Mobile advice / Trailblazer

[kvwall]

Hi everyone-

I do light fab and repairs in my garage with my Miller Diversion 180 and ESAB Migmaster 150. My brother-in-law is the safety manager for a concrete cutting company and says he can get me work when their equipment needs repair in the field. (if I'm mobile)

As most of my experience is with smaller machines, I'm seeking advice on a mobile setup. I don't mind dropping some cash on a Trailblazer 302. But as I continue to read about the Trailblazer, I see it's not a simple wirefeed machine. What else would I need to buy to go with the Trailblazer? Spoolmate guns always seems to be for aluminum. I'm not familiar with all the add-on's I'm reading about.

Or should I buy something like the Miller 211 and a generator. What generator would be best? I usually like to buy the next machine up from what I need.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[HayFarmer]

For the type of repairs youre likely to get (steel) via your BIL a suitcase feeder is what youd need. I dont need to weld Al and so cant speak to that. I do weld quite a bit of steel and that setup is very simple if youre going to use FCAW self shield wires. Most of the Miller suit case feeders come w/ a gun. If youre going to use dual shield FCAW wire, metal core or solid then youll need to add a flow meter, hose and cylinder of gas. Aside from the feeder youll, of course, need std leads, what youd have for SMAW. I have the VS12 suitcase. The TB would also allow the RC variety feeder but youll need to run a control line as well.

[killdozerd11]

I do repair on equipment and some fab work and my setup is the TB 302 Air Pak with a 12 RC suite case and i plasma gouge much better than cac in my opinion

The reason i use the RC instead of the VS is i hate having to crawl out of and into machines to adjust the wire feeder..it gets old real fast

The 12 RC can run gas or gas less and you can always put a smaller spool of wire in it when weight is a factor...it also will run from 030 to 1/16 wire you just have to change the feed rollers and the gun or gun tips depending on what your doing and the TB has plenty of power for what i do

I have the Air Pak because it saves space because you don't need a separate compressor to run a plasma cutter or cac and it will supply enough air to run a 1 inch impact or a 100 lb. sand blaster that i have that will strip paint and rust ect quick and easy in stead of using a grinder for large jobs like putting in new liners in scraper bowls which is mostly stitch and plug welds

I can pick up the welder with my Kubota loader and put it in the chevy 4X4 3/4 ton or in the toyota tudra crew cab with no problem

But that's just me

[kvwall]

Thanks guys. Looks like the suitcases will only work from a generator type system like the Trailblazer and can't be plugged into 120v or 240v at home. It adds a couple thousand to my plan but looks like a solid way to go.

So to recap I need the following.....
Trailblazer 302
Suitcase 12VS or RC (These come with guns)
Leads

A couple more questions:
Usually I read the specs on a welder and it says it is capable of 3/16 or 3/8 on a single pass. What would I be capable of welding in a single pass with the TB and Suitcase with a 300amp gun?

Any idea what the leads cost?

I've already got the '07 F-350 Crew Cab, 8' Bed, Diesel, 4x4. Now I just need a forklift to load the thing.


Thanks again guys.

[fdcmiami]

[QUOTE=kvwall;288295]Thanks guys. Looks like the suitcases will only work from a generator type system like the Trailblazer and can't be plugged into 120v or 240v at home. It adds a couple thousand to my plan but looks like a solid way to go.

So to recap I need the following.....
Trailblazer 302
Suitcase 12VS or RC (These come with guns)
Leads

A couple more questions:
Usually I read the specs on a welder and it says it is capable of 3/16 or 3/8 on a single pass. What would I be capable of welding in a single pass with the TB and Suitcase with a 300amp gun?

Any idea what the leads cost?

man, you are a long, long, way from home. you know that thing is a stick welder too? what kind of carbon arc cutter you getting; and how about oxy/acetylene kit and torches. i'm curious; have you ever done any field welding at all?

you may want to run a gas line for that welder; regulator and bottle; racks to hold them. on and on.

i like the RC better than the VS also. i own an 8RC plus about a hundred feet of extension. i've heard of guys running several hundred feet of lead for the VS but fortunately i've not had to deal with that.

you could pick up a spool gun also; i have a 30A with an additional 50 feet of extension.

if you've got the dough to buy an airpak that's great, but it's just the beginning.
if you buy a TB, i'm using a 302, you can use your extra cash to gear up. money goes quick. do yourself a favor and do not buy a bobcat. for the extra money the tb will provide you with a lot better field welding alternatives


PS beware of rolex welders advising you to pick up a dynasty 200 and small generator to throw in the back of the range rover; that clearly won't work.

[Broccoli1]

What kind of equipment would you be repairing/working on?

[kvwall]

man, you are a long, long, way from home. you know that thing is a stick welder too? what kind of carbon arc cutter you getting; and how about oxy/acetylene kit and torches. i'm curious; have you ever done any field welding at all?

