Gooseneck trailer repair project

[BackRoad]

Awesome looking welds Mr. Cord...impressive ingenuity in the rebuild.

 

[Cord]

Got the head reattached. I used two ratchet straps to keep the head tight to the knee braces and then used a 3/4 ton lever chain hoist to set the angle. A 3-4-5 triangle double checked that it was square to the tower.

 

[Cord]

A couple misc. photos of welds and reinforcements. The galvanized beam is from a highway sign. The crusty cross beam is from a salvaged mobile home. For a 12” beam, it’s crazy how light those mobile home beams are.

 

[BackRoad]

Isn't "galvanized", a metal to be avoided when welding?

 

[BravoXray]

Isn't "galvanized", a metal to be avoided when welding?

Yes, it certainly is. Makes a really crappy weld if you try welding on it too.
Cadmium plating is as bad if not worse. A definite no-no when welding.

 

[Cord]

That's why they invented the grinder. If you look closely you'll see the galvanizing was removed as part of the prep. That HDG is tough stuff!

 

[Ford850]

Looks great Cord. What's the next step?

 

[Cord]

I didn't care for the oversized marker lights so the holes were infilled. I used a die grinder to bevel the edges and then traced the irregular hole into a piece of patch steel. The patch was then ground flush and a new 3/4" hole was drilled. Yes, Load Trail used a torch to cut all of the marker holes.

 

[Cord]

This gets us up to the gorey part. It's been a long time since I've hurt myself so it makes sense that it would be a duesy. I was tired and trying to hurry which is always a bad combination. I was using a 12" bench grinder when the piece of metal slipped off the face of the stone. Instantly my finger contacted the stone. Thankfully the glove helped save me. The hole on my knuckle was deep enough that I could see the yellow fat below the skin. I didn't bother to seek medical care. After all, the meat was gone so it wasn't a wound that could be stitched up. Thankfully I didn't got any nerves or ligaments. The one tendon did swell up which caused my finger to pull sideways so it was stacked under the adjacent finger. That was kinda weird.

 

[LD1]

This gets us up to the gorey part. It's been a long time since I've hurt myself so it makes sense that it would be a duesy. I was tired and trying to hurry which is always a bad combination. I was using a 12" bench grinder when the piece of metal slipped off the face of the stone. Instantly my finger contacted the stone. Thankfully the glove helped save me. The hole on my knuckle was deep enough that I could see the yellow fat below the skin. I didn't bother to seek medical care. After all, the meat was gone so it wasn't a wound that could be stitched up. Thankfully I didn't got any nerves or ligaments. The one tendon did swell up which caused my finger to pull sideways so it was stacked under the adjacent finger. That was kinda weird.

Is that a superglue repair I see????

I dont envy you and feel your pain. But superglue is wonderful to keep in the shop for emergencies