Educate me

[AWSubie]

By all means jump in to welding with both feet. U won’t regret it.

U can start out with a relatively cheap flux core wire welder. If it turns out you don’t care for welding they are easy to sell.

 

[jyoutz]

A community college class would be a great way to learn the correct basics, and to meet folks in your new community.

 

[MossRoad]

Sadly, my only welding 'experience' is running and fetching for welders at my dad's shop when I was a lad. I know you cannot look directly at it without eye protection, and not much else.

I am wondering if it is worth learning a bit about welding (thinking a community college class or 2) so I can someone minor things for myself. In my head, I am thinking I may need to attach hook(s) to my bucket; d-rings or similar to the trailer.

What I would like to know from the community is two-fold. 1) what other things would I likely need to use welding for in my small retirement operation? 2) Do you think it is worth my time to learn at this point?

Thanks,

T

One of the most fun and satisfying things I've done in my life was taking some welding classes at our community college back in the early 80's. I started with gas welding and cutting. Then took arc welding. Then mig welding. They didn't offer tig at the time, or I would have taken that as well. I have had my own set of torches since I was around 18 years old. I still have them at age 62. I bought a Sears AC/DC arc welder around the same time. I still have it. And about 10 years ago I bought a little mig welder.

There's just something special and amazing about forming a little puddle of molten metal and then pushing it around, adding to it, and joining two separate pieces into one.

 

[WranglerX]

Taking a class would be best approach for understanding the various welding processes and a bit of metallurgy, or just jump in and learn by trial and error and have grinder handy to clean up the Boo-Boo's so you start over with the weld....

I am pretty much self taught, gravitated to MIG from stick and it was easier for me..... MIG is easy process to learn but there is a learning curve to get welds correct ...

IF you go MIG I would not go with Fluxcore (FCAW) only...

My personal choice was a US company based HOBART HANDLER 140, its pretty much top end of 120V MIG welders.... It is capable of both flux core (FCAW- Flux Core Arc Weld) and solid wire with shield gas (GMAW – Gas Metal Arc Weld) ... It does about 98% of my welding chores, .. For the other 2 % when I need a bigger machine, I usually farm that out.... I have never run up against the duty cycle thing, and never had the welder into shut down because of duty cycle...Almost wish I had gotten the HH 210 MVP.... The HH 140 will handle materials up to 3/16 of inch with ease and with proper cleaning and bevels and preparation of joint area, ¼ inch materials ( or a bit more) with single pass…. Once you get tired of the spatter and scale of flux core welding and go solid wire with shield gas you wonder why FCAW is even available.... Once you have a welder you find all sorts of uses for it ... And yes MIG is probably easiest to learn, it's said one can teach a monkey or a blond to weld.... IF unsure of welder type and processes, you might want to do a little snooping here...

Welding Tips and Tricks - TIG, MIG, Stick and a pantload of other info

Down and Dirty Welding tips and tricks , No PhD's allowed

weldingtipsandtricks.com

 

[EddieWalker]

I had Metal Shop in High School back in the 80's and learned what I know from there. We started out with torches and making puddles. Then we used mig and arc welders for small projects. It was a drawn out process that really doesn't apply to fixing tractors, other then giving me the basics on what I need to do.

If you are at zero, I think that taking a class is very worthwhile. I've thought about looking into it too in order to become more competent. I have an AC/DC arc welder that I use to fix things on my tractors, of fabricate something that I need for the farm. It's rarely pretty, but it usually gets the job done.

When I have something that requires real skill and expertise, like the lift arms on my dump truck, or the boom stick on my backhoe, I take it to Lew's in Tyler. They are a machine/welding shop that can do just about anything, and their prices are reasonable. I know my limits, and sometimes it's cheaper and faster to hire a pro.

 

[California]

U can start out with a relatively cheap flux core wire welder. If it turns out you don’t care for welding they are easy to sell.

There are several decent flux wire welders on Amazon, around $150~200. Look for 'inverter' and DC. I like my Amico 130A and have written reviews here and over on WeldingSite.
Review: Amico MIG-130A, 130 Amp Flux Wire Welder, 110/230V Dual Voltage. $149 on Amazon.

And there's one to avoid: HF's $125 AC-only flux welder. (Or any other AC-only wire welder). It's impossible for a novice to do acceptable work with AC. HF's $200 Titanium inverter welder is fine.

I don't see a problem with starting with a cheap stick welder. I found stick easier to learn than wire. Reselling any welder that cost under $200, you won't lose very much of what you paid.

You might like to see my thread over on Muhammad's WeldingSite describing a beginner's progress:
My projects - farm repairs and minor fabrication

 

[GeneV]

There are several decent flux wire welders on Amazon, around $150~200. Look for 'inverter' and DC. I like my Amico 130A and have written reviews here and over on WeldingSite.
Review: Amico MIG-130A, 130 Amp Flux Wire Welder, 110/230V Dual Voltage. $149 on Amazon.

And there's one to avoid: HF's $125 AC-only flux welder. (Or any other AC-only wire welder). It's impossible for a novice to do acceptable work with AC. HF's $200 Titanium inverter welder is fine.

I don't see a problem with starting with a cheap stick welder. I found stick easier to learn than wire. Reselling any welder that cost under $200, you won't lose very much of what you paid.

You might like to see my thread over on Muhammad's Weldingsite describing a beginner's progress:
My projects - farm repairs and minor fabrication

Yeh, same here. I did start off on flux core, Lincoln's FC90, another decent fc welder at a good price.

But now I only stick weld...also an Amico welder haha.

 

[California]

Flux Core Wire is fine for my farm projects. It keeps things simpler and more portable when you avoid a gas bottle and regulator.

But trying various brands I found wide variations in quality, and results. I'll copy here the essence of a longwinded post I put on WeldingSite:

"Most everybody has a favorite flux core wire. Here's mine:

INE's INETUB BA71TGS. Size .035 for the Harbor Freight MIG-180 I've had for a few years, and now .030 in the Amico 130A FC welder I bought 11/2021. Compared to others I've tried, Inetub has less smoke, less splatter, it feeds evenly, and the welds look great. Recommended.
INE is made in Italy by a world class manufacturer."

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

If you can get some formal instruction, you'll never regret it and can save you months and even years of struggle. Plus you get to take advantage of welding with not "extra" cost to you.

 

[big bubba]

in addition to classes, personally would stand back, learn various of welding, then make equip decisions. just like buying a tractor, do the homework & anticipated tasks 1st. best of luck