which is stronger

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I'm making a trailer for my bobcat and the structure on which it will sit will be two by two by one quarter square tubing.  I've made butt joints and bevel joints and never really thought about this til now but, which is stronger?  A bevel joint has more welded area than a butt joint but does that make it a stronger connection?
Reply:Originally Posted by WillieBI'm making a trailer for my bobcat and the structure on which it will sit will be two by two by one quarter square tubing.  I've made butt joints and bevel joints and never really thought about this til now but, which is stronger?  A bevel joint has more welded area than a butt joint but does that make it a stronger connection?
Reply:Thanks, Zap, I was just about to start sawing.  Glad I checked back.
Reply:You mean a mitered corner versus a plain butted corner, both made with square tubing?Bevel refers to the prep of the edge of the material to be welded.  So you could bevel prep the edge/end of the square tubing for a mitered corner or for a butted corner.  The mitered corner would have a butt joint to weld the two pieces of tube together, and that butt joint would have the tube edges beveled.  The butted corner would have a fillet weld to join the end of one tube to the face of the other tube, and the end of the tube would have its edges beveled.The mitered corner will be closed in by the welding, while the butted corner will still have an open end on one tube.Which is stronger?  It depends.  For some loading conditions, the butted corner joint will be stronger because there is the additional vertical material in the joint area.  For other loading conditions, the mitered corner will be stronger because the mitered welded edge is longer than the butted welded edge and thus has more weld length to handle the load.
Reply:Run the main frame rails full length and cap. Crossmembers get butt welded after you chamfer each end of them. Makes a good solid joint.
Reply:2 x 2 x 1/4 is great to work with.  If you want extra support in the corners, cut some short pieces on a 45*.  Put em in the corners.  Looks beautiful and adds a lot of strength to the corner.   /=\  DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:When you say structure are you saying that the main rails from the tounge to the rear ramp? Or are talking about the cross sills? If you are talking about the frame rails I would suggest you look at different material.... at least a rectanglular tube vs. square. What size is the machine? The wieght depending on the model will be about 4000 lbs at the min.... that's for a small machine._________________Chris