New to the Army and welding/ one of my first projects

admin

Soon after arriving here in Iraq wasn't sure if I would remember alot of what I learned in AIT, but to my surprise quite a bit did stick. Here is a trailer I made for my Miller TB302. I still have to add the OXY/ACE. But here are some of the pictures. Very proud of building this. The only bad thing is it has no suspension all I had to work with was hmmvee geared hubs and tires. geared hubs mounted wheel wellsMiller mountedI have never welded up until a year ago, and am enjoy the trade. I hope to learn alot from this forum and feed back is welcomed.PFC Reyes.
Reply:Those welds on the first picture look very weak. You might want to redo those. Over all it looks pretty robust, I'm liking the tires. God bless you and the other troops.
Reply:Originally Posted by llamafurThose welds on the first picture look very weak. You might want to redo those. Over all it looks pretty robust, I'm liking the tires. God bless you and the other troops.
Reply:Yeah when I realized that I not very good with 7018 on the vertical I switch to the 6011 and got better results. I went over all the welds with the 6011 just to be on the safe side. Don't want to lose my miller. BTW that's not me in the photos.
Reply:Did you just weld over them? or did you grind the prev weld out first? because if you just welded over there will be a big chance that alot of slag will be trapped into the weld and that isnt any good. (talking about hte welds in the first picture)
Reply:so aside from the welds...I gotta ask...why didn't you just build everything off of an M105A3 or an M200 or something.  Wouldn't it have been a bit simpler to just grab a spare trailer and build the mounts for the TB and the leads and such?--Wintermute"No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience." - John Lockewww.improvised-engineering.comManufacturer Agnostic:Blood----------Sweat---------Tears----|------------------|----------------|----Lincoln Red, Miller Blue, Esab Yellow
Reply:Originally Posted by ThurstanDid you just weld over them? or did you grind the prev weld out first? because if you just welded over there will be a big chance that alot of slag will be trapped into the weld and that isnt any good. (talking about hte welds in the first picture)
Reply:Originally Posted by wintermuteso aside from the welds...I gotta ask...why didn't you just build everything off of an M105A3 or an M200 or something.  Wouldn't it have been a bit simpler to just grab a spare trailer and build the mounts for the TB and the leads and such?--Wintermute
Reply:Ahh, gottit .I'd recommend going back and grinding those welds out and re-doing them.  Just welding over the top isn't going to fix the problem, just cover it up.  I would also guess that the roads aren't great and those HMMWV knuckles are pretty heavy and with the 37" tires on there, you are going to be putting a heck of a lot of stress on those mounts.--Wintermute"No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience." - John Lockewww.improvised-engineering.comManufacturer Agnostic:Blood----------Sweat---------Tears----|------------------|----------------|----Lincoln Red, Miller Blue, Esab Yellow
Reply:Originally Posted by wintermuteAhh, gottit .I'd recommend going back and grinding those welds out and re-doing them.  Just welding over the top isn't going to fix the problem, just cover it up.  I would also guess that the roads aren't great and those HMMWV knuckles are pretty heavy and with the 37" tires on there, you are going to be putting a heck of a lot of stress on those mounts.--Wintermute
Reply:No problem .  Stay safe out there and thank you for your service...I appreciate it and so do all of my family.--Wintermute"No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience." - John Lockewww.improvised-engineering.comManufacturer Agnostic:Blood----------Sweat---------Tears----|------------------|----------------|----Lincoln Red, Miller Blue, Esab Yellow
Reply:Try a 7014, It's good welding rod and easy to run.  It's good for sheet metal.
Reply:You are already 100 times ahead of the 1950s era pile of crap I had to work with when I was there in 2004
Reply:Hello cafecubanoThank you for your service.Nice work. The fit-up looks good. Doesn’t look like there were too many “gaps” to fill.Practice with the 7018. Run 1/8” rod in the flat position till they tell you that you can’t use anymore. Then switch to 3/32” and run vert. up and overhead. Once you get good with that rod you will use it for just about everything.Do you have a suitcase feeder setup too? Looks like a voltage sensing clamp on the back of the trailer frame in the second pic.Will
Reply:I dont know much about that machine, but make sure you are welding  yur rods at the right polarity aswel. if its ac the polarity doesnt matter but if its DC youll need to put yur torch on the + for basic electrodes and put yur torch on the - for Rutiel electrodes. it affects yur welds alot
Reply:Originally Posted by cafecubanoI'm on a very small FOB my resources are limited. Trust me I asked, before taking on this task, if there was any other way. But now I'm glad that I took it on and am more aware of what I have to work on and have a better understanding of what different rods will do. i really like the 6011.