Picked up a Kwik-Way Loader for my 522xi

[Vinylguy 4,674]

Should be on their way to Wisconsin tomorrow Andrew.
cant wait to see the finished project.

[Snowmobileaddict 403]

Those look so COOL!!!

Many many thanks!

[Snowmobileaddict 403]

Ran out over lunch today to the big ORANGE hardware store and picked up some electrical parts.  Nema 6-50 outlet and cover plate, 4" box,  3/4" EMT, and three short runs of #6.  I think I already have a QO breaker at home for this.  Just have to pick up my father-in-laws SP 175 Lincoln.  Its a smaller 220v wire feed, but it will get the job done here.

Coming soon to a garage near me...welder power:

 

Edited July 1, 2017 by Snowmobileaddict

[WNYPCRepair 1,921]

Yep, even my 110v Lincoln will do 1/4" with flux core, so you should be fine
 

[Snowmobileaddict 403]

Got out of "painting mode" for a while, the diagonal braces are done along with the hard lines.  The uprights and the main frame are all that are left to do surface prep to.  It took some doing to get my shop cleaned up and get things put away so there's enough room to work around a removed 52" mower deck, a loader frame, bucket, and 2 snowmobiles.  I also got the trailer out and put away and got the 50amp welder outlet installed.  I think I'm going to need to pick up some kind of welding table to work with.  Harbor Freight has a cheapy table on sale right now that actually gets some good press.  I might have to look into one of those.  Otherwise, I think I'm about ready now for some fab time.  Checklist: Welder, grinder, auto darken helmet, chipping hammer and brush, clamps, gauntlet leather gloves.  The table should be the last item I need.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 1, 2017 by Snowmobileaddict

[WNYPCRepair 1,921]

I bought one of those tables. I don't have anything to compare to, but it seems to work fine. Folds up for storage too

 

[Snowmobileaddict 403]

49 minutes ago, WNYPCRepair said:

I bought one of those tables. I don't have anything to compare to, but it seems to work fine. Folds up for storage too

 

I'll have to try to stop by HF next week Tuesday on my way home.  These one not too far off my route home.

 

I think I'll be able to pick up the welder tomorrow morning.  Might be able to start fitting a couple of pieces of steel tomorrow night.  That is if I want to work on the concrete floor.

[WNYPCRepair 1,921]

3 hours ago, Snowmobileaddict said:

I'll have to try to stop by HF next week Tuesday on my way home.  These one not too far off my route home.

 

I think I'll be able to pick up the welder tomorrow morning.  Might be able to start fitting a couple of pieces of steel tomorrow night.  That is if I want to work on the concrete floor.

I was working on my plywood work bench, but got tired of it catching on fire.  

[Snowmobileaddict 403]

Just about ready to lay down some beads.  Made it to my in-laws this morning.  Man, these welders are heavy to move around.  It's about a 150' walk from my house to my outbuilding.

 

 

Edited July 1, 2017 by Snowmobileaddict

[Snowmobileaddict 403]

Dug out a couple pieces of scrap 1/4" plate last night and did a few test beads in an attempt to dial in wire speed and voltage settings.  The bottom bead is the last one and I believe is in the sweet spot for wire speed and voltage.

 

This is 0.030" Flux core wire so there is some chicken **** to scrape/grind/brush off but, I think it will work out fine in the end.  I'll spend a bit more time practicing before I take to my laser cut stock.  I don't want them looking too ugly.  Oh well, its heavy material and it going on a tractor not a hotrod or a chopper.  With that in mind, I really only get a chance to weld maybe 1-2x per year on very small projects.  So don't be too tuff on the weld quality of this shade-tree fab effort!!! 

 

   

Edited July 1, 2017 by Snowmobileaddict

[Snowmobileaddict 403]

I got around to welding up the front diagonal brace brackets tonight.  Although the strength of the work is probably fine, the look, I think is pretty embarrassing.... The flux core spatter has my work looking like Satan's butthole.

 

I'm only going to show two shots here and I'm glad these little brackets aren't very visible.  I'll hit them up with some black paint and they'll blend right in.  Lots of goofy angles and nooks and crannies on these.  Still have to weld the eyelets on the top of this one.  The rest of the subframe should be easier to weld up.  Easier to see the work and all right angles with fillet welds.  Hopefully they will look nicer.  I might buy some of that anti-spatter spray to try too. 

