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Tractor and deck welding?


Bruker

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What kind of welder do you guys use for light repairs of your tractor and deck. I've noticed a few stress fractures while doing the winter maintenance and I'm going to have to take care of them before they get any worse. I have a late model Prestige and I don't think there's any steel over 3/16' thick so I'm thinking that a 110v flux core welder might do the job. What do you use?

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Small flux core would be fine, the cheap wire splatter a lot and can give trouble unspooling so i would advise Holbart or Lincoln flux core wires.

I find that for the thin stuff use .030 tip & wire, over 18 gauge use .035.

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I have a miller 180 I bought a couple of years ago and it's been great. I use gas instead of flux core because I think it does a cleaner, nicer job. From everyone I talked to before I bought mine said miller is the most quality brand so I figured I would spend a little extra money for the quality. I think the miller 140 would be good for what you need. Plus millers are made in U.S.A

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We have a big Lincoln welder and have always had Lincoln I would deffinantly use gas it's a much cleaner weld I bought a 250$ spool of flux core fire used it it for one project at the shop and took it off and went back and got regular wire just my thoughts

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I have a Miller 135, similar to a 140. I'd buy a used miller or Hobart that is set up for gas if you can swing it. If you ever want to upgrade from a flux only machine, youll have a heck of a time selling it.

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I have a Century 100 wire feed welder that I use with gas. It works very well. I also have a 180 amp stick welder for the heavier stuff, but hardly use it at all.

Steve

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I had an old Lincoln that I had to sell for next to nothing just to get it out of my shed. Good thing I bought it cheap in the 1st place.

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I use a Lincoln Power Mig 256 at home and a Lincoln CV450 at work everyday. Lincoln, Hobart and Miller. You can`t go wrong. Miller owns Hobart. All three are very good machines.

If you are going to buy a welder. Think about the possibility that you may weld something heavier than a 10 guage deck. For a little more money you can have a 220 volt machine that is a lot more capable than a 110 volt machine.

If I was going to just repair a few stress fractures. I would save the money on the machine and pay to have it done. Unless of course you have other uses for it. On welders bigger is better. You can always turn a bigger machine down but you can`t turn a small one up.

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I agree with Ray. I had a 110 machine and a stick welder, had moved to a 220v machine till it got legs. I can tell you that there is a world of difference in 220 vs 110. More power, smoother, better welds, and after you get it, you will find all sorts of things to FIX!:D

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On my Conquest's deck there is a bracing piece that runs at a 45 on two planes between the shell and the forward ears of the deck that attach to the hitch. It's not on older machines so I suspect it was an add on for stresses encountered with reversing. When I bought mine it had a "welded" repair that was just horrendous. It let go in a month or so and I chamfered the crack and hit it with a 110 flux core .035 wire welder and it's been top notch since then.

I have a HF $99 special that I use and it's done WELL above my expectations. I bought it to dip my toe into welding before dropping money on a quality brand (Miller or Lincoln). It came with HF branded .030 wire and it was medium, I've replaced the wire with hobart wire in .035 and it's been tops since making that change.

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Hi Brian, I have seen some skilled hands do great welds with a small 110 stick welder. heck, I tried it and after several passes it was ok. But not nearly as strong as a more powerful machine. Most of us are not that skilled:D Its like anything else. Buy bigger, you can always turn it down like ray said. You cant get more than the machine was made to do. To support this, if you ever had a garage with 2 spaces, have you ever said, "If only...dreaming of more room?" It carries over to living space, gas mileage, pretty girls:D, etc. In any event, a welder is a cool as heck addition to the garage for any do it your selfer!dOd

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Four months ago I bought a Campbell Hausfeld for 300 bucks. It is wire feed flux core or gas. I use flux as I don't do that much welding. Flux core is dirty so I use a liquid called Weld Kleen. Works great, after welding just use a scraper to clean up the slag and rinse with water for painting. I have welded 5/8's rolled steel onto 3/16's plate steel with no problem. So I highly recommend for the occasional welder, for the price.

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I was given an old Miller Thunderbolt from my old man, and use it for heavy stuff...quick fixes. I bought a Hobart Handler 140 as a MIG/Flux option after a lot of research and waiting around for sales, etc.

I wanted a nice flux core unit to do lighter repairs than the stick welder would pull off, and something that was setup for gas as well. Additionally, for my use, I wanted a welder I could throw in the truck and run on 110 most places I wanted to take it along. I've used it almost as much in my old man's pole barn as at home in the shop. I've taken it to a couple buddy's places as well. Free beer in trade for novice welds is alright in my book. I couldn't have done that with a 220 unit. The 140 seems to have about as much juice as a 110 unit can muster up. You can't run it off any outlet though...it will throw a 15A breaker if you let it. I haven't popped a 20A yet.

I got a small gas setup for Xmas, and plan to practice a bit with that. The wire feed took some getting used to, and the flux core cleanliness is noticably different between brands. You get your money's worth there. It became essential to have a welder for maintaining old equipment. I've repaired a number of household items as well, and modified just about everything I own that's made of steel. ;) I'm certainly not good at it, but I do enjoy trying.

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You might consider getting a small oxy-acetylene outfit. That will enable you to not only weld, but braze and, more importantly, cut. And, having oxy-acetylene to heat rusted bolts, etc, for removal and/or straightening is indispensable.

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http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200471413_200471413

I bought this ^^ unit last summer and I fixed the trailer in the link below with it.

It is the same one that Josh has and I BELIEVE Ray has the same one as well. Hobart factory support is top notch if you have any problems.

.035 flux core did the job for what I was doing.

http://www.simpletractors.com/club2/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=127794

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300x300.jpg

Tim, this is what I have. I was just looking at it on Lincoln`s site. I can not believe it is a grand more now than when I bought mine. They sure have got expensive in 10 or 12 years. I have heard that those little Hobarts do a great job.

300x300.jpg.7b1ad6c9d642f55ec8761c35cdeb8008.jpg

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quote:Originally posted by RayS

300x300.jpg

I have heard that those little Hobarts do a great job.


id="quote">
id="quote">Come on up and try mine! I'm sure I have something around here that you could work your magic on ;)
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I had a few different ones. The big Lincolns are nice. If your looking at the smaller 220v machines, I am all for miller, and hobart is just a miller with a few less bells and whistles. You can't go wrong!

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Another spec a shopper needs to look for is duty cycle.

The Hobart Handler 140 has a 10% duty cycle.

Now that's with the heaviest wire welding the heaviest piece of steel the machine is rated for.

That being said, when thinner wire is used for 1/8" thick steel, the duty cycle rises.

Six minutes in the course of an hour is 10% duty cycle.

Think of it this way, You are repairing tractor parts, you are NOT building 20yd trash dumpsters.

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I don`t think I knocked Hobart. Hobart, Lincoln and Miller there isn`t a dimes worth of difference in quality. I have used them all in the 28 years or so that I have been welding. I don`t think I would want to sped 40 - 60 hours a week behind one from Harbor Freight. Not sure how long it would last.

I bought the Lincoln because it was $300 cheaper at the time. Probably still is. It is like buying a Yukon or an Escalade. The Escalade is still rolling around on a Yukon chassis or a Hummer for that matter.

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