Generator/welder Question

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the other day i bought a generator/welder. the owners manual said to ground the generator to the vehicle so i did. it doesn't say anything about a earth ground when welding, but it does when i hook it up to the house for external power. should i ground the vehicle when welding for will it matter ?after all the truck does have rubber tires. so what is best to do ?MikeHH210Hobart Champ 10KLincoln Buzz BoxCampbell Hausfeld 115Victor JourneymanMilwaukee 14" Chop Saw7" Chop Saw4/12" horz band sawmetal benderother toys forthcoming.
Reply:When mounted on a truck an earth ground is not needed when welding.  Just ground it to the truck.  Honestly I don't think I have any of my portable grounded to the truck or trailer they are mounted on.   Only need the earth ground when you are Supplying power to a house.I'm a Lover, Fighter, Wild horse Rider, and a pretty good welding man......
Reply:Yeh I think they are worried about having two metallic objects with different touch potentials, one of those (welder/generator) being a power source. Another consideration would be if you might use the metallic body of the truck as a welding table.  Lot of variables you'd have to go through to refute their advice. I think about these things but not seriously enough to come up with a personal opinion. One pet peeve I have is the use of the phrase "grounding" to the vehicle. You're not "grounding" to the vehicle. You are Bonding to the vehicle.
Reply:When running anything off the 120/240 you need to ground to earth.  Get a solid copper rod about 1/2" thick, 2-3' long, some solid copper wire about 1/4"  thick and give a couple good pounds into the ground and you are good to go.It will work without it, but there is a big safety issue when it isn't grounded when running power tools off it.  You can easily become the ground if it isn't earth grounded.
Reply:When using a 120/240 genset to power any device, you must bond (ground) it to Earth to meet OSHA requirements.
Reply:I didn't really address the earth grounding issue. I wouldn't doubt but what osha doesn't spell out some guidelines for grounding gensets and welders. I know other government entities have in the past. However I know it's not a practice you see in the field, if so it's rare. A genset, portable or otherwise,  placed on a construction site to run traffic lighting is one where this does happen. Gen sets that come and go to run tools and equipment, nope. I believe this may be one of those requirements that while it may make scientific sense, it isn't really practicable in real work scenarios. Number one the NEC and NESC spell out what an "effective" ground is. One or two foot in the ground in the summer isn't it. Just as well lean it against a tree. The portion sticking out is probably an OSHA violation of it's own as well as one heck of a liability. An effective ground would be something in the nature of a 5/8" by 8' rod driven into undisturbed soil. That's not gonna happen in the cunstruction world, along side a hiway or anywhere else unless there is an inspector standing there telling you to do it or walk. Many would walk.You going to call for utility locate first .. How about the recovery of the rod, or do you leave it there?