 

I'll stick with my day job and leave the pretty welding to the pros.

 

 

Edited July 1, 2017 by Snowmobileaddict

[WNYPCRepair 1,921]

If you are an experienced welder and know all this, my apologies.


Does your father in law use gas? If so, did you reverse the leads? You have to swap them internally if you switch from gas to flux. 

 

 

 

Spatter Matters

Another common MIG welding problem-spatter-occurs when the weld puddle expels molten metal and scatters it along the weld bead; this molten metal then cools and forms a solid mass on the workpiece. Excessive spatter not only creates a poor weld appearance, but it can also lead to incomplete fusion in multiple welding pass applications.

Spatter can be produced if the wire is fed too quickly, the voltage setting is too high, or the wire extends too far. Adjusting these parameters will help.

Like porosity, insufficient shielding gas and dirty base materials can also cause spatter. As necessary, increase the flow of shielding gas at the regulator and minimize drafts near the welding arc. Clean and dry the welding wire, and remove all grease, dirt and other contaminants from the base metal. 

Other factors that can cause spatter include: the wrong size contact tip, a worn contact tip or the wrong tip-to-nozzle recess. Be certain you have the right contact tips, nozzles and recess parameters for the application.

[JPWH 6,091]

I'm like you I don't get near enough welding time consistently. And I have never been one to do pretty welds anyway. I noticed the heat transfer on the angled brace. After you tack into position if you will start at the edge and work toward the corner your heat will remain more constant.

This works well for me anyway.

As said above you may have the polarity reversed causing excessive splatter.

Just don't ask me why that splatter looks familiar.

Edited November 24, 2015 by Hank01

[Snowmobileaddict 403]

Thanks for the notes and for not being too brutal on fella...

 

The machine is set up for flux core (electrode negative, positive ground clamp).  I have the voltage tap set according to the chart on the inside of the welder for quarter inch mild steel (second tap from MAX) and the wire speed set within 1/2 of one step from the chart suggestion as well.  I'm at 2.5 and the chart indicated 2.  I'll try dialing that back to 2 and see what I get.  Also perhaps I'll try removing the gas shield nozzle too.  I have read many folks remove that if using flux core.  That might help me keep a smaller electrode stick out and arc length. 

 

The fillet welds on backside of the bracket look somewhat better.  They actually resemble a small stack of coins knocked over but still a lot of spatter BB's. 

 

I'll keep at it and hopefully the look will improve 

Edited November 24, 2015 by Snowmobileaddict

[WNYPCRepair 1,921]

Mine came with a different nozzle for flux core

 

[Snowmobileaddict 403]

Focusing mostly on all things loader and subframe related, I've sort of neglected counter weight for when this project is complete.

 

The 5xi loader manual indicates that 280lbs is required as counter weight.  Rather build a ballast box from scratch, I figured out a way to get a dual-use ballast box solution.  I have a Quiet Collector Leaf Vac for my 522xi and that vacuum, came with a heavy duty rear quick attach mounting bracket that looks something like an upside down 3 pt hitch.  A couple years ago I welded up a custom receiver hitch that bolts onto the rear vac mounting bracket with (4) 3/8" bolts.  When I do fall cleanup, I just remove the receiver hitch.  Here is a photo of the tractor with the hitch and without:

 

 

 

 

I plan on using one of these 500# rated cargo racks to hold as many cinder blocks as I can fit.  

 

 

 

That might be as few a (6) 8" x 16" cinder blocks at 28 pounds each.  So that gets me to 168 pounds, and the cargo rack itself weights 32 pounds.  If I can't find convenient sized heavier construction blocks, that just leaves me with 80 extra pounds to come up with to meet the counterweight requirement.  That may be made up with a  set of 55# wheel weights if the price is right. 

 

When the cargo rack isn't on the tractor its available to use on our van for trips to my in-laws cabin in central Wi.  That's a win-win.

Edited July 1, 2017 by Snowmobileaddict

[PaulC 341]

I have that exact cargo rack and its great, even better I got it on sale for 40 bucks! I don't know how they sell some of the stuff they do at the prices they do. I can get material that we have in stock at work for free and at that price it still didn't make sense for me to spend my time to make one.

