Had to head out to the farm.

[4shorts]

Those welds look as close to robotically done as possible. WOW! I have a soft spot for 90's chevy pickups too and you have a beauty.

Well thank you. Happy to read you enjoyed seeing them. My old truck was bought new by me back in 1993 while I worked at a GM dealership. I've kept it in great shape and its never been painted and no rust. It pushed snow for 13 years before I retired it and went with a tractor and plow. The old truck is used now to pull various trailers.

 

[4shorts]

Well I completed the repair today and the customer is Happy, happy, happy and so am I :thumbsup:

Sorry but they are iPhone pics

 

[farmgirl19]

I can certainly see why both of you are happy! :thumbsup:

 

[4shorts]

I can certainly see why both of you are happy! :thumbsup:

Thanks Farmgirl. I'm glad it's done. It was a lot of back and forth to their farm measuring and test fitting. Just as I returned to the shop we got another job to repair a cracked Cat excavator on site so this morning it's load and go again. It's supposed to be a hot warm no wind day and the shop work is piling up while I'm away

 

[farmgirl19]

Thanks Farmgirl. I'm glad it's done. It was a lot of back and forth to their farm measuring and test fitting. Just as I returned to the shop we got another job to repair a cracked Cat excavator on site so this morning it's load and go again. It's supposed to be a hot warm no wind day and the shop work is piling up while I'm away

By the time the weather cools off a couple of degrees, you'll be happy to be back in the shop. And having a "pile" of work to do, will keep you busy, therefore happy. Some of us don't sit still doing nothing for long.

I'm looking forward to seeing the next "field repair"!

 

[boxygen]

Great truck 4shorts. I have a 95 gmc the same color. Its in good shape, but not nearly as good as yours! Its not easy to keep them rust free. I don't drive it in the the winter any more. BOdy on mine is pretty good but for some reason the frame took a beating. I have had to make some repairs. I wont post pictures of those welds. THey don't look robotic like yours

 

[4shorts]

By the time the weather cools off a couple of degrees, you'll be happy to be back in the shop. And having a "pile" of work to do, will keep you busy, therefore happy. Some of us don't sit still doing nothing for long.

I'm looking forward to seeing the next "field repair"!

Oh it was hot today and no wind but its supposed to cool down tomorrow with periods of rain so its back in the shop for me. It's alright because I'm a little behind in that department

Great truck 4shorts. I have a 95 gmc the same color. Its in good shape, but not nearly as good as yours! Its not easy to keep them rust free. I don't drive it in the the winter any more. BOdy on mine is pretty good but for some reason the frame took a beating. I have had to make some repairs. I wont post pictures of those welds. THey don't look robotic like yours

Thanks. I bought mine new and undercoated myself every year since 1993. It gets washed, waxed and detailed on a regular basis (by me). I really should get a new truck but this old feller has been so reliable it's just hard to let it go. I think I'll just hang onto it for 20 more years and see how I feel about it then lol.
It was working with me again today and got the job done :thumbsup:

 

[Nick220]

VERY NICE SHOP 4shorts. Thanks for the pics of that and everything else. Have a question though on patch you did on boom of Cat excavator. Around 30 years ago I was doing a lot of fab work in my shop for one of Maine's largest construction contractors and one afternoon I got a call where they needed me to go out that night and put a patch over a crack on the stick of a Cat excavator a little bigger than one in your pic. I'd never done that before and the man who ran their fab and repair shop told me NOT to weld the ends of the patch. Just run the longitudinal sides.

He was real master at this stuff and had been doing it for a long time, so that's what I did. But, I see you welded patch all the way around and now I'm wondering - was he right or just something he'd learned from a long time ago and no longer applied?

PS. The stick is the arm between the boom and the bucket.

 

[4shorts]

VERY NICE SHOP 4shorts. Thanks for the pics of that and everything else. Have a question though on patch you did on boom of Cat excavator. Around 30 years ago I was doing a lot of fab work in my shop for one of Maine's largest construction contractors and one afternoon I got a call where they needed me to go out that night and put a patch over a crack on the stick of a Cat excavator a little bigger than one in your pic. I'd never done that before and the man who ran their fab and repair shop told me NOT to weld the ends of the patch. Just run the longitudinal sides.

He was real master at this stuff and had been doing it for a long time, so that's what I did. But, I see you welded patch all the way around and now I'm wondering - was he right or just something he'd learned from a long time ago and no longer applied?

PS. The stick is the arm between the boom and the bucket.

Nick I've seen it done both ways and I've seen it done where guys would actually punch holes in the plate before welding it. I personally don't know if it right or wrong but you'll get as many opinions as you want with the right guys around. That being said I've never had a fracture after a repair so Ill keep on doing it until one fails.
Maybe some of the full time welders in here can chime in on the question.
Thanks!

 

[Shield Arc]

Maybe some of the full time welders in here can chime in on the question.

For someone who wants us to believe you're a part time weldor, you sure do a fantastic job at it!:thumbsup: Wonder how awesome your welds would look if you were full time?


I've seen it done both ways as well. Only thing engineer types will spec is to never use 90-degree corners! Ovals, diamonds, radius corners are all acceptable to prevent stress risers. Most will spec the fish plate not be any thicker than the material being beefed up, reason being. To have some flex to the fish plate. When using diamond shape fish plates a good idea is to tail out the welds on the ends.