Zena PTO welders

hudr · Jun 10, 2005

I think this is the right place for this post. It does attach to the tractor...
I am debating what type of welder to buy. I have a LOT of projects around the ranch and I figure I could have bought a new welder with what I have paid people to come out and weld. I found this company www.zena.net and they have a PTO driven welder. I am a big fan of anything that hooks up to my tractor. Also, I am not a big fan of having a lot of 2 and 4 stroke gas engines laying around in various states of disrepair (I don't pretend to be a small engine man). Anybody have any experience w/ this welder? One thing -- it seems a little pricey not to have about a 10kw generator in the package. For about $2800 I can get a Miller Bobcat 225 w/ a 10kw generator built in. I won't be using this anywhere except around the ranch so portability off premise is not an issue.
Thoughts, suggestions?
Thanks

Spiffy · Jun 10, 2005

Not sure how the final price would come out, but I'd think you could find a 10KW pto generator for around $1K and get a nice stick welder for a few hundred (or wire feed....maybe one of each /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif ) . Your first project could be mounting everything on a nice little trailer or 3pt. Total flexability! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 edit I was thinking AC stick; price will get steeper for a fancy AC/DC system; but you can always upgrade if you're building it yourself! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif Mount an air compressor and a couple 120V outlets for your grinder and Sawzall and you'll really be working in style! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

RedRocker · Jun 10, 2005

Looks like their alternator/welder is a lot cheaper and wouldn't tie up your PTO. I've had a Link Arc on my Jeep for years, alternator and small box under the hood and welds with a high frequency DC current. It also will run drills, grinders, and blenders. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif They sold out to Premier Power welder a few years ago. Not sure, but looks like Zena is a better bargain.

EastTexFrank · Jun 10, 2005

( It also will run drills, grinders, and blenders )

Benders????? Nothing beats a good Margarita after a hard days work. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

hudr · Jun 10, 2005

Thanks for the replies.
Spiffy ... You're right, the PTO generator may yield some more flexibility and more leftover money.
RedRocker... I looked at the alternator setup and I think I would have some clearance problems with the loader and definitely the hood on my Mahindra 5005. I would rather not cut any sheet metal on the tractor if it can be avoided.
I may actually come out cheaper w/ a PTO generator mounted to a carry-all type affair and a plug in stick welder mounted beside it. This will all take some number crunching and wife-convincing before it bears fruit.
Thanks for the input. OH and RedRocker.. that setup you have on your Jeep... what all have you welded with it? I am looking at all the fence I have to build around here and was just out today eyeballing where I might put my pipe fence around the yard. How thick of steel will that unit of your weld?
And once again... thanks guys. Another set of eyes on a project really helps sometimes.

RonMar · Jun 11, 2005

If you really want to weld in field/proximity to your tractor at the lowest cost possible:
1. Put a larger alternator on your tractor.
2. Install a dual or triple battery box on the 3-point.
3. Purchase a battery isolator/charger circuit to allow charging all batterys simultaneously.
4. either using high current switches or made-up battery cables(less expensive), switch between all batteries charging in parallel, to all batteries wired in series(high current wire) and connected to your welding cables.

The High output alt charges the batterys. When charged, you shift the wireing to welding mode. You can weld with the tractor shut off, 2 batteries will yield about 30-45 minutes of weld time, depending on the metal being welded and rod used. I have never tried 3 batteries but I hear it is better/easier to start an arc. They would of course weld longer before needing a charge. 2-3 batteries can weld anything from .0625 up to 1/2" multi pass, but the thin stuff is trickier with a stick.

The tube used for a fence would be thinwall, probably less than .0625/16 gauge. For that I would want a wire feed, but then you are back to needing a generator to power it. The generator , as mentioned above does have its advantages as you could run the chopsaw to cut the tube and/or a drill press to run a tube notcher for nice pro looking "T" joints with the tube.

Once upon a time there was a portable DC wirefeed called a Migmaster that ran off of two 12V batteries in series and used a portable drill to power the cable feed. All I have seen and read about it said it gave good quality welds and could even use a shielding gas for doing aluminum and stainless. Something like that using flux core wire would be the ticket for doing thinwall tube in the field. I havn't seen one or even adds for one in quite a while though.

have_blue · Jun 11, 2005

You've got the right idea with the caryall.

All you've got to do is get a big old honking alternator for ~$100, a bracket or 2, a pillow block, pulley, and belt. Mount everything on your caryall, drive it with the PTO and a pulley that's close to 4x the diameter of the alternator pulley, and you get over 2000 RPM.

Do a google search and you will find good instructions for "home made alternator welder" that work very well, and for real cheap.

RedRocker · Jun 11, 2005

hudr, I've welded a Jeep frame together with it. It will weld anything you'd run across. They weld pretty different from a crackerbox, real high pitched hum. They do a good job though. After reading all this, I might just see about putting it on my tractor for use at the ranch.