Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello! I've got a crazy life (who doesn't) and years ago we bought an old farmhouse with 5 rough acres, which I tried to tame with a little '66 Cub Cadet 123 (didn't work, but killed the mower.) Last year we had a fire, and now we're building a new house in a better location on the lot (not right next to the road.) Since the house is farther back, behind it will be just brush, weeds, trees, and thicket, so I bought a tractor to tame our land for real (finally), a '72 Massey Ferguson 135 diesel, and got a flail mower for it at an auction. Well, that got me watching auctions, and I soon got an old Airco Dip-Pak 250 mig welder for a "good price" (we'll see if it even works once I get it home.) So I've been watching welding videos, and got onto the Welding Tips and Tricks site, and here I am.

I figure with my tight budget, any implements I buy for the tractor will need repair, and there are many that need improvements anyway, so a welder is money well spent. I do have a flux-core Lincoln machine, too, which I've only used once (got that real cheap on eBay because it wouldn't feed wire, which I fixed by pulling out a knot of wire between the gun connection and the wire feeder.)

Until the house is built, and then the barn/shop, I don't have anyplace to use a welder, so I'm just in reading and watching mode. The house burned on November 1st, and even today, the house just sits vacant and boarded up, and waiting on permits and zoning meetings, grrr. It seems like this will take forever.

I've never been a believer in gambling, but it turns out I like gambling on sight-unseen welders! The first bet paid off (the Lincoln Weld-Pak 125HD "Nascar".) Hopefully my winning streak continues with the old Airco, which is basically the same machine as the ESAB Migmaster 250, well-known for being an excellent, reliable machine. Up until recently, ESAB was still making this machine (in improved form) in the Migmaster 275, but now they've moved to something new in the 280, which is made in Poland instead of the USA, and is an untested new design (with, for example, single drive roller rather than dual drive.) As for the old one I'm getting, time will tell if it has any life left in it.

I'm still waiting on all these items (the tractor, the mower, and the welder.) I should hear this week about the tractor (can't pick up until the seller's new tractor arrives) and I pick up the mower on Tuesday. The welder, I have to wait for my invoice, then pay, then arrange pickup.

Until then, more reading, and watching.

Scott in Brighton NY (for now)

Welcome! I hope your luck with welders holds.

From your story- the old house is waiting on permits and zoning... for demolition? Or the new build is waiting on permits and zoning?

Welcome to the forum.

In NY State, it's probably permits for both!

They have complicated processes for seemingly simple things. I'd not be surprised to see "remediation" requirements for the demolition.

Welcome, Scott!

Steve S

After the house burned, the barn collapsed, and the house and barn demolition are on one permit- must both be done in the same month - which we're not ready to do on the barn just yet, because we will have to have insurance involved, to reimburse us for our contents losses in the barn - we can't do that now because the insurance won't allow us to enter the barn. So only while it's being demolished will they go over the contents with us. Crazy.

The biggest problem we have is that when we bought the house in 1999, we had 5.1 acres. Since the fire, we have learned that sometime in 2003 (without any notification) the state increased their right-of-way at the road, which reduced the acreage on our tax records to 4.9 acres. Well, 5.1 is big enough to build a barn, but now we have to get a variance to build a barn. And I WANT A BARN. Just like I HAD A BARN. Frustrating. If we didn't have kids in school, that are just doing GREAT because of programs and teachers in those schools, we'd be out of here (to someplace a lot warmer, and with less government intrusion into life!) And don't get me started about taxes. Unless you're in Massachusetts (or maybe New Jersey) you can't talk about high taxes to me. One house we looked at the annual property taxes were $10,000! The rental house we're in while the house is vacant - $12,000! That's more than my mortgage was!! We had been paying about $3700 a year, but I expect that will go up when we have a "new" house - grrrr!

Sorry, I'm starting to vent a little! Back to welding! I sent an email about my auction welder, still waiting for an invoice. The seller can still reject my "winning" bid. The auction company says this is because they find that when you allow a seller to set a reserve price, they often set it too high. Instead, this auction company gives sellers the option to reject sales after the fact - because they've learned that they get more sales from sellers who decide to accept something lower than they thought they'd be willing to go. Sort of like when someone sets a reserve too high on eBay, then watching the bidding that never gets high enough, they reconsider and lower their reserve price.

The reason I like this auction company is because they do a lot of government auctions. When an auction is for a company or individual, there's someone who's own money is at stake. With government stuff, nobody is going to pocket this money, so nobody really had much of a stake in how much things sell for. This welder is for sale by a public works department of a small city. So odds are they'll approve it, but who knows. I'm hopeful.

Scott in Brighton NY