Kubota L2501 Turbo: A Journey Defined - The Tractor, The Comparison, The Modification, The Results

[tacticalturnip]

Feel like coming out East?

 

[5030]

We don’t have a tubing bender. Never have. We buy pre-fabricated tubes and u-bends and cut to fit.

All tubing is back purged 100%…we utilize continuous purging when welding our tubing together as that keeps the gas on the inside of the tubing continuously clean and avoids any potential contamination of the welds penetration during the final weld process.

And no, I’m not the welder/fabricator. However, I have shared your compliments and feedback.

Mike

Learning to TIG weld is really an art, especially on light gage material. A little backstory on myself.. I started out many, many years ago welding with O/A and using metal coat hangers for filler rod (and I still use O/A when I'm brazing with flux coated fuller rod), but O/A is a real good primer for learning to TIG weld because it's a 2 handed procedure. Only difference is with TIG, you must keep the filler rod in the inert gas envelope. I had a tremendous teacher too. One of my close friends is a Nuclear welder / certifier and he taught me and subsequently certified me which is something I have to keep up to date. I do use pulsed MIG as well but only for ferrous alloys and I do field welding as well, I own a engine drive Lincoln Ranger so I like burning rods too. I sold my Lincoln Square Wave TIG machine last year and succumbed to an IGBT machine and added a water cooler and a series 15 CK Water cooled torch. I really like the water cooled torch, keeps your hand cool when running high amperage. Always wanted a tubing bender like a Baliegh, just never got around to buying one and at 74, it's probably too late in the game anyway. I already have a shop full of machine tools and welders and a CNC plasma table so no room left presently.

I figured you or whoever was fitting up the pipe sections had to be purging with straight argon, I do but what I do is seal the ends with masking tape and stick my argon hose inside and fill the void with it. Nice welds, I appreciate quality TIG welds, especially uniform stacked dimes. you must be paying dearly for materials. I've taken at least 3 substantial increases on just hot rolled sheet and stainless sheet is outta sight today. Just quoted a plasma cut and weld job for an automotive sub contractor and they were amazed at what I quoted them, told me I was way too high and I replied... see ya later. I don't do any job for nothing, if I did, I'd be out of business pretty quick and I have 2 employees to worry about as well. Times are tough today and not getting any better that I can see at least and today, everyone wants it done for nothing and then pay you when they dang well feel like it. I don't dance to either drummer.

I think your tractor mods are interesting and not something I'd ever do but I do like following along no matter what. One thing about this site and that is, there are a whole raft of commenters on here that really don't know poop from applebutter when it comes high skill fabrication.

I just built an expansion chamber for a buddy's Bultaco dirt bike in low alloy steel. That was a fun project and really let me tune up my low amperage TIG welding.

 

[tacticalturnip]

Welding is really an art; my grandfather was a welder for the local shipyard, and my uncle does underwater welding at the same place. I have always thought it was extremely cool, yet I have never tried.

 

[5030]

For a few years I worked as a long shoreman at a now defunct company in Cleveland, Ohio as a welder, welding on lakes boats during winter layup. Talk about a cold miserable but well paying job, there it is. I've burned tons of rod in my day. I even worked on the Fitz back then and she was always a leaker and even in layup, had to be pumped constantly or she would scuttle herself.

Hanging from a Bosuns chair between the inner and outer hulls with a 100 watt light bulb for illumination was just joyous and stick welding hull plates. Don't get me wrong, stick welding is pretty easy compared to say TIG but in the dead of winter, hanging above the bilge water in the bottom, welding, is no joy and it's cold as heck in there as well.

 

[tacticalturnip]

There's got to be something about it; the way you talk about it, the stories I'd heard growing up, it was like welding was almost a calling- an art so to speak.

 

[Rdrcr]

Feel like coming out East?

Unfortunately, we can handle the job on the west coast at two locations, CA and WA.

I think you need a vacation!

Mike

 

[Rdrcr]

Mike

 

[Rdrcr]

We can handle all kinds of projects

Mike

 

[tacticalturnip]

Well, if anything could get me out west, it would be something involving my tractor.

Have you reached out to owners to gauge interest?

 

[Rdrcr]

^^^^
We haven’t reached out to owners yet to gauge interest. We’ve talked to a few Kioti owners locally but, nobody’s got a CK2610. Lots of smaller and larger units.

Mike