WELDERS....what does it take to weld a MT family kit? (1 Viewer)

[alex e]

Been on this project since 06. Yes I'm slow. But my costs are at a minimum considering the post 07 market for parts, etc. Slow deer season means I have time. Usually I'm in the woods from Oct-1 thru January. That's why I always miss Roundup. Spent Oct '11 through Oct '12 chasing and killing feral hogs mostly so deer are kinda.....meh, right now.

Well I have a boy human coming 1-19. Motivated to hop on it and finish!

Full family cage, all options, getting crazy estimates for an install. I could ship the 40 to MT have them do it and ship back for the prices I am seeing.

Hell, I could buy a nice Lincoln MIG welder and learn to do it myself for half the cost proposals I have.

Forget about who I am talking to, and focus on the time it should take to tack, and finish it.....not including paint/powder coating.

Trying to get a fair deal.

 

[Fast Eddy]

Notching, measuring, fitting, rechecking and final weld. It's a big job. It took my dude about 12 hours or so just to do the front. I'd say 16-18 hours? Probably only half of that to do the 2nd one.

 

[Mopdog]

My rule on welding is if the welded piece is the difference in me or someone else living or dying, a pro is going to do it. A cage falls in that category. A local shop here quoted me $700 to weld one up or $300 if I notched it and tacked it together. I thought that seemed reasonable considering the amount of work there is there.

 

[albee]

I cut, fit and tack welded mine, it took me a few evenings after work. Then paid a welder less then $100 to finish it.

 

[alex e]

Why didn't I just buy the assembled cage? WHY?!!!!!

Albee that's what I want to do. That way I learn something.

 

[Pierps]

I'm no professional welder... but I wouldn't expect a MIG welder in the price range you're talking about to be powerful enough to weld one of these cages. Not without beveling the edges and taking multiple passes at least...

Definitely have a pro do it. If you don't want the expense, one option to consider is selling your kit and buying a prebuilt cage from MT. I've read on this forum that the shipping cost isn't much worse for the prebuilt cage than it is for the kit. Depending on how much you paid for the MT cage in 2007, you might be able to sell it without taking a loss based on some discount from today's prices.

Obviously if you're doing the frame tie-ins, you have no choice but to have that welded locally.

 

[toomanytoyzz]

Yeah, purchasing a welder can be an invaluable tool for the garage, but buying one and having your first task being a rollcage is aiming sorta high if you ask me. Not saying it can't be done, but I'd leave it to an experienced welder especially if time is the issue. I'm sure a local member on the site with welding ability would be willing to help you out.

 

[alex e]

Still cheaper to get my own and tack it then have someone bat clean up. Notching can be figured out as I have time and a chop saw.

 

[nelsonjm624]

Gmaw is the easiest form IMHO, just get one w/ gas hook ups for your co2/argon bottle and start practicing. I've learned through the USCG and one of the most valuable trades to learn, just takes patience and watch a few videos on technique and apply it. If your curious if its good do a dye penetrant test. Just my two cents

 

[bikersmurf]

There are knotting tools to speed the process... and an angle grinder.

I've been really happy with my small stick welder for most stuff, and I'd use it to tack together a cage after doing the notching myself. (If I had the time and money)

 

[bikersmurf]

There will be some choices on bar positioning, fit, etc. I'd not want someone else making those choices for me.

 

[mwalls54]

I use my small 120v lincoln mig to weld everything with. It just takes a little longer. The welder gets hot pretty quick when burning in thick metal.

 

[Stumpalama]

Welded mine using a lincoln SP135+ welder. Single passes and it was inspected by my professional welder friend and was given a thumbs up. I trust it to keep me safe.

 

[toomanytoyzz]

I use my small 120v lincoln mig to weld everything with. It just takes a little longer. The welder gets hot pretty quick when burning in thick metal.

I wouldn't use any 120V mig to weld in a .120 wall DOM tube cage you hope to help save your life in case of a roll. You will not get proper penetration using anything smaller than a 220V machine.

Welded mine using a lincoln SP135+ welder. Single passes and it was inspected by my professional welder friend and was given a thumbs up. I trust it to keep me safe.

Unless your welder friend cut one or more of the welded pieces on a saw to inspect the weld he's not going to be able to give you a thumbs up going by a pretty "looking" weld especially on a cage. There's a couple more variables involved in a proper weld. 110 machines just do not put out the amps that a 220v unit does which is key in welding. I own two 110v units (lincoln SP100 and Millermatic 130) which I love, but they are only for sheetmetal or at the most 1/8th" steel.

 

[alex e]

I have 220 in my garage just never bought a welder....

 

[Pierps]

^agreed.

The only technique I've heard of that could work is if you have a butt joint and you bevel the edges of both pieces so that the intersection of the pieces is thin (say 1/8"). Then your first pass will penetrate adequately. Then you can lay up another 2 or 3 passes and you're good.

Problem is that most of the joints in a roll cage will only allow you to bevel one of the two pieces. Thus I really can't see how you can get adequate penetration.

I'm a total novice welder, so please don't go crazy on me. This is just based on my research and a weekend welding course I took.

 

[Mopdog]

If you are going to notch it yourself Pipe Master makes some tube coping gauges that are pretty slick. I got some a while a back. They are probably most beneficial for an amatuer like myself but really made the project I was working on much easier.

 

[Pumpkin Troopy]

TIG is way nicer to use than a MIG.. IMO

If the cage is your first attempt I suggest getting some grinding disks.. to clean up the welds.

You will have way more fun doing it yourself.. Welding is a valuable skill to have ..

 

[Tools R Us]

^agreed.

The only technique I've heard of that could work is if you have a butt joint and you bevel the edges of both pieces so that the intersection of the pieces is thin (say 1/8"). ...

How do you bevel .120 wall tube (most roll cage material) down to 1/8"?

Most "good" 110V welders, used correctly, are fully capable of welding .120 wall. I have welded tons of it, some raced off road with zero failures.

 

[mwalls54]

I wouldn't use any 120V mig to weld in a .120 wall DOM tube cage you hope to help save your life in case of a roll. You will not get proper penetration using anything smaller than a 220V machine.


Unless your welder friend cut one or more of the welded pieces on a saw to inspect the weld he's not going to be able to give you a thumbs up going by a pretty "looking" weld especially on a cage. There's a couple more variables involved in a proper weld. 110 machines just do not put out the amps that a 220v unit does which is key in welding. I own two 110v units (lincoln SP100 and Millermatic 130) which I love, but they are only for sheetmetal or at the most 1/8th" steel.

I have cut quite a few of my welds when changing stuff up and I have always had full penetration on 1/4" thick steel. I have never had a weld fail since I started using it 10 years ago.