Heavy Equipmet Repair

[weldonwelding]

Ljydljtd

[killdozerd11]

My airpak was not that much money new but that was a few years ago

Il like plasma gouge much better it doesn't spit molten metal all over like cac does its more of a scalpel to cac chain saw ...But i know guys who are real good with cac far better than me

There are lots of videos on plasma gouging on youtube from miller and others

[Portable Welder]

Kill Dozer, I have to disagree, I can do a very precise job with my air arc, you just need to know how to have it angled.

Keep in mind I have never gouged with my Plazma, But thats because my air arc works so good.

[cayager]

Kill Dozer, I have to disagree, I can do a very precise job with my air arc, you just need to know how to have it angled.

Keep in mind I have never gouged with my Plazma, But thats because my air arc works so good.

i would have to agree. i have a new (2009) big blue airpak that will eat 3/8" carbons and have gotten pretty good at steering it around. i also plasma gouge but feel its alot slower, good for small stuff. only have hypertherm 1000 though.

[mccahilldozing]

Heavy Equipmet Repair

I agree with cayager. Plasma gouging is good for light stuff but when your gouging out 1 inch material to chase a crack an air arc works a lot better. If your going to run 3/8 carbons you better have more juice than a 302 trailblazer. I run mine with a big blue 600d and 4/0 leads.

[Daniel]

I do this for a living, and own my own company. I run a tb275, have had a 302. Plenty of welder
. Buy a wire feeder, most customers will not pay for stick welding when wire is 40 percent faster. Also other reason i run a trailblazer is weight. My f550 weights about 17k. Put an engine in it, now your at 19500. Simply cant hold a welder that big, also overkill for running power tools.
Kevin

An F550 weight is around 7500 pounds and has a rating of 17000 pounds, plenty of room to put a Big blue airpak. A trailblazer is too small for heavy duty equipment repair, it will do it, but you'll have to run that TB302 at maximum steady.

[JTMcC]

I can keep up with anyone that is using a wire feeder with a stick welder.

You are really uninformed. Or smoking crack.
7014, 7024 and 7018 deposition rates are easily beat in the flat, tripled in position work by the right FCAW wire using equal amperage. The numbers are available to anybody.
The most efficient process for the application is where the money resides in welding world. You make a weld in 1 hour, we make it in 20 minutes, I win, woohoo.
I've been in business for 2 decades plus (from the Canadian border to the Mexican border and from California to Florida so don't throw that "my area is different" thing out) and we hard bid,either lump sum or unit price on almost everything. If you're using low deposition rate process' on heavy junk iron you are ripe for the picking and sooner or later will be picked off by the first guy using the most productive process. He'll make more per hour than you as well.

Where do you work???? : )

J

[cws612]

Uninformed... no. Experienced. ''The numbers'' what numbers...? I dont get my info or "my numbers" from googling it and comparing on a website. I run my own welding/fabricating buisiness that is doing very well. And i have also worked for a few of the very best shops in my area. Most of my work is hourly since most of my work is equipment repair. Though some of my very best work is done in your mothers pantys while i pay her with crack

weldon, you need more experience. in this day and age, if you continue making statements saying that stick welding can keep up with mig processes, you are showing your ignorance. while stick welding is extremely versatile and will never be eliminated by mig processes, you cannot compare productivity. most profitable work is done by quoting intelligently, working productively (with whatever process is the best for the specific job) and moving on to the next. if you can make more than your normal hourly rate, why fight it. its profitable to get paid for what you don't do. being in business is a continual learning process, you have to evolve.

[weldonwelding]

When y

[cayager]

wheres sundown?

wheres sundown when you need him? this ones right up his alley!

[Daniel]

When your repairing heavy equipment like were talking about here... most of the time you have on the repair isn't straight weld time. There is a place for a feeder..yes... like I stated before. Like welding thumbs on, big patches on big buckets, hard surfacing, and much more. But most of the time to use a feeder is a waste of time. There is more prep work and setup involved, when I drag my leads out and have it done already you will still be grinding paint and rust off. for you to state that I need more experience is a shot in the dark.... wouldn't ya say. I run a very successful buisiness and have kept the same customers since the day I started, and I started in a rough economy. Not too many people can say that. And on top of that... everything I have is paid for in the full. Its not worth my time to list everything that I own but trust me I have a full shop of equipment. So I must be doing something right. If you guys are what you say you are, then good for you, to each his own. But I see no credibility due to all I see is you running your mouths about something you more than likely googled.

I have to say, I work in a mine that has 4 P&H shovel, 2 Cat shovel with 4 D10 and 2 D11 dozer not counting many grader with 1 that is the biggest you can get 24 feet blade and many excavators etc etc... and if you get cut sticking you would be laughed at and my foreman would be giving me the hairy eye brows.
So for you to say that stick is faster and better put you in a different category. Learn to use your wire feed and get a bigger welder to use it.
The only gauging rod I use are 3/8 the smallest and 1/2 inch is my go to rod.
There is no place for slow stick in our industry. If your customer are happy with you it's because they don't know better.

[weldonwelding]

[Qooo

[Daniel]

No way I would work for you, you couldn't even give anything close to the wages I make,
I have all the process available to me, I stick weld where I need to, and small heavy equipment are the same as big ones, metal is metal. I've been doing this for many years. Welding is welding, stick for me is when I need to do a small little job that would take me only 10 to 15 minutes or where there is a crack on a dipper door wear plate that I cannot get clean enough to start with the mig, I"ll make my first pass with stick and change to mig right away.
The only reason I think people still are using stick on jobs is that it will take longer and they can charge more hours for the same job.
I did a ice lug job on a D10 for the previous company I worked for, before starting at the mine, my boss was too cheap to supply me with a suitcase, so I did it with stick and got laughed at.
As much as you need skills to use stick, you need the skills to run a dualshield fluxcore 1/16 or .045. And believe me I excel in both but will choose mig 95% of the time over stick because it is faster and as strong as any stick rod out there.

[Cgotto6]

Wow, I wonder who has the tallest truck. Haha

[pressurewelder]

Heavy Equipmet Repair

Jtmcc. All you said there was bang on. I don't care if there is light rust ( if its heavy and dirty your cleaning it with stick aswell) wire will run right through it and not look back. Get with the times it takes just about the same time to pull my rc or vs ( little longer with the rc) as long as it takes to grab your whip and rods. Just please stop showing your ignorance to welding and fabrication.