My projects - farm repairs and minor fabrication

[California]

I would have put a bit of a bevel to both sides of that crack

I relied on the 'dig' of flux core running hot to get penetration part way into the crack. There's little stress on the face by the trademark that would pull the crack apart. All the stress using the pruner is concentrated on the edge of the handle nearest the camera.

After the first photo I used the edge of the angle grinder wheel to cut a deep gouge through the crappy old weld on the edge of the handle nearest the camera, and up into that trademark face. Then ran a bead into that gouge, then several beads lengthwise up the handle across this bead to carry the stress using the pruner. That edge is now double the original manufactured thickness. I think it's stronger than the original I-beam shape that was designed for a shorter wood handle.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Sounds like you really beefed it up.

 

[California]

Sounds like you really beefed it up.

A followup photo illustrating what caused the antique pruner to break, after years of abuse.
It originally had short wood handles like this. The conduit handles that somebody put on allow more force applied farther out.

The blades still close true, unlike cheap pruners, so I love this tool and will patch it again if it ever needs it.

 

[Bearskinner]

A followup photo illustrating what caused the antique pruner to break, after years of abuse.
It originally had short wood handles like this. The conduit handles that somebody put on allow more force applied farther out.

View attachment 1349

Nothing like over building.
“Over built, is Under Rated”

 

[Gary Fowler]

Here is my first (free) MIG welder that I never used and it never would feed the wire right so it sat for 30 years and now is is setting again. I need to just put it on the road with a free sign on it. It was sold by Airco and I couldnt find any parts for it. It is an old style transformer DC welder that might make someone a good TIG machine with a bit of work. The solenoid valve still works. All the leads are hooked up so that they cant be swapped around (without some mods) so TIG it would be and very low duty cycle.

 

[panamaguy]

Maybe describing my projects can encourage someone who is trying to make up their mind about getting into welding at the amateur level.

I've mentioned in other threads that I'm an amateur, welding as needed for farm repairs and minor fabrication. Here's one of my earliest repairs. It more than paid for the $50 I paid for my first welder.

The Wards Powr-Kraft AC-230 stick welder is probably 50 years old by now. Specs similar to a Tombstone. Got it from an estate sale. I was told Gramps played with it for a year then it just sat for decades. After blowing the dust out and oiling the fan it works same as it did new.

My garage door in town came down on something crooked, and tore the hinge pin out of the arm. I took the components out to the ranch, straightened the bent arm, and welded the pin back in with the torn area beefed up.

As far as I can remember this was my first practical application of this big stick welder. Compared to what it would have cost for a garage door company to fix this, I saved several times more than I paid for the welder.

A pro welder's work would look more refined than this but the hinge is solid, it's been in use since 2007 without issues. I'm pleased with what I can do with this welder. I still have it.

Never mind encouraging them to get into welding at a amateur level maybe they will decide to get into it on a professional level. I started welding in Canada when I got out of high school and retired to sunny warm Panama when I was 53. 16 years ago on my own nickel. It can be a great and rewarding trade. Oh ya we don't get those big snow storms. LOL. But sometimes the sand on the beach blows around View attachment 1219

 

[California]

Never mind encouraging them to get into welding at a amateur level maybe they will decide to get into it on a professional level. I started welding in Canada when I got out of high school and retired to sunny warm Panama when I was 53. 16 years ago on my own nickel. It can be a great and rewarding trade. Oh ya we don't get those big snow storms. LOL. But sometimes the sand on the beach blows around

Beat me by a year, I retired at 54.

Been playing "Gentleman Farmer" with this apple orchard, ever since. I backhoe out stumps and water new trees, maintain the lane etc, while a neighbor discs, and sends his crew for pruning and harvest as part of his commercial-scale operation. 20+ years of this now and the staying active is keeping me young. No snow here (N of San Francisco), so no need to move on.

 

[djg]

I persisted with a 130A transformer-type for years and did many minor jobs, but since buying a Rossi Inverter welder productivity has increased out of all proportion to the cost - a mere $A140 including delivery. This little beast will weld thin materials like trailer mudguards as well as much heavier steel components on the tractor and accessories. My welding will not win any awards, but it works!

