Welding Rig Pictures

[J hall]

It all comes down to what works for your situation. Some guys can get by with a pickup and a Bobcat, while some actually need a Pete with one or two 500 amp machines, 10,000 lb crane, etc.
I would not argue with RV, for he knows his area, Just as JT knows his.
For my situation I looked at Moving to a large truck, but I didn't want to lose the maneuverability, so I kept my F450. I have a 3200lb crane, and it all is a nice fit. If I need a 400 amp welder, I have some on wheels. If I need a larger crane, I hire it, or use a trackhoe.
I am set up to get in, get it fixed, and get out. Time is money.
Jeff

[Rvannatta]

A major repair could mean the end of a company, so dropping $70,000 on a fancy rig is out of the question.

I hear you on fancy rigs. One very much needs to make do with what they have. We have always had the problem with our logging business that if we had enough money to buy new equipment we wouldn't need to be in the logging business.

New yellow toys for the logging business cost $300k to $500k each and you need a bunch of them to do anything. We do our own road building and rocking as well, so we also have a set of toys for operating a couple rock quarries, and of course we farm a little so we have a string of farm equipment.

We deal with this situation by buying second hand equipment, usually off brand, and making it work for a long time. by way of example, my father bought a second hand J. Deere Model R in 1954 and a haybaler. the baler has since gone to baler heaven, but the tractor has baled our hay every year now since 1954, I think that is 51 years.

I don't thing we have a major piece of equipment less than 10 years old.
You can readily buy old iron for 10 cents on the dollar of new price. We then have a big shop and are prepared to do some serious repairs from time to time. We have also found that you should never buy undersized equipment
If you buy a monster that the seller found too big for the job it will be in one **** of a lot better condition that one te seller is dumping because it was too small for the job.

As for big welding rigs--they are only expensive if you can't resist going to the Ford dealer and buying one.

You have seen the big welding truck that we buildt this winter. It is big enough by any measure---maybe too big, but did we spend a pile of $$ on it. Not hardly. OUr out of pocket cost was $1500 and some hydraulic hoses. we bought the service body from a junk yard for the $1500 bucks. the truck was one we had bought for a flat bed farm truck 15-20 years ago andI think we paid $6,000us for it then, and it was parked out behind the shop because we had replaced it with a newer truck. the crane was a $500 bargain we couldn't resist of 15 years ago, that we had to go cut the briars off of.

[TNredneck]

strap a dynasty and a small generator an that lil yelow thing and you should have no problems getting around on the logging trails.i supose you will have to fab up some racks for it but that shouldnt be too much truble. i think the TD will likely have to stay home.

fun4now, the only problem with that is.i would be haveing to much fun to stop and work.but that just might be a good idea. LOL..

[fun4now]

yep its that time is $$$ thing getting in the way again, although i'm shoure you would get to the work part sooner or later. maybee when ya ran out of gass, oh wait you could always drain the generator for more gas
although tempting to just play all day it could have its use'es. perhaps a new breed of welding job, out on the bike trail repairs. could have potensal, thouse things can tend to break in some hard to reach places, a quick fix and off to play again.
although a transformer power sorse off an upgraded battery might be a better power option. in the right locations it could be doable. i know when i was playing in the sand duens on the AZ/CAL border near yuma it could have been a real $$$ maker, too bad i wasent welding then i might still have been there now if i was. fun and $$$ thats always a good comboo.

[JTMcC]

Well, I am well flamed. I think I will go eat two 5 lb fire extuingishers and sleep in the bottom of the creek for the night.

Those weren't flames, those were people explaining to you why they use what they use.

My truck has to be ready (all the time) to drive anywhere in the country to a job (towing my travel trailer), and then drive several hundred miles a week (quite a few of them off road) while on the job, then back home. All without missing a lick, we can't live with down time in this business, it kills us quickly. Reliability is king in my world for the truck, the machine and the welder.
I don't have anything against old stuff, I own several hundred tons of it (trucks, cars, motorcycles, forklifts, ect), but the welding rig is one piece of equipment that can't be down for repair. We work in spurts of overtime, followed by breaks in the action where we do maintenance, get ready for the next big spurt, work on the old junk around here, and play with the kids. Miss one spurt and we miss maybe a third of our income for the year. Fast track construction schedules today mean that if you're gone for several days getting your truck fixed, someone else will likely be taking your slot.


JTMcC.

[Rvannatta]

Those weren't flames, those were people explaining to you why they use what they use.

