Got me a new rig..

[gman47564]

Gregg i can throw my caldwell portable bench right in the back and shoot off it.. ?

[gman47564]

Mini truck can be armed and dangerous!!!

[LeadHammer]

Looks good, was expecting a turret though lol.

[gman47564]

Rainy ole day here today so i decided to fabricate a front bumper for the mini.. built it out of 2 inch square tubing .. the little truck had this little tow hook mounted to each side of the frame.  So i took them off and fabricated brackets that would bolt in their place.. quiet a chore getting the holes all layed out on the brackets im here to tell ya.. lol  but it turned out good.. will let it weather a little then paint it black..

[gman47564]

Tinkered around a little after work with the front bumper on the mini.. bout got it where i want it.. got to get me a winch for the front and will have to fabricate a mounting bracket for it.. still need to put a couple hooks on there also.. i hadnt built anything like this for a long time.. i do enjoy welding and building things out of steel.. once i finish the front i will start on the rear bumper.. will put a reese hitch on the back..

[MJeff23]

The front end kinda looks like an grimacing face emoji--I'm gonna run over your a$$ emoji...love it

[gman47564]

And shes got a back bumper and a hitch now..

Other than painting the bumpers the mini truck is where i want it.. cool little rig!!

[autoxforfun]

Good to see you are really enjoying the new ride.  You do nice work.  It is fun to get the welder out and burn some steel.  You need to setup a Powder Coating oven.....you could make them look good and very durable.

[gman47564]

Thanks bob.. i used 6011 rods and wish i had used 7018 rods as i can lay a better looking bead down with them.. but the welds look good enough and i know they will hold.. a powder coating oven would be cool but i will let them oxidize a little then clean them up and paint them with some high heat stove pipe black paint.. it should last a long time.. i still got to get a couple tow hooks to put on the front bumper..

[autoxforfun]

Thanks bob.. i used 6011 rods and wish i had used 7018 rods as i can lay a better looking bead down with them.. but the welds look good enough and i know they will hold.. a powder coating oven would be cool but i will let them oxidize a little then clean them up and paint them with some high heat stove pipe black paint.. it should last a long time.. i still got to get a couple tow hooks to put on the front bumper..

 I remember those days of stick welding before I got a MIG...now the old stick welder sees very little duty.  The MIG will spoil you....you need one !!

[MJeff23]

I'm a MIG only....especially on the thin stuff.  Welding is an art--weld pattern and heat rings makes a pretty picture.

[LeadHammer]

I do stick, mig and tig. Welding is and can be very complicated, depending on the application. Had to tig an aluminum sign post for a buddy the other day, it had been ran over and it broke off the base. I just hobby weld nowadays, way more fun making projects like bumpers and such.

[autoxforfun]

MIG will take care of almost anything you may need.  I've welded steel, alum and stainless with mine.  I do have a TIG for when I need to get pretty but the MIG is the goto machine.

[LeadHammer]

MIG will take care of almost anything you may need.  I've welded steel, alum and stainless with mine.  I do have a TIG for when I need to get pretty but the MIG is the goto machine.

I agree, mig is faster, ( welded a metric crapload worth of wire ) a bit less strong than stick but that can be worked around. I have also mig welded lots of aluminum with a dedicated push/pull Miller inverter. ( old job ) Worked good but I still would overheated the gun and get drag and eventually burn back. Drive me nuts lol. At least work paid for the contact tips.
The worst part of tig is the cleanliness needed to weld anything, stick is like... what paint?....lol.

[Philbie]

Mig works well in a shop/controlled environment and is a clean weld.  In a field environment Flux core dominates, messier dealing with slag but handles breezy conditions without the need of an inert gas.

Nice looking toy Grant.  Saw one on a recent fishing trip while driving thru the Twin Cities (if it had had a FOR SALE sign I might have stopped).