Any way to weld the thin metal on tractors and attachments?

[ranger danger]

I have an old Lincoln Weld-pac 100 I use for thin stuff. I "stich weld" it
One little spot ever 1/2 inch then go back and move a little and get it again untill the weld is continuous. Very little warping. I can generally use a shrinking hammer and dolly to get it back in shape. A little practice and you can to.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

Get yourself a TIG welder and learn how to use it. I suggest taking a class at a local community college. TIG requires a skill level much higher than even SMAW.

Skill level in order of process:

MIG (Glue Gun) low to medium depending on wire and shielding gas or flux core.
SMAW Takes some skill to achieve a consistent and sound weld
Gas welding... Requires skill, especially when welding (not Brazing)
TIG Far and above requires skill and being able to 2 hand weld

Far as thin metal goes, I can TIG weld a broken tape measure back together or butt weld 2 aluminum pop cans. Pretty thin materials...

If you have a quality MIG and can dial it down sufficiently and use light gauge wire, you can also weld thin materials. Not as thein as a tape measure but well within the realm of body panels. Again, that will take some skill and experience so don't expect to buy just any machine and stick thin materials together. You'll be very disappointed in the result.

Any weld from any of the processes, when done properly will hold and work as good as the other by and large. MIG is more than a "glue gun" Level of skill to master all these may not be 100% equal, but I can tell you stick takes as much practice as anything to master. TIG is easy by comparison in an open root on pipe.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

Any welding process should be able to weld what you listed. For stick, just use a small rod like 5/64 or 3/32. Use something like a 7014. Or for MIG, just use something like .030" wire. TIG can do it, but that's an investment a lot of people don't want to make.

 

[Rockbadchild]

yeah a tig is nice and all but too slow for fabrication and good for repair work but you can do way more with a mig then a tig … mig can be hard to figure out at first the proper wire lots of them come with a 110v plug (not enough voltage) nether on the 220 then gas no gas … stick is simpler but harder to master but the weld have less porosity, with mig it can be a problem and they are not always visible … thing i haven’t here read so i will mention it, proper preparation makes the whole difference take your part off grind the old broken weld or brake, remove the paint around the weld and for the ground so you get proper contact remove oils residue and rust. If it’s thick do a nice bevel, tack both ends then weld… for thin material use the spot welding method to reduce the heat … do a practice run to adjust the temperature before with the same thickness material before doing the real weld. lots of good points above as well good luck …

 

[5030]

Any weld from any of the processes, when done properly will hold and work as good as the other by and large. MIG is more than a "glue gun" Level of skill to master all these may not be 100% equal, but I can tell you stick takes as much practice as anything to master. TIG is easy by comparison in an open root on pipe.

Obviously to me you comment about 'easy' is misleading. With TIG, it's imperative to keep the filler rod and the Tung and the gas envelope in close proximity to each other as the filler rod must remain in the gas envelope which is why TIG has the steepest learning curve. I'm lucky in the fact that I started out gas welding so 2 handed coordination came naturally to me Most people who have never 2 handed a welding operation (and also have to use a foot pedal to control welding amperage (unless the torch has a thumbwheel adjustment on it (which isn't the norm), find it challenging.

With stick ,prep and correct rod selection is paramount. I find stick to be easy as well but I practice good fit up and removal of impurities on the material before I ever strike an arc.

The 'devil' is always in the details when welding with any process and no I don't own any of your machines either.

 

[5030]

I typically weld exotic metals with TIG, mostly stainless. My pulsed MIG and the my SMAW (I own a Lincoln Ranger gas driven unit for in the truck are relegated entirely for ferrous welding) (not CI of course), that is 100% gas with the appropriate filler rod). TIG is inherently slow but produces x ray quality welds so long as it's done properly with correct fit up and the asthetics of the weld bead are also much better.

 

[newbury]

Thanks, I tried to, but it has tears in the seams I think, so I would just make it worse. Now as for MIG, I have a welder stored that shoots out a wire, but havent used it yet, is that what you mean by a MIG?

Probably, need more specs though for us to give advice. You may have a "BIG" MIG or a tiny one.
Both would work but a smaller one would be easier to learn on.

You can weld small with a more powerful machine, not so welding big with a small machine. Hood time practicing before the actual job.

If you are beginning a with a more powerful machine, especially if it's stick, you may just burn holes through thin sheet metal unless you are extremely careful.

My first project was to patch a rotary cutter deck that was about 10 gauge. Fortunately about that time Shield Arc (RIP) posted about an Amazon sale on an EVERLAST PowerArc300 300A IGBT ARC Stick Welder for $270. After I learned to "glue" coupons together I proceeded to blow holes through the deck until I got some 1/16 rod and cranked the PowerArc down to minimum. Worked well but at that time finding 1/16 rod was difficult.

 

[5030]

Wonder whatever happened to him actually.

 

[KennyG]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned backing strips. If the back side won't be visible using a backing strip reduces the skill level required in sheet metal welding by an order of magnitude.

 

[GeneV]

Any welding process should be able to weld what you listed. For stick, just use a small rod like 5/64 or 3/32. Use something like a 7014. Or for MIG, just use something like .030" wire. TIG can do it, but that's an investment a lot of people don't want to make.

Exactly what I said, 7014 5/64" rod.