Types of welding we do

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Hi guys from down under!A general question as I have a small mobile welding business that im growing and a bit unsure the direction to take. Ive noticed a lot of you fellas have big welding rigs which is great but do the majority of your jobs revolve around arc welding only?Reason I ask is I have plasma, mig, oxy set and tig that I keep in the van and a 400AS lincoln welder that I tow behind but im finding that when I try to offer all welding as a mobile guy I have to carry an unbelievable amount of gear. To date ive done all the usual adverts online and in papers and get a varity of work, most tig stuff and a ouple arc but im going to run into the issue one day of not having power onsite and having not a big enough generator to run the tig/plasma/mig. The lincoln only came out with 120vDC so its next to useless for powering anything except a 4' grinder and I have no intention of spending thousands at this stage on 12kva generator nor would I have room for it. How do you guys power your equipment (other than the diesel powered arc welders)? And does most of your welding businesses work revolve around the arc?Cheers Adrian
Reply:I'm not in the pro welding business, but I'd suspect that if you want to get "in the car," you'll have to pony up and get the necessary equipment.  To me, that means investing in a big engine driven welder that can power all of your needs.  Maybe a suitcase mig to attach to the engine drive would be a big step forward.   To start a business that provides a service, most people have to get loans and invest in the equipment, no matter what type of service they start up.  Mechanics, plumbers, electricians, welders etc.... all must invest in order to bring in the money....  Without investing in the necessary equipment, I don't see how the pro "mobile" (or fixed base shop) welder would do it any other way.Lincoln Power Mig 216Lincoln AC/DC-225/125Miller  625 X-Treme PlasmaMiller 211 Forney 95FI-A 301HF 91110Victor Journeyman O/PMilwaukee DaytonMakita  Baileigh NRA Life Member
Reply:When we do mobile MIG or TIG work we'll either bring along the Bobcat 250 to use as a generator or bring the 6500 watt standalone generator. We also have about 100' of heavy extension cord and adapters to plug into spider boxes or to tie directly into a panel.
Reply:you can often get roughly 200 amps welding power using inverters if you got a generator that puts out 240 volts at 30 amps.i have done welding at a friends house by taking less than 5 minutes to remove plug from 50 foot extension cord and wiring up to 30 amp breaker being used by a drier in basement electrical panel and extension cord going out basement window..when i was done i put the plug back on extension cord. it is not rocket science. go spend $10,000 in equipment if you do not want to learn basic electrical wiring.i got $200 HF tig welder that puts out 145 amps stick 165 amps tig at 40% duty cycle. can pickup one handed easy. about the size of a lunch box or toaster. uses 24 amps on 240 volts at full power which is enough to run 1/8 7018 rodLast edited by WNY_TomB; 01-27-2016 at 11:20 AM.
Reply:In the type of mobil work I do. The multi process welder is invaluable.  I do not do days on end of the same thing. Most jobs are done in one or 2 days and I find I need versatility. I purchased a used Trailbazer 302 EFI with 16hrs on it. I paid $3400 for it and it is great having the versatility and it is small. I have it in my truck bed and have my other tools in an enclosed trailer. Some parts of the country you will do a lot of the same thing and a stick welder might be the heart of that work. For me it is not. Stick welding is reserved for either a small job or one that it is the proven go to process. Like pipe welding, I do not do pipe welding for the most part. I might do a drain line or some other none pressure pipe welds but it is very rare. Now other mobile rigs that might be their bread and butter. I have never had a big call for it myself and usuallyif someone needs pipe welding they either go to a large contractor or someone who specializes in that type of welding. I have no problem giving those jobs away. My nich is  small to medium businesses. I do not advertise because I do not want the home owner work. I have done it in the past and no matter what you charge its too much.  Small to medium food service is a good gig, if you are mechanically inclined small industry like saw mills is good. Heavy equipment repair is good. I found that most jobs require some machining so I have been moving in that direction and am doing more work at home in my shop. If you have an industrial background you will find that the small guys have no clue how stuff is done. Most of my jobs they think I am houdine but in reality I am just using tried and true industrial repair procedures and processes. I do not really like mobil work but do it to complete jobs.
Reply:structural steel welding i used 99.999% stick welding with 7018 and 6010. especially if doing outside work.used mostly 3/32, 1/8 and occasionally 5/32 rod
Reply:A generator and electric multiprocress unit will go a long way and accomplish much work. You just need to decide what you want to do.  You'd do well find an appropriate sized generator to drive the tools you already have. I don't know what will drive a electric air compressor.  I use a 5k peak output 4500 continuous Honda. Stick is my goto process in the field.  Simple , durable , no fuss and quick.  Tig for inside. The  However, I never need more than 150 amps and use a Genny and 150amp esab stick/tig.
Reply:Originally Posted by tapwelderA generator and electric multiprocress unit will go a long way and accomplish much work. You just need to decide what you want to do.  You'd do well find an appropriate sized generator to drive the tools you already have. I don't know what will drive a electric air compressor.  I use a 5k peak output 4500 continuous Honda. Stick is my goto process in the field.  Simple , durable , no fuss and quick.  Tig for inside. The  However, I never need more than 150 amps and use a Genny and 150amp esab stick/tig.
Reply:Im not in mobile welding, but the site im on wedo use engine drive welder as mobile generators, lincoln vantage 575's, vantage 580's and miller big blue 600's, all have 15 amp, 240 volt outlets, i can run 200 amps DC TIG on a maxstar 200 off of the 580's and big blue's, and about 150 amps stick
Reply:i tried to give a air compressor to my brother. he asks how many amps it uses .then he ask what is it for. i say run a air drill or grinder. he says you want to run a 5 hp compressor that cannot keep up with a air drill or grinder when you can buy a electric drill that is only 1/2 hp.basically a lot of stuff if pretty energy inefficient. i am kind of surprised they dont sell generator with battery and inverter so when battery charged the generator can be shutoff. glad i do not have to pay generator gas bill every week. .almost always cheaper to plug in a welder even if you need 200 feet of extension cord
Reply:We do a little mobile work, use a Bobcat (when it's working, and if we find we're short on leads, we take along our ESAB 161 and a good extension cord. Most of our work is mig and some tig, but that's all done at our shop. Mobile is tough business for some, I did it for years  when I first started, but nothing like the comfort of a shop full of tools that you don't have to root through a truck to find.
Reply:Thanks thegary, I appreciate your advice on the types of jobs you do! I very much agree with you in regards to not wanting to do home owner stuff.. Ive had a few of those jobs and every one wants to bust my nuts on price.
Reply:Thanks all for the other responses, I really appreciate your help with my cross roads choice. My TIG is a multi purpose 200amp unit, the MIG is a 175 CIGWELD unit and plasma is a 60amp and realistically the only thing that wont be able to be run with a generator as draws up to 55amps at 220V but I have an oxy kit so no stress (Ive even had the shop breaker flick off each time I go above 30amp cutting). SuperArc - Majority of equipment I have that I saved for, taking out a mega loan to compete with the big boys isn't the way I want to do it, is rather save an increase my equipment along the way. I cant stand debt I think I need to save up for a generator by the sounds of it. Id like to update the arv to a Vantage or something similar but out of the price range right now so might go for a generator around the 10kva and store it on the trailer. Cheers guys