For the welders

[JW IN VA]

Can a tubular gate or feed bunk be welded with an AC welder?If so,what amperage do you use?What size rod?Probably need to get a MIG.

 

[Brute 23]

Probably too thin unless it's a better quality than most.

I see people try to weld gate hinges all the time and if they dont burn thru it's a crappy bondo job at best.

 

[JW IN VA]

Not expecting a perfect job but don't want to butcher it up either.Sound like a flux cored MIG needs to be bought.

 

[hurleyjd]

Can a tubular gate or feed bunk be welded with an AC welder?If so,what amperage do you use?What size rod?Probably need to get a MIG.

There are welders on Amazon that will wire feed weld and also stick. Some have pretty good customers reviews. Not very pricey.

 

[Atimm693]

Depends on how thick it is. Much below 1/8 is tough with a stick welder, and many gates are a lot thinner than that.

You can do it with something like a 3/32" 6013 or 6011 at 60-80 amps, but you have to be very careful not to blow a hole, and as Brute said, it usually ends up pretty ugly.

Sorta like using a sledgehammer to pound a finish nail, it will work, just the wrong tool for the job.

 

[callmefence]

Do it all the time. 3/32 6011 at about 75 is what I use.

 

[greybeard]

Keep it moving & don't slow down!

 

[True Grit Farms]

Do it all the time. 3/32 6011 at about 75 is what I use.

I don't do it all the time, but I stick weld conduit on a regular basis. I start and stop according to the puddle.

 

[Redgully]

Do it all the time. 3/32 6011 at about 75 is what I use.

I don't do it all the time, but I stick weld conduit on a regular basis. I start and stop according to the puddle.

That's how I always did it. You can see if too much heat is getting into it. Stop for a while and start again. But now a use flux core mig and can weld anything. I can even weld fencing wire together! I think mig with with gas would be even better but no good if outside.

 

[True Grit Farms]

I've got a welding wire - stick question. Which is cheaper to use flux core wire or a stick?

 

[Atimm693]

I've got a welding wire - stick question. Which is cheaper to use flux core wire or a stick?

A 10lb roll of wire and 10lbs of electrodes are pretty much the same price, but it takes more electrodes to do the same amount of work as flux core.

https://www.esabna.com/euweb/fm_handbook/577fm8_4.htm

However, wire feed leads are usually short and pretty limited. 50ft leads are pretty standard on mobile stick welding rigs, can get to pretty much anywhere, and do more work without have to reposition.

 

[True Grit Farms]

I've got a welding wire - stick question. Which is cheaper to use flux core wire or a stick?

A 10lb roll of wire and 10lbs of electrodes are pretty much the same price, but it takes more electrodes to do the same amount of work as flux core.

https://www.esabna.com/euweb/fm_handbook/577fm8_4.htm

However, wire feed leads are usually short and pretty limited. 50ft leads are pretty standard on mobile stick welding rigs, can get to pretty much anywhere, and do more work without have to reposition.

Thank you.

 

[bird dog]

Also remember that the wind will give you fits with wire welding when considering what you want.

 

[JW IN VA]

Anyone have suggestions for a flux core MIG welder?I'm currently looking at a Hobart 130 or 140 but am open to suggestions in that price range from people with experience.

 

[True Grit Farms]

The larger the better, duty cycles can cause issues when welding on thicker material.

 

[JW IN VA]

A cheap little 110 wire fed welder with flux core will get it done

What do you consider cheap?Not to argue but cheap means different things to different folks.Thanks.

 

[Lucky]

Fence is right on the 6013, it's not a deep penetrating rod and you can "whip it" fairly easy.

Edit.....Fence said 3/32 6011 and that would work fine, I like 3/32 6013 for thinner stuff.

There's a green mig welder out there maybe a Forney brand? I've heard good things about them and they are fairly inexpensive. Flux core wire isn't the easiest thing to weld with but is good if your gonna be outside.

 

[True Grit Farms]

The cheaper Harbor Freight wire feed welders that I tried are scratch start. I don't think you can go wrong with a Hobart welder, Miller owns Hobart and supposedly shares technology.

 

[Atimm693]

Used to run 3/32 6013 almost exclusively on thinner material. Used Forney electrodes in a black plastic sleeve.

Not sure what happened, but they changed the sleeves to red, and they don't weld worth a **** anymore. You just get solid weld on both sides and a puddle of slag in the middle.

I'd do just about anything to get a few black sleeves of those electrodes.

 

[5S Cattle]

Don't have much luck trying to get mig machines to weld rusty material. We have about 10 stick welders and one mig. Mig is nice for new material in the shop. That's it