welding carts

[California]

My welding cart is my old Lincoln Tombstone I keep as a spare

View attachment 798649

What are you making there?

 

[Gordon Gould]

What are you making there?

I got an old snow plow. The guy said I could have it if I took it off an F150 he wanted to restore. It was kind of bent up and worn. First I straightened the mold board.

This is the trip edge.

I managed to straighten it out too.

The cutting edge was worn down all the way down to the gussets so I cut some more off so I could weld in a new piece with the gussets across the joint.

Turned it into this

Probably more than you wanted to know

gg

 

[2manyrocks]

Besides the yellow tracked portable straighening rig, I see a red welding cart with pneumatic tires and plywood base.

 

[California]

Thanks!

 

[WinterDeere]

Thats why I got a wire welder. I welded stick in the field service and manufacturing for 20+ years. Now I avoid it like the plague.

I guess the biggest trouble with keeping a stick welder that gets used only once per decade is having fresh rod on-hand when the occasion arrives to need it. That stuff doesn't stay fresh forever, no matter how you try to store it out of the elements, unless your shop happens to be in Arizona.

 

[California]

Thats why I got a wire welder. I welded stick in the field service and manufacturing for 20+ years. Now I avoid it like the plague.

Questions from a amateur:

I have a '60's MW PowrKraft 230 AC stick welder. As big as a Lincoln tombstone. And a big box of 6011 that must be 30 years old. So far as I can see still usable. I've welded a couple of heavy things, for example a hitch ball mount onto the back of my box blade. The original arc torch is fun to play with but I've never used it for anything. Maybe it's hot enough to bend metal?

Then I got a used HF MIG-180 that some experimenter had modified up to the specs (not quality!) of a real welder. Big capacitor, all cables heavier gauge, start delay for the gas, longer whip. For $25, I just couldn't pass it up.

Would the HF realistically take the place of the ancient 100 lb stick welder?

 

[WranglerX]

Questions from a amateur:

I have a '60's MW PowrKraft 230 AC stick welder. As big as a Lincoln tombstone. And a big box of 6011 that must be 30 years old. So far as I can see still usable. I've welded a couple of heavy things, for example a hitch ball mount onto the back of my box blade. The original arc torch is fun to play with but I've never used it for anything. Maybe it's hot enough to bend metal?

Then I got a used HF MIG-180 that some experimenter had modified up to the specs (not quality!) of a real welder. Big capacitor, all cables heavier gauge, start delay for the gas, longer whip. For $25, I just couldn't pass it up.

Would the HF realistically take the place of the ancient 100 lb stick welder?

Some will say "yes" some will say "no".... A lot depends on the mods of the HF unit.... Personally I sold my Lincoln 180 amp "tombstone " and later replaced it with Hobart Handler 140 MIG and so far it has done all the things I require of it for up to 1/4 inch materials in single pass... Anything big triple pass.... With MIG its more about work prep then anything else....

 

[MossRoad]

Some will say "yes" some will say "no".... A lot depends on the mods of the HF unit.... Personally I sold my Lincoln 180 amp "tombstone " and later replaced it with Hobart Handler 140 MIG and so far it has done all the things I require of it for up to 1/4 inch materials in single pass... Anything big triple pass.... With MIG its more about work prep then anything else....

I still have and occasionally use my 1979 Sears Craftsman AC/DC arc welder. Very occasionally. I also bought a Hobart Handler 140 about a decade or more ago. It gets used the most. But for thick stuff, I like the arc welder. Since the arc welder can sit for 5-10 years between uses, to get around ancient welding rod, I buy the smallest box possible. It's still less than $15 for a 5lb box of 6011 at most big box stores locally, so I just buy a new box if I think I need to.

 

[2manyrocks]

Questions from a amateur:

I have a '60's MW PowrKraft 230 AC stick welder. As big as a Lincoln tombstone. And a big box of 6011 that must be 30 years old. So far as I can see still usable. I've welded a couple of heavy things, for example a hitch ball mount onto the back of my box blade. The original arc torch is fun to play with but I've never used it for anything. Maybe it's hot enough to bend metal?

Then I got a used HF MIG-180 that some experimenter had modified up to the specs (not quality!) of a real welder. Big capacitor, all cables heavier gauge, start delay for the gas, longer whip. For $25, I just couldn't pass it up.

Would the HF realistically take the place of the ancient 100 lb stick welder?

Make a test weld with each welder. Cut the welds apart and see what they actually look like.

 

[jjeff]

I'd like to find an old electric kitchen oven for rod storage/ heater before welding maybe convert the stove top to a work bench. especially with my infrequent use of 7018. Roadside scrap search continues lol.

 

[jjeff]

My homemade repurposed welding carts for heavier transformer welders. Lincoln 140c flux core on a beat up Craftsman bottom chest almost scrapped. Built a 3/16 angle frame for it, made provisions for tank if I ever wanted to put my mig on it. Used an old Yamaha snowmobile track suspension axle and idlers. My newer Hobart lx is on a 3/16" angle frame. Repurposed or cheap casters, / hangers on both are old repurposed x bracing from old beat up steel shelving. Got lazy and welded castors on frame, don't recommend unless proficient grinder operator. Also not very off road capable like some. Sure beats rolling on a slab vs carrying 70+ lbs around though. Apologies if posted before don't remember, so ignore.

 

[California]

Make a test weld with each welder. Cut the welds apart and see what they actually look like.

I've done that test a couple of times. Penetration looked good.

Here's my most recent project using the HF-180, an adapter to carry a cargo rack behind the Subaru. Note the undercut into the 1.25" bar. I think that indicates adequate heat. But I'm no pro! I won't use this adapter to pull a trailer.

 

[California]

Back on-topic!

Incidentally I found another photo, the 'welding cart' I was using for the Mig-180 a couple of years ago. A luggage cart. Now superseded by a HF 12x18" dolly so it's low enough to roll into a cabinet. (All flux core welding here since I'm essentially working outdoors, so no provision for a gas bottle).

And the 12x30"welding table, fabricated on an old tractor wheel for its base.

 

[MossRoad]

Ingenuity!

 

[WinterDeere]

The trouble I see with the venerable buzz boxes is that, while they can do anything, they certainly take a lot more practice and expertise to do it really well. I would do about one big project per year involving the welder, and everyone of them started much uglier than it finished. The MIG has its limits, but it's so much easier for the experienced hobbyist to quickly shake the rust off your skills and get to making good welds, after a few months away from it.

 

[rangerfredbob]

Yeah, I mix and match, with like 6 welders I have choices... If I'm working on big ugly stuff I jump to the stick welder with 6011 or sometimes 7018, other times flux core and recently since I got a tank solid wire and hopefully soon I'll practice some with scratch start TIG for stainless...

 

[MossRoad]

Personally, I think everyone who gets the chance should learn how to weld with gas first. Then stick. Then MIG/wire feed. Then TIG.

Gas gives you the chance to look at the metal before it liquifies. You get the idea of adding filler, shielding the puddle with the filler rod, pushing the puddle with the flame, looking at the depth of the puddle, watching for burn-through, etc.

That way, you get a bit of better understanding of what's happening in that brilliant flash of the arc weld.

MIG/wire feed is too easy to make a pretty weld that has no strength if you don't understand penetration.

I have yet to attempt TIG. Will be a retirement hobby for me.

 

[jjeff]

Personally, I think everyone who gets the chance should learn how to weld with gas first. Then stick. Then MIG/wire feed. Then TIG.

Gas gives you the chance to look at the metal before it liquifies. You get the idea of adding filler, shielding the puddle with the filler rod, pushing the puddle with the flame, looking at the depth of the puddle, watching for burn-through, etc.

That way, you get a bit of better understanding of what's happening in that brilliant flash of the arc weld.

MIG/wire feed is too easy to make a pretty weld that has no strength if you don't understand penetration.

I have yet to attempt TIG. Will be a retirement hobby for me.

Gas welding is what some tech schools teach first. Years ago in middle and highschool I recall they taught stick welding first. Funny recollection of my first attempt to Tig aluminum I attempted to repair my dad's extension ladder. Final result was ended up being a step stool lol.

 

[ArlyA]

Most people only have one or two systems.

 

[MossRoad]

Gas welding is what some tech schools teach first. Years ago in middle and highschool I recall they taught stick welding first. Funny recollection of my first attempt to Tig aluminum I attempted to repair my dad's extension ladder. Final result was ended up being a step stool lol.