My truck has to be ready (all the time) to drive anywhere in the country to a job (towing my travel trailer), and then drive several hundred miles a week (quite a few of them off road) while on the job, then back home. All without missing a lick, we can't live with down time in this business, it kills us quickly. Reliability is king in my world for the truck, the machine and the welder.
I don't have anything against old stuff, I own several hundred tons of it (trucks, cars, motorcycles, forklifts, ect), but the welding rig is one piece of equipment that can't be down for repair. We work in spurts of overtime, followed by breaks in the action where we do maintenance, get ready for the next big spurt, work on the old junk around here, and play with the kids. Miss one spurt and we miss maybe a third of our income for the year. Fast track construction schedules today mean that if you're gone for several days getting your truck fixed, someone else will likely be taking your slot.


JTMcC.

No disagreement with the fact that a welder needs to work. It's just like a bleeping fire truck. If it won't start when you need it, it isn't worth a ****. It is one of the very reasons that we stepped out in the market and bought a new one, and not a low end one at that. We got old iron all over the place and when it falls apart we don't want to stop and fix the hot glue gun before sticking it back together.

There are clearly different strokes for different folks. Cost is always an issue
and sometimes portiblity----as you say you may need to be 500 miles down the road by daylight tomorrow, or you may need to navigate a 6 foot right of way where there is no road, or all of the above.

the dead equipment auctions never have the equipment that didn't die. My point was simply that I see a lot of rigs in the dead pile that were clearly used a lot heavier than they were capable of, and that getting a rig 'big enough' ought to be one of the considerations---along with all the other considerations---when rig selection day comes. IT doesn't mean that everyone should have a Peterbilt whether it can get to the job or not.

[Portable Welder]

When I was new in business I too had old work trucks and they worked very good for me, they were simple to work on and I could repair anything on it my self exept the trans and since I wasnt busy every day of the week having no payments worked out very well, however as time went by I found myself getting busier and could not afford to be down one day every two weeks to repair the old truck, so I went from a 1979 F-350 to a 1999 F-550 and have alot more dependability, I deal in emergency service alot of time.
I find that I make more money working on other peoples junk than working on my junk and really enjoy having the creature comforts of the new truck the main one being AIR CONDITIONING.

[admweld]

Portable welder is back but i was hoping there would be photos of his truck but now i,m wondering is there even one he said he would post photos well where are they?

[Sberry]

If I was in one 60 hrs a week it would be a new one, but my old one is turn key like a firetruck too.

[Rvannatta]

When I was new in business I too had old work trucks and they worked very good for me, they were simple to work on and I could repair anything on it my self exept the trans and since I wasnt busy every day of the week having no payments worked out very well, however as time went by I found myself getting busier and could not afford to be down one day every two weeks to repair the old truck, so I went from a 1979 F-350 to a 1999 F-550 and have alot more dependability, I deal in emergency service alot of time.
I find that I make more money working on other peoples junk than working on my junk and really enjoy having the creature comforts of the new truck the main one being AIR CONDITIONING.

I don't do Fords if I can help it, but if you want a truck of that size you pretty much can get a Ford or do without, although this year IH introduced
some small trucks to compete with the F-550/F650.

[admweld]

rv reading your quote from portable where is this f-550 i want to see it i like 550 ,s now that my turbo is all fixed and this is my 6th ford diesel so i guess i,m a ford guy

[Portable Welder]

ADMinistrator, My friend who has the camera and the know how said he will help me post pictures when He is done with AUTO RAMA, He is finishing his 68 chevelle and auto rama which I think is the largest north american hot rod car show which takes place next weekend so soon after that he will help me post. I dont want to talk my truck up to much, While to me its a great truck there are many here that it may not be very good for, We all set our trucks up to suit our needs.
There are alot of trucks out there that look nicer than mine but mine is easy to work off of.
And to Ravanta, I understand what you mean about having a truck that is to small for the job, The guy who operates my other rig is in a 3/4 ton truck that I had to put an E-450 rear end into for all the weight and then I had to put a bigger bore master cylinder to feed enouph fluid for the rear brakes, So your point is well taken, I wont make that same mistake again.
I plan to build myself a new truck in a few years and Im not sure if I will go with a bigger truck or stick with the size I have now,
As some of the guys here have said sometimes too big of a truck resticts you, as it is now I just barely fit into a 10' tall car wash bay.
You Gotta keep a clean truck to reflect the kind of work you do, When I pull onto a jobsite they know they diddnt hire a fence post welder.

[arcalaska]

If this works...
Here's Big Red and Little Blue, aka PePe my little mule.

[Rvannatta]

If this works...
Here's Big Red and Little Blue, aka PePe my little mule.

Aha, dumped the ford for a GrandMa's Chariot. What model is it and what engine does it have?

[arcalaska]

GMC Top kick 4500, Duramax. hopefully I will finish the bed this summer I have aluminum underbody boxes that I plan on welding into aluminum side skirts.