adult beverages....

IF you were closer I would do it for 2 6packs of A&W root beer...

 

[Midniteoyl]

Here is a pitcture

As said, find a neighbor who looks like they have a decent shop and is friendly and ask. Can't hurt and if they cant they will know someone who can.

 

[duffer]

Around here, if you take it to a metal shop or welding shop, the minimum is $30. Atrocious! Took 3 minutes to weld a bracket that cracked. I had already prepped it by grinding the edges and cleaning it up.

So I went to Harbor Freight and bought a $199 welder. Do all my own repairs now, and I'm fabricating a drive over grate for a trough drain. Spent $21 on rebar, will save a couple hundred by making one instead of buying one.

 

[tomplum]

30$ is atrocious? At least you found a hobby out of it. Nobody touches anything for under a 100 on a walk in job by me that I know of. BTW, I weld many of these Husqvarna decks. 46"? No gussets or other reinforcement normally required unless the housing is starting to deteriorate. They will weld in both sides of the bracket and hopefully hit the other side as well.

 

[rangerfredbob]

Yeah, if you have any interest in metal work at all buying a cheapie welder will more than pay for itself in the long run, the Harbor Freight welder mentioned above is likely the new tiny Titanium jobbie and I will agree, it is nice, throw in a $40 auto darkening hood and you're in business...

But if you have no need for that I do agree with others, either find a neighbor or try shops and expect $50 to $100 anymore...

 

[mikester]

Find neighbor with home/shop welder and give him a 12 pack of adult beverages....

IF you were closer I would do it for 2 6packs of A&W root beer...

If a neighbor asks if I can weld something for them I tell them to do the prep and clean the areas needing welding and to remove all paint and rust. I won't touch it if they can't be bothered to clean and prep. If they want to thank me with beers I'm ok with that!

If you make it easy for the weld shop and show up with everything clean and prepped and ready to go they will usually give you a break. If you show up with a dirty toilet job you are going to pay full rate T&M.

Don't be a dumb@ss and show up expecting people to do your hard dirty work and get paid nothing because you don't value or respect other people's time.

 

[square1]

The local shop here would charge $30~40 if you removed it from the mower and brought it to him.

I'd do it for free. Sometimes I can't find enough things to weld!

 

[arto98607]

Around here, if you take it to a metal shop or welding shop, the minimum is $30. Atrocious! ............................snip....................................

Nothing wrong with a shop having a minimum $30 charge.

Guys working in the shop are there hopefully to make a decent living wage and the shop owner is trying to make a decent profit and will have to have a minimum charge, otherwise they will end up wasting lot of time with cheap "customers".

 

[Walker1]

Around here, if you take it to a metal shop or welding shop, the minimum is $30. Atrocious! Took 3 minutes to weld a bracket that cracked. I had already prepped it by grinding the edges and cleaning it up.

So I went to Harbor Freight and bought a $199 welder. Do all my own repairs now, and I'm fabricating a drive over grate for a trough drain. Spent $21 on rebar, will save a couple hundred by making one instead of buying one.

I have a 2 hour minimum at my fab shop. $250 minimum repair cost.

That said, I generally fix my friends and neighbors stuff free. I had one friend who insisted that he pay. I told him what the minimum charge was, he was a lot less insistent, and very grateful.

 

[sea2summit]

Around here, if you take it to a metal shop or welding shop, the minimum is $30. Atrocious! Took 3 minutes to weld a bracket that cracked. I had already prepped it by grinding the edges and cleaning it up.

So I went to Harbor Freight and bought a $199 welder. Do all my own repairs now, and I'm fabricating a drive over grate for a trough drain. Spent $21 on rebar, will save a couple hundred by making one instead of buying one.

$30 wouldn’t get me to look at your project so I’d say that’s a bargain. Good on you for getting a cheap welder and doing great things with it, good on you. But if someone is doing it for a living that $30 may be the whole days wage if he doesn’t have other projects and he’s probably invested thousands in equipment and probably some certifications etc., 1 Tim 5:18 and all.

 

[sea2summit]

I have a 2 hour minimum at my fab shop. $250 minimum repair cost.

That said, I generally fix my friends and neighbors stuff free. I had one friend who insisted that he pay. I told him what the minimum charge was, he was a lot less insistent, and very grateful.

When I did dive services I had a pretty big show up fee and jobs less than 30 min got a clean up fee (saltwater diving usually took 45min-hr of maintenance after a dive). At the end of the day you have to make a living and cover expenses which for a lot of “services” is much more significant than most realize.

 

[4570Man]

Around here, if you take it to a metal shop or welding shop, the minimum is $30. Atrocious! Took 3 minutes to weld a bracket that cracked. I had already prepped it by grinding the edges and cleaning it up.

So I went to Harbor Freight and bought a $199 welder. Do all my own repairs now, and I'm fabricating a drive over grate for a trough drain. Spent $21 on rebar, will save a couple hundred by making one instead of buying one.

$30 is actually a pretty cheap minimum. It might take 3 minutes to actually weld but the total time invested is far more.

 

[tomplum]

Definitely takes more than 3 minutes to prep and weld. Plus a squirt of master match and there's your 150$ It would be interesting what the OP pays in the end. He just asked a simple question, a good one at that.

 

[sandman2234]

I can't think of a single shop where he could get it done for $30! He might do better to take a dozen sausage biscuits early in the morning, or maybe six pack late in the day, and get it done "off the clock".
David from jax

 

[katyhorn]

Find neighbor with home/shop welder and give him a 12 pack of adult beverages....

IF you were closer I would do it for 2 6packs of A&W root beer...

DL,

Funny you say that. I called my next-door neighbor at my property asking for a weld shop nearby, and he immediately said he didn't know of any, but that he would do it. He said it took him all of 10-15 minutes since I had already cleaned an preped the area. By the way, he said most weld shops have shutdown in the area since people didn't want to pay much and it was hard to stay in business.

 

[katyhorn]

30$ is atrocious? At least you found a hobby out of it. Nobody touches anything for under a 100 on a walk in job by me that I know of. BTW, I weld many of these Husqvarna decks. 46"? No gussets or other reinforcement normally required unless the housing is starting to deteriorate. They will weld in both sides of the bracket and hopefully hit the other side as well.

Yes, it's an Ariens mower but identical to the Husqvarna.