No, I haven't done any real field welding at this point. But I'm semi-retired so I'm free to take on any projects I like.

I only plan on doing local field repairs with Flux Cored because my brother-in-law can forward me the business. It's a specific application so I don't need all the other tools.

Yes, I know it's a stick welder too. I have a Spectrum 625 for gouging if I need it.

[fdcmiami]

well you're right and concrete cutting spans a wide spectrum construction activity.

if you're out there repairing saws for speedy concrete that is one thing, if you are out there rrepairing machines that cut grooves in bridge decks then that's another.

fact is, you get by with a much simpler arrangement. do you know what you are going to repair? tig setup might come in handy. i am sure other's are curious.

who knows, maybe that dynasty and the generator will work for you and you can use the f350 in lieu of the range rover.

[kvwall]

well you're right and concrete cutting spans a wide spectrum construction activity.

if you're out there repairing saws for speedy concrete that is one thing, if you are out there rrepairing machines that cut grooves in bridge decks then that's another.

fact is, you get by with a much simpler arrangement. do you know what you are going to repair? tig setup might come in handy. i am sure other's are curious.

who knows, maybe that dynasty and the generator will work for you and you can use the f350 in lieu of the range rover.

Not sure of the name of the equipment, but I'm told it's a painter or paver of some sort that drags a piece of steel along behind it. Occasionally the steel wears through enough to break/crack.

I'm not looking to repair the world out there..... Just wanna make sure I come prepared to do the job I'm there for.

[walker]

If you can, talk with your BIL and see if you can get a few pics of hte equipment in question. It would be a lot easier if we knew exactly what it was, and if there were more than one type of common repair.
Also, update your user cp with your location, it helps people know what to expect, where to buy, good local deals, etc.

[killdozerd11]

Well When i do repair work most of it is SMAW/ Stick welding is about 80% of it

I do mostly loaders,dozers/excavators and backhoes/scrapers and rock trucks
I do what ever needs to be done as far as welding goes

Most of what i do is weld cracks in track rails bull arms ripper bars excavator buckets loader buckets

You gouge out the crack round it on the ends ,grind it smooth and a constant width and depth fit up is the biggest part of welding

I like to do a 6010 root pass getting the root fully pen'd is important and then it's cleaned with a stringer bead wire brush you may have to do some grinding checking the root pass for a well pen'd bond then 7018 or 11018 or 7024 what ever i am using for this fill and cap and weld position,overhead,flat,horizontal, vertical up

Make sure to stringer brush and maybe you will have to grind between passes
Sometimes you can do it in one pass..each one is an individual situation

As far as a wire feeder goes you have to look at what your going to be doing ...Is it going to be worth the time to break it out hook it up run it and unhook it and put it all back...do you need more than one type of filler ..can you get the gun in there to weld it...sometimes you will have to bend the rod to get into a crack to weld it up....Oh the Joy of field repair work

Watch where you ground ...Ground as close to the weld piece as possible
Putting power in to bearing and rams ect is bad..seen a guy on one job welding on the bucket of an excavator but he was grounded to a track pad

Are you welding near something that you don't want to get real hot...Will it warp or twist...will it need fish plates or gussets maybe replacement

is the situation bubblegum baling wire and tape just to get it back online till the end of the day then fix it right

Like i said the joys of field repair work and the only way to learn this is the school of hard knocks and what i have posted here is just a small part of it

I have had to many phone calls and have other things to do see you later

[Broccoli1]

Not sure of the name of the equipment, but I'm told it's a painter or paver of some sort that drags a piece of steel along behind it. Occasionally the steel wears through enough to break/crack.

I'm not looking to repair the world out there..... Just wanna make sure I come prepared to do the job I'm there for.

Your asking people to give an opinion on tools to repair equipment you have no idea of what it is and be prepared to do that repair

Duct Tape.

[kvwall]

Your asking people to give an opinion on tools to repair equipment you have no idea of what it is and be prepared to do that repair

Duct Tape.

Ok. My bad. I gotta start somewhere. All you guys obviously have way more experience than I do. But I've learned a lot with your responses, so even though you may see me as a newbie out of my league, I have in fact picked your brains and got my questions answered. I appreciate that.

Thanks to all.

[beamwalker]

i have two ln-25s and a tb302. i run .045 212 wire out of one and 232 innershield .068 out of the other. i do alot of field repairs on trailers etc with .045 fc and havent had any problems or people calling me asking for re-repair on same part i fixed [yet]. but id have at least two processes ready to go. dont go bobcat...i ate one up in 5 days. tb is way to go

[MMW]

Is this a hobby thing or are you going to try to make money? Setting up a rig welder is quite expensive for just a few times when your BIL calls you to fix something broken. Don't forget liability insurance.

The trailblazer is a good machine. As far as accessories that will have to wait until you know what you will need.