Portable welder is building a Pipe Welding Rig

[JTMcC]

Coal, He's always had reels for the work around here, but for the pipe line he said they wont hold up under running mig on high for hours on end.

He said he likes the well idea because he can secure his cables at night.

Lead wells have been around longer than me but they seem to have gained a lot of popularity in the last few years.
They come off a little faster than my old school pronghorns, but they go back on a little slower so it's probably a wash as far as speed goes.
They will run a little hotter than pronghorns with big loops.( Probably not enought to get concerned about)
They take up space that can be used for in-bed boxes.
They certainly look slicker than anything mounted above the bed, and they are the most secure from theft. (I know of a job where 9 sets of leads were stolen in one night earlier this year).
They are a little more (not much) work for the helper than big loops.
I'll probably put them in my next bed, maybe.

JTMcC.

[JTMcC]

I'll add that for theft deterent, I got the smallest steel choker in my inventory (1/4" X 3 ') and I wrap it snugly around the loops of both my + and - leads (about 5 wraps) and lock it with a good combination padlock.
It's not theft proof of course, but it makes stealing my leads more work than it's probably worth to the average tweaker.


JTMcC.

[c wagner]

It really sucks that theft has become such a fact of life these days!
Looks like you have a great start on things! Keep the pics coming, I'm really interested to see some pics of the cable wells. When I get clearance from my boss and some customers I'll post some pics of the welding skids/slide in units that we have built.

[Goulet!]

One concern I would have about lead wells is ice snow build up in the winter. Even with drain holes the ice can build and that suck on a cold snowy day like today up here New England.

[JTMcC]

One concern I would have about lead wells is ice snow build up in the winter. Even with drain holes the ice can build and that suck on a cold snowy day like today up here New England.

If you'd ever seen a set of wells, you'd know that they use expanded metal in the bottom. Like I said, they've been in use sucessfully for longer than I've been alive.
They work quite well.

JTMcC.

[welderdan]

I've got lead wells on my truck. Once you get your leads "trained" they roll up easy

[J hall]

The ones I have seen use expanded metal on the bottom. Cool way to get rid of mud.

[calweld]

The big trick with using lead wells or anything else that needs coiling up tight, is always wrap the same way, every time. Everybody wants to help me wrap up after a job, uh-uh, I'll do it, you sweep the floor.

[calweld]

And BTW, that truck bed looks good to this point. Just watch the weight ,,,

[Portable Welder]

I am doing my best to watch the weight thats why I made the well buckets out of 10 Ga. instead of pipe.

Im pretty sure I can keep it under the 12,000 GVW, However He's going to carry 2- 75/25. 2- OX and one big Aceyt. That equalls 800 Lbs of tanks.

What size are the wells on every ones trucks, I made these 16" OD x 12" deep, The expanded in the bottom will be the heavy expanded 1-1/2" #6 to prevent premature rust through.

[JTMcC]

What size are the wells on every ones trucks, I made these 16" OD x 12" deep,

I see them in all shapes and sizes, people make them to fit the available space. Most I see are smaller in diameter than yours, out of necessity. 16" should work real well, pun intended.


JTMcC.

[Portable Welder]

Thanks for the reassurance JTMcC.

[c wagner]

So how is this job progressing?

[Portable Welder]

The trucks moving along pretty good, were working on it in our spare time, if things go as planned I will be painting by the week end, however you never know when a portable job will pop up for one of my good customers.

My buddy John is getting really excited he came in over the week end to weld brackets in the tool boxes to hold his tools.

Hes been pipe welding out of the back of a pick up since around 1995 so a real organized rig will be the whip as He says.

[Portable Welder]

Sorry about the dark pictures, I actually have great lighting in the shop but the picks turned out awfull dark.

To save the weight I bent up sheet metal in my brake for the lead wells.

This truck has dual tanks on it so just in case the fuel pump goes out on it I made removable ports on the bed to access the fuel pump instead of dropping the tank or removing the bed.