 

I think that's a good easy solution for you the only thing I want to mention is that its pretty wide on the back of the tractor. I made myself a 2" receiver hitch for my tractor and have used the rack on it and it sticks out quite a bit on the sides. If your conscious of it being there and always paying attention itll be fine but if you get into any tighter spaces and are really focusing on what your doing with your loader I think there is potential of whacking into something with that rack. Im sure you have considered this but still thought I should mention it. You obviously have some fab skills so maybe think about cutting the width of the rack down to slightly less then the width of the tractor and put sides on it? Or, I know a guy who is a member here that has a loader on a 312 and his weight box is pretty much just a sheet metal box that he put some concrete in.

 

[JPWH 6,091]

You could use 4x8x16 solid CMU for more weight.

[Snowmobileaddict 403]

I thought about the width.  The cargo rack is 52" wide, so overall its narrower than my 52" cutting deck. The tractor is 40.5" wide, so just under 6" sticking out beyond each rear tire won't bother me too much.  Who knows, if I hate the cargo rack, maybe I'll be motivated to build a copy of the stock ballast box.  I'll have to see how I like it.  I thought of building something to hold weight lifting weights but the people selling out exercise equipment on craigslist here in my area are nuts with what they want for the stuff. 

[WNYPCRepair 1,921]

2 hours ago, Snowmobileaddict said:

Focusing mostly on all things loader and subframe related, I've sort of neglected counter weight for when this project is complete.

 

The 5xi loader manual indicates that 280lbs is required as counter weight.  Rather build a ballast box from scratch, I figured out a way to get a dual-use ballast box solution.  I have a Quiet Collector Leaf Vac for my 522xi and that vacuum, came with a heavy duty rear quick attach mounting bracket that looks something like an upside down 3 pt hitch.  A couple years ago I welded up a custom receiver hitch that bolts onto the rear vac mounting bracket with (4) 3/8" bolts.  When I do fall cleanup, I just remove the receiver hitch.  Here is a photo of the tractor with the hitch and without:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I plan on using one of these 500# rated cargo racks to hold as many cinder blocks as I can fit.  

 

 

That might be as few a (6) 8" x 16" cinder blocks at 28 pounds each.  So that gets me to 168 pounds, and the cargo rack itself weights 32 pounds.  If I can't find convenient sized heavier construction blocks, that just leaves me with 80 extra pounds to come up with to meet the counterweight requirement.  That may be made up with a  set of 55# wheel weights if the price is right. 

 

When the cargo rack isn't on the tractor its available to use on our van for trips to my in-laws cabin in central Wi.  That's a win-win.

Use 8x8x16 solid blocks @ 47 lbs each, or 12x8x16 @ 61 lbs each. 

[Snowmobileaddict 403]

1 hour ago, WNYPCRepair said:

Use 8x8x16 solid blocks @ 47 lbs each, or 12x8x16 @ 61 lbs each. 

Solid 8 X 8 X 16

 

I didn't know they came solid!

 

Thats great.  6 of those and I'm golden.

Thanks!

[WNYPCRepair 1,921]

1 hour ago, Snowmobileaddict said:

Solid 8 X 8 X 16

 

I didn't know they came solid!

 

Thats great.  6 of those and I'm golden.

Thanks!

 I built many walls from both sizes.

 

Edited November 25, 2015 by WNYPCRepair

[Snowmobileaddict 403]

Thank the lord!  I'm getting better at this and the look is improving.  This is the pump carrier that will key into the front kwik attach.  I still need to get the 13/16" round stock for pegs and the 2" angle iron that goes across below the pegs.  That's what the pump fastens to.

 

 

Edited July 1, 2017 by Snowmobileaddict

[roadapples 6,983]

Welding like a pro now. I`m not much with a welder but I`m good with a grinder. Just takes a little longer.

[doc724 925]

Hi Andy

 

I am using 6 JD 40# suitcase weights and 2 50# wheel weights for counter weights.  Works fine.  My neighbor, watching me using the loader quipped, "if you want more weight, take a 40# bag of salt pellets and just lay them across the JD weights"  (we have really hard well water here).  That also works pretty good as the bag of pellets will conform to the weights.