[homeboy]

I am building a bolt on hitch attachment for a farm disk to pull another implement behind. The draw bar section is 21/2 X 21/2in 1/4in square tubing and the hitch is 3/4 X 3in flat, drilled for the draw pin. As the tubing has quite a rounded corner profile and the hitch plate is 1/2in wider I have lots of meat to weld on. Question is I have 2 welders, a 180 Lincoln on Flux Core and a 250 Mig using hard wire and Tri Mix, both .035 Lincoln wire. The Lincoln 180 I can run at max amps while the mig according to the chart is maxed with .035 at 24V and 350 ipm. I am lost on the conversion to compare which would be the best bet keeping in mind that Flux core is said to generally have better penetration. I have used flux core for years with good success but pretty new on mig and having done some polish and etching am not real confident on mig yet with something like this hitch which will take a bit of a beating. Also should the 3/4in hitch plate be pre-heated prior to welding to the draw bar tube? Any advice would be appreciated.

[cj737]

Clean it with a flap disk, and Flux Core it would be my decision. With the extra width available for the 3/4", I'd run 2-3 passes if there's room just as an added measure. Nothing worse than breaking a weld on a farm towing a heavy load, because you know it will happen right when you're out of time and "up against it".

[homeboy]

Clean it with a flap disk, and Flux Core it would be my decision. With the extra width available for the 3/4", I'd run 2-3 passes if there's room just as an added measure. Nothing worse than breaking a weld on a farm towing a heavy load, because you know it will happen right when you're out of time and "up against it".

-Breaking is embarrassing!! 1/2in material is usually the max that I play with, thus the questioning. There's lots of room for an initial and 2 cover passes and Flux Core it will be. Thanks for the input.

[nomoreusmc]

I don't know if you have a stick machine but seems to be a good application for 7018, but if you are limited by wire feeder only my knee jerk reaction would be dual shield flux. Blue demon makes it in .035 on11lbs spools. I have run ALOT of it and it's very ductile. It's my go to for higher vibration and shock load items.

Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

[homeboy]

I don't know if you have a stick machine but seems to be a good application for 7018, but if you are limited by wire feeder only my knee jerk reaction would be dual shield flux. Blue demon makes it in .035 on11lbs spools. I have run ALOT of it and it's very ductile. It's my go to for higher vibration and shock load items.

Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

When I got the mig a year ago I was sold on dual shield but at the time in Canada couldn't find it in less than 33# rolls. Being a hobbyist it was too big and would require some type of reel holder be made anyways. Now I see Amazon.ca has the 11# rolls of Blue Demon very reasonable, but a problem. My Mig has a 15ft lead and I tried Flux Core but it seems to be too flexible to feed properly while the hard wire mig is fine. This was discussed in an earlier post and it seems I'am not the first with this issue and 12ft seems to be the max with a push type drive. I have a spare 10ft lead that came with the machine but
hate too lose the 15ft with the extra reach for some of the stuff I do. Stick would be good but I sold mine long ago.

[nomoreusmc]

I don't know if you have a stick machine but seems to be a good application for 7018, but if you are limited by wire feeder only my knee jerk reaction would be dual shield flux. Blue demon makes it in .035 on11lbs spools. I have run ALOT of it and it's very ductile. It's my go to for higher vibration and shock load items.

Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

When I got the mig a year ago I was sold on dual shield but at the time in Canada couldn't find it in less than 33# rolls. Being a hobbyist it was too big and would require some type of reel holder be made anyways. Now I see Amazon.ca has the 11# rolls of Blue Demon very reasonable, but a problem. My Mig has a 15ft lead and I tried Flux Core but it seems to be too flexible to feed properly while the hard wire mig is fine. This was discussed in an earlier post and it seems I'am not the first with this issue and 12ft seems to be the max with a push type drive. I have a spare 10ft lead that came with the machine but
hate too lose the 15ft with the extra reach for some of the stuff I do. Stick would be good but I sold mine long ago.

If I where you I would try it. The stuff I get is stiffer than hardwire, and it adds a lot of capacity for the wire feeder. It's 7018 for the mig. It just bites way more. Even in short circuit. And metal deposition rates of near as fast as possible... Just do yourself a favor and spend the 30$ and get a small spool and try it. At least 3/4 in stickout, 35 cfh, and drag.

Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

[homeboy]

I don't know if you have a stick machine but seems to be a good application for 7018, but if you are limited by wire feeder only my knee jerk reaction would be dual shield flux. Blue demon makes it in .035 on11lbs spools. I have run ALOT of it and it's very ductile. It's my go to for higher vibration and shock load items.

Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

When I got the mig a year ago I was sold on dual shield but at the time in Canada couldn't find it in less than 33# rolls. Being a hobbyist it was too big and would require some type of reel holder be made anyways. Now I see Amazon.ca has the 11# rolls of Blue Demon very reasonable, but a problem. My Mig has a 15ft lead and I tried Flux Core but it seems to be too flexible to feed properly while the hard wire mig is fine. This was discussed in an earlier post and it seems I'am not the first with this issue and 12ft seems to be the max with a push type drive. I have a spare 10ft lead that came with the machine but
hate too lose the 15ft with the extra reach for some of the stuff I do. Stick would be good but I sold mine long ago.

If I where you I would try it. The stuff I get is stiffer than hardwire, and it adds a lot of capacity for the wire feeder. It's 7018 for the mig. It just bites way more. Even in short circuit. And metal deposition rates of near as fast as possible... Just do yourself a favor and spend the 30$ and get a small spool and try it. At least 3/4 in stickout, 35 cfh, and drag.

Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

If it's stiffer than Flux Core it's worth a try. I'll order a roll and give it a shot. Thanks for your advice.

[cj737]

Dual Shield is a great process, but not appreciably better than straight Flux Core. It will produce a prettier weld, so when the final appearance matters, and you have suitable conditions (no excessive breeze or rain) Dual Shield is a great choice. I have not found it to be any stronger than regular Flux Core or 7018, but, I do find I need to run much higher heat with it. So, to each their own.

[homeboy]

Dual Shield is a great process, but not appreciably better than straight Flux Core. It will produce a prettier weld, so when the final appearance matters, and you have suitable conditions (no excessive breeze or rain) Dual Shield is a great choice. I have not found it to be any stronger than regular Flux Core or 7018, but, I do find I need to run much higher heat with it. So, to each their own.

The main reason I bought the 250 was for a much higher duty cycle ( 60% at 250A) than the Lincoln 180 ( 20% at 180A) intending to use Flux Core. Rebuilding a loader bucket for my brother seemed to take forever with the Lincoln with all the cool down cycles. Pretty much anything I do is inside so conditions aren't an issue. Blue Demon is on order and i'll keep you posted how I make out. Thanx for the info.

[homeboy]

Dual Shield is a great process, but not appreciably better than straight Flux Core. It will produce a prettier weld, so when the final appearance matters, and you have suitