sunday fun with the welder!

[john hd]

a couple of us got together today to attach a sway control to dave and pats argosy.

good chance to try out my new used welder!

we decided to weld the ball onto the frame because the supplied ball mount was the same size as the frame on the minuet. if we had used the supplied self tapping screws they would have been installed into the webbing of the C channel comprimising the strength. welding it on seemed to be the better option.

fun and games, arcs and sparks and a few beers to keep us cool!

john

[john hd]

some more shots

[john hd]

and our guest supervisor norbert!

[overlander63]

Is that a (gasp!) Dodge Caravan that is the iminent tow vehicle?

[john hd]

Originally Posted by overlander63

Is that a (gasp!) Dodge Caravan that is the iminent tow vehicle?

yes, it is. and it tows the little argosy quite nicely! the minuet is about 1000 lbs under the tow capacity of the dodge!

john

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by john hd

yes, it is. and it tows the little argosy quite nicely! the minuet is about 1000 lbs under the tow capacity of the dodge!

john

Whooda thunk it?
BTW, is you barn leaning, or is it just a trick of the camera? Enquiring minds want to know.

[john hd]

yes terry, that side of the barn has a bit of a lean to it. the walls are rebuilt using salvaged power pole cross arms from work. i have new lumber to reframe the opening, i plan to square the whole thing up when the new doors go on.... someday! i was lucky to save the old horse barn, it is original from the teens when the place was built. not many cars then. i had a huge tree land on it and almost flatten it, it got caught by another tree saving it from being demolished.

john

[john hd]

in additon we straightened norby's bumper and reriveted dave and pat's belly pan.

good day!

john

[RobertC]

Ah Ha!!

I've been meaning to post about that ball do-hickey thing on my AS. I also found in one of my compartments that bar thing too. I guess the tow vehicle needs to have something added in order for this thing to work. Now what does this thing actually do?

Skip Callaham

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by RobertC

Ah Ha!!

I've been meaning to post about that ball do-hickey thing on my AS. I also found in one of my compartments that bar thing too. I guess the tow vehicle needs to have something added in order for this thing to work. Now what does this thing actually do?

Skip Callaham

The little ball that goes on the side of the A frame is for a friction type sway control unit. There needs to be a similar one on the tow vehicle, and the sway bar goes between them. The friction helps keep the trailer from weaving while you are towing.

[john hd]

skip

it is just a slider with two small 1" balls that creates friction in the connection between the trailer and the tow vehicle.

you tighten the handle on the slider to create more friction.

the trunnion on your hitch should have a piece of steel welded on the side of it to accept the ball. the slider just mounts between the two. it is attached by two hitch pins.

john

[Silvertwinkie]

Chicken........you took the LP tanks off first before welding........

Where's you sense of adventure.

[john hd]

sense of survival! i was NOT into testing darwins theory today!

hey you! out of the gene pool!

john

[scottanlily]

Hello john hd,

That welder is old but a great machine ,it has advantages over traditional wirefed mig welders.I own a hobart ironman 210 wirefeed and use a lincoln
225 arc welder for the heavy stuff .Of course it is dependent on the wire size in the wirefeed ,but the variety of rods ( I use 6013 or 6011 ) and the size available make the arc welder a viable piece of eqiupment.I use the wire feed for bigger jobs ,but I used the lincoln with 3/ 16 rod to weld the hitch head
setup .One more thing is careful with the photos and watching the arc!!

Scott

[RickStream]

You not only removed the LP tanks, but you wore a long sleeve shirt on a very hot day.

[john hd]

scott,

hey i gotta agree, it is one honking unit! the whole thing with batteries and gas has to be around 500 pounds! it has a 16 horse opposed twin onan.

my personal favorite for pipe work is 6011, flat work is 6013. and 7018 for vertical or overhead projects.

it sure is a fun unit to tinker with, it has a rough and fine control for amperage and a built in 3kw generator to boot!

john

[john hd]

Originally Posted by RickStream

You not only removed the LP tanks, but you wore a long sleeve shirt on a very hot day.

no kidding! we were in the shade for this project at least!

john

[scottanlily]

Does that welder have a 1-6 switch or just a high and low? If a high and low
that makes it tougher for controlling the amperage for the thickness of steel
your welding ,that rig probably was made for large jobs mostley where the beam they were welding needed HIGH no fooling with the controls .Ideally
on that airstream frame 130 amps is good ,low may be in that area ,could be
150 or 175 ,the high could be 210 on up to 270 who knows .

Scott

[rebel beck]

Okay guys when you decide to have another work day let us all know and we can bring ours on over

[john hd]

Originally Posted by scottanlily

Does that welder have a 1-6 switch or just a high and low? If a high and low
that makes it tougher for controlling the amperage for the thickness of steel
your welding ,that rig probably was made for large jobs mostley where the beam they were welding needed HIGH no fooling with the controls .Ideally
on that airstream frame 130 amps is good ,low may be in that area ,could be
150 or 175 ,the high could be 210 on up to 270 who knows .

Scott

scott,

it has step settings from 70 to 225 and a fine dial from 1 to 10 amps. i ran about 85 amps with 1/8 rod for this project. plenty hot on full engine speed!

beck,

sure you can come up! just don't expect it to be much cooler than down south!

john