I don't know if he's still around, old thread I know, so anyone could answer this. By "inverter" you mean AC/DC? I want to weld trailer mud flaps back on as well as other thin metal and all I have is a Lincoln 220V AC welder.

 

[djg]

I started this thread mainly as encouragement to other novices starting out, or considering buying a welder.

Here's the 230 amp AC Montgomery Wards Powr-Kraft stick welder again, that I bought used in about 2004. I still have it.
This photo shows the acetylene-welder hand truck that its first owner had adapted to make it movable. It's heavy!

And my first venture into a flux-wire welder, a $72 (after coupon) Harbor Freight flux wire welder. 110v, 90a, AC. A bad design! I never could weld as well with it as I could with the big stick welder. I later replaced it with a better Century 110v flux welder, which worked as expected.

View attachment 1247

I was considering on buying that same HF Mig welder mainly because I have a bunch of thin projects and it's on sale now. Or would it be better for a budget minded person put that $ in on a cheap AC/DC model?

 

[California]

I was considering on buying that same HF Mig welder mainly because I have a bunch of thin projects and it's on sale now. Or would it be better for a budget minded person put that $ in on a cheap AC/DC model?

Nooo! HF's Chicago Electric 'Flux 125' is only a frustration maker. AC-only, and not a sufficient range of voltage adjustment, just hi/lo - that doesn't match anything you would weld with it. I never could do decent work with mine. It won't weld thin material. The DC welder that replaced it was far better.

Anything DC and with variable voltage, a voltage knob to turn in addition to the wire speed knob, will be day/night better. Then dual voltage 120/240 is only a slight increase in cost for a big jump in capability.

Inverter vs transformer: Welders until 30? years ago had a large heavy transformer to convert input voltage down to welding voltage, around 20~25 volts. Transformers are still found in the cheapest welders like that Chicago Electric Flux 125. (And in some pro shop gear where portability isn't important). Inverter, in contrast, does the voltage transformation with electronic circuits. Far lighter, easily portable, and some other advantages.

I don't know if you saw my thread
Review: Amico MIG-130A, 130 Amp Flux Wire Welder, 110/230V Dual Voltage. $149 on Amazon.
A longwinded discussion of what I bought a year ago. I love it. I suggest look on Amazon for something similar to that if you want something inexpensive for casual projects. Or watch Craigslist for used pro-grade gear, and describe it here to get an idea if you should buy what you found.

Good luck with whatever you choose!

 

[djg]

Nooo! HF's Chicago Electric 'Flux 125' is only a frustration maker. AC-only, and not a sufficient range of voltage adjustment, just hi/lo - that doesn't match anything you would weld with it. I never could do decent work with mine. It won't weld thin material. The DC welder that replaced it was far better.

Anything DC and with variable voltage, a voltage knob to turn in addition to the wire speed knob, will be day/night better. Then dual voltage 120/240 is only a slight increase in cost for a big jump in capability.

Inverter vs transformer: Welders until 30? years ago had a large heavy transformer to convert input voltage down to welding voltage, around 20~25 volts. Transformers are still found in the cheapest welders like that Chicago Electric Flux 125. (And in some pro shop gear where portability isn't important). Inverter, in contrast, does the voltage transformation with electronic circuits. Far lighter, easily portable, and some other advantages.

I don't know if you saw my thread
Review: Amico MIG-130A, 130 Amp Flux Wire Welder, 110/230V Dual Voltage. $149 on Amazon.
A longwinded discussion of what I bought a year ago. I love it. I suggest look on Amazon for something similar to that if you want something inexpensive for casual projects. Or watch Craigslist for used pro-grade gear, and describe it here to get an idea if you should buy what you found.

Good luck with whatever you choose!

Thank you for your advice. I hate buying junk impulsively just because it's on sale. I have time before Spring to look around and educate myself.
I'm new around here and didn't see your link. That is like something I'm looking for. I'm first going to learn how to use my Dad's AC welder before I buy a MIG. I have some 1/4" steel to weld also.

 

[jjef]

Plant a few hundred Xmas trees every spring on our hobby operation. Built a homemade row marker beats making my field look like a new subdivision with string lines everywhere, basically just a 6 ' extension off a cheap subsoiler I bought used. Marker pin itself is an old snowmobile rear suspension spring so it has some flex if I hit something hard. Works better than expected.

 

[California]

Plant a few hundred Xmas trees every spring on our hobby operation. Built a homemade row marker ... a 6 ' extension off a cheap subsoiler

Is a light subsoiler like that, sufficient to loosen a line of planting holes for your new trees? Where you would then shovel out some of the loosened soil at each planting spot.

Obviously the extension couldn't dig like the primary ripper, but it would be useful for marking the parallel line for ripping the next row.

Practical, or no?

 

[jjef]

Yes it is I don't shovel just run a bar into trench to widen it a little bit put tree in done. I also use a homemade wooden tree spacer. After a few years of experimenting currently run 6' rows with about 4.5-5'spacing between trees in rows, seems to work pretty good for my hobby operation especially weed control.

 

[California]

Great, thanks. I should try that for replanting in my apple orchard.

Also, I've wondered if several passes in various directions with that ripper would discourage the gophers that eat my trees from below. Any advice?

Photo, typical. I fill a basin around a baby tree then suddenly its like someone pulled the plug and the water falls into a cavity below. Trapping, exhaust gas poisoning, and flooding hasn't slowed them down. Maybe disrupting their paths would redirect them away from the trees.

 

[jjef]

Great, thanks. I should try that for replanting in my apple orchard.

Also, I've wondered if several passes in various directions with that ripper would discourage the gophers that eat my trees from below. Any advice?

Photo, typical. I fill a basin around a baby tree then suddenly its like someone pulled the plug and the water falls into a cavity below. Trapping, exhaust gas poisoning, and flooding hasn't slowed them down. Maybe disrupting their paths would redirect them away from the trees.

Don't really have advice on gophers cause we have some vicious ferrel cats in the area lol. however I started to "carefully" run an old towable homeowner grade lawn roller up and down my rows and since I started to get kind of good at it I run it in-between the rows cross directional. It really helped compacting the soil just enough to prevent the "caverns" when watering. Disclaimer I'm a 1st generation hobby farmer who at one time couldn't keep a houseplant alive, so I imagine my methods are far from industry standards.

 

[jjef]

I built this ATV trailer mover positioner quite a while ago using nothing but scrap steel and an old trailer ball, Modified to fit existing ATVs over the years, used a lot, easy to put on and take off ATV and works really good for moving my smaller single axle trailers as I'm sure some of you folks know how frustrating it is to back a trailer on a rear ATV receiver at times. Painted Kubota orange cause I'm a diehard old L series advocate lol. Definitely safer over my old method of choking the winch cable around coupler to move trailers.

 

[California]

I built this ATV trailer mover positioner quite a while ago ...

That looks great. It sure is easier to move a trailer using a front ball!

Here's the front hitch I added on my smaller Yanmar. It was the ball mount from an old hitch that clamped onto a 1930's car's bumper.

Now I can push my 4x8 trailer into its narrow barn stall without wrenching my back to watch the clearance.

 

[California]

And I don't think I've posted here, a photo showing the welder I used to put on that front hitch.

Several years ago I had only a big stick welder that I used for everything. Then I bought a HF 90-AC flux-wire welder thinking that would be easier for small projects. No! 90% of the time it was a frustration maker instead of a productive tool.

Sold the HF-90 and replaced it with this used Century 130, a 110v MIG welder marketed to auto body shops. This Century worked great, the only limitation was it was heavy to drag out of storage for a project. I put it on this elder walker to make it more portable.

I have since sold this Century but only because I now have a much lighter inverter, flux-wire Amico 130A with the same capability.

 

[CADplans]

Great, thanks. I should try that for replanting in my apple orchard.

Also, I've wondered if several passes in various directions with that ripper would discourage the gophers that eat my trees from below. Any advice?

Photo, typical. I fill a basin around a baby tree then suddenly its like someone pulled the plug and the water falls into a cavity below. Trapping, exhaust gas poisoning, and flooding hasn't slowed them down. Maybe disrupting their paths would redirect them away from the trees.

I always wondered, if you ran some glass bottles through a leaf mulcher,,
then tilled in the broken glass where the tree was to be planted,,

Would the broken glass deter the gophers??
That broken glass would stay RAZOR sharp for a LONG TIME!!
The gophers would try to get past the broken glass,, but, why suffer, when the neighbor does not have broken glass??