Quickie Panels

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Need to ship some bull calves, and the old corral panels resembled pretzels.  Had to replace the two worst ones.These are 64" high, ten feet long.Uprights, and top and bottom rails, are 2x2 11ga tubingFour center rails are 2x2 14ga tubing.I was going to use the wire welder to join the 14ga middle rails, but I couldn't for the life of me find the sweet spot  So to h### with it, I just used the stick welder on the whole stupid thing(7018).  Faster anyhow.  By keeping the bulk of the heat in the 11ga, and letting it wash the filler onto the 14ga, I was able to make reasonably passable welds.There are two main design mistakes.I was in a hurry, and didn't make legs on the bottom of the panels, but instead just ran a straight piece of tubing.  Waste of material, and added weight.  Not to mention a PITA on uneven ground.And the 11ga is overkill, and OVERWEIGHT  As made, the panel weighs around 185lbs  Future panels will be made entirely of 14ga material, dropping the weight to 130lbsThe best factory made corral panels on the market are made by Powder River, and weigh in at 112lbs.  I'm going to be a little heavier on the redesign, but I'm ok with it.  It's still a one man job to move 130lb panels.El Crapo panels available at Atwoods, and TSC, are made out of 18ga toy metal.  Junk!!!!The two panels took 9 hours start to finish  A world record for me  I am now using a helper when welding some things.  I'm so backed up with crap that I don't have a choice.  Pasture clearing, unfinished manure rake (see it in the background), tree burning, truck repairs, and just discovered needed tractor repairs,  and more that I haven't mentioned.  And my back decided to let me know I'm not a young dude anymore this past week.Always a story..................The guy helping me has been clearing cedars, tearing down old fence, etc. for me.He was excited to get out of the field to work around the shop.  He also thought that welding might be a good career as he's out of work at his regular job (why he's working here).Everything went well for the first few hours.  Mostly fitup of the first panel, and tacking.  Then using the first panel as a template/jig for the second panel, and more tacking.The bubble burst when it was time to move the second panel off the jig, and start welding it up.  All the little pieces had suddenly grown into one big piece  It was the beginning of the end of his love affair. ROFLMAOThe final parting of the ways was having to follow me with the chipping hammer as I welded.  The whacking on the hollow tubing for a few hours gave him a bad headache (I got one too, but expected it).The weather might have had something to do with it too.  Cold and windy, and near sundown both days when finished.  We're dropping into the teens around here right now.  And in all fairness, I probably should have stopped for a lunch break the second day.  The work was spread over the available hours on two days, and on the last day it was do-or-die.  It had to be out the door.  (WHAT DOOR, I AIN'T GOT NO STEENKIN' DOORI'm afraid he might just turn around and run for the front gate on Monday when he sees what's in the back of the pickup.  ROFLMAO.  I decided today, that while I'm at it, it might be a good idea to maybe make a few more corral panels Attached Images"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:You are shy...It's not a quickie - it's full scale excellent job...And looking at those beautiful welds - that's really heavy metal - the cattle desn't have a chance... :-)Still, sorry for that guy... May be he deservs another try?...
Reply:Samm, if I was a dood out of work & you had some around, I'd gladly come work at your place.  I bet your "helper" will be back Monday & not complain about the load either.Any day working is 100x's better than an hour of looking for work.MarkI haven't always been a nurse........Craftsman 12"x36" LatheEnco G-30B MillHobart Handler 175Lincoln WeldandPower 225 AC/DC G-7 CV/CCAdd a Foot Pedal to a Harbor Freight Chicago Electric 165A DC TIG PapaLion's Gate Build
Reply:Looks good Samm!   Good idea on stacking them to speed up production.MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:Could you bend up some strap in a "U" to use for feet on the bottom. Couple on each panel? Not like they have to be Rembrandts or anything, just a chunk of iron to go in the mud and cow pucky.
Reply:Lookin' good Samm, Next time you can tell your helper what I tell my crew... Lunch is for pu$$ies.
Reply:Originally Posted by SandyCould you bend up some strap in a "U" to use for feet on the bottom. Couple on each panel? Not like they have to be Rembrandts or anything, just a chunk of iron to go in the mud and cow pucky.
Reply:Are you shipping Buffalo bulls?  The first two panels are always ball busters. The next 100 are quite easy.  Weld a few tabs on the first and drop your pieces in weld the top and flip to finish.
Reply:Originally Posted by burnandreturnAre you shipping Buffalo bulls?  The first two panels are always ball busters. The next 100 are quite easy.  Weld a few tabs on the first and drop your pieces in weld the top and flip to finish.
Reply:I think I'll do that.  Got enough material for 6 more of these things"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:still have to clamp them thoughThe real PITA is tacking on the fillet joints, constantly moving from side to side to keep the pull even.  Tacking on the top flat butts would cause too much pull on the same side of the panel, then flipping it on top of the tacks would make for an uneven surface because of the tacks, and wouldn't allow me to clamp it down again to finish weld, or tack the opposite butt joint.  Planning for distortion be a solid gold plated PITAIf you notice, the second panel being fitted while laying on top of the first panel, is tacked at the inside fillets, not on the flat butts.  Once fully tacked I flip the thing to weld the butts and don't have to clamp it, just lay it down and go to town.The slow part of the process is the finish welding.Last edited by farmersamm; 12-06-2009 at 09:46 AM.Reason: last 2 paragraphs"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:What kind of wire feed do you have thats so terrible? This job is just screaming to be done with a wire feed and .030 soilid wire. Even .035 dialed in just right. Wind blowing? I just put on my winter carhart jacket that hangs open like a tent when its not zipped up and put myself between the wind and the work.
Reply:Lookin' good. And they shouldn't ever look like that example you showed of how the feet look.
Reply:Tacking in the vertical joints will allow you to flip it over without interference but if you have enough horses you can set up to weld out a tacked up panel with the buzzbox while Ron is fitting and tacking up the next one (clamped to the pattern) with the Ranger and wire feeder.MM200 w/Spoolmatic 1Syncrowave 180SDBobcat 225G Plus - LP/NGMUTT Suitcase WirefeederWC-1S/Spoolmatic 1HF-251D-1PakMaster 100XL '68 Red Face Code #6633 projectStar Jet 21-110Save Second Base!
Reply:Originally Posted by farmersammstill have to clamp them thoughThe real PITA is tacking on the fillet joints, constantly moving from side to side to keep the pull even.  Tacking on the top flat butts would cause too much pull on the same side of the panel, then flipping it on top of the tacks would make for an uneven surface because of the tacks, and wouldn't allow me to clamp it down again to finish weld, or tack the opposite butt joint.  Planning for distortion be a solid gold plated PITAIf you notice, the second panel being fitted while laying on top of the first panel, is tacked at the inside fillets, not on the flat butts.  Once fully tacked I flip the thing to weld the butts and don't have to clamp it, just lay it down and go to town. . . .
Reply:I have built hundreds of panels.  All we did was take a couple of heavy duty saw horses and weld on some simple pipe within a pipe bushing type thing.  The first panel we welded one of the pipes in the middle on the ends.  then stuck those inside the pipes welded on the saw horses.  Sort of like a chasis cradle.  drop in your pieces tack in place turn it tack the other side where you could get to and then flip it back and weld it up.  We didn't have any noticeable distortion.  We ended up making a jig that was sort of stair stepped with the ability to drop in pieces for five panels at a time. In this way we could make five panels at a time.  With two welders working at once.  The jig was fast and easy to build.  There was a Wal-Mart that got remoldeled into a Home Depot and we got all the fire sprinkler pipe out of the whole Wal-Mart for free.  They even took it out.  We took off all the fittings and sold them and actually made money on the whole thing and built a 150 by 300 foot roping arena basically for free.  Even factoring in our labor.
Reply:Well, as usual, the stuff took longer to make than anticipated.  Cold days were the worst hangup.  Finish welding took way longer than I figured it would.  There's 9 1/2 feet of weld on each panel.Paint prep took about as usual.  Snails pace.  Could have the things sandblasted, but it would cost about the same as hiring a helper to do it.  Guy I have now has been working here for a bit, and he's a good hand.  I'd rather see him get the money.  It's a boring noisy dirty job but he made them shineFinal phase was hinge installation.  1/4 plate seems to stretch the little machine, but it seemed to hold its own.  As usual, you have to decrease stickout as the welder heats up.  I usually ignore duty cycle and weld until the job is finished, and I do see a decrease in power output as the machine gets toasty(it never tripped the internal breaker though).  Just about burying the gun in the puddle seems to keep the heat output satisfactory at this point.  If I had some .035 rollers for the LN-25 I would have used it on the hinges(got the wire, but never got around to ordering the rollers, all I have is .045 rollers).  Order time is too long to wait.All welding on the entire project was done with some sort of generic wire  I call it "Blue Magoo"  Lincoln doesn't supply .030 NR-211MP in 10lb rollsTHE PAINT SHOP IS NOW OPEN FOR BUSINESS Attached Images"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Oh yeah, almost forgot....................Perimeter containment panels, and round tub with sorting gates are nextThis is a complete remake of my inadequate working facilities.Figure to get it done now while my aging bod can still stand up to the work"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Nice Samm. I didn't realize you had the LN-25 from your post on baling wire. Now we get to see just what all those slots you cut were for!.No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:NICE work panel's look good are you geting the hang of the LN-25
Reply:Originally Posted by DSWNow we get to see just what all those slots you cut were for!
Reply:jsfab, I understood what they were for, but Samm didn't post just what he was making these sloted plates for in his other post when he machined them. He just mentioned he'd say later.So much for keeping the whole build together Samm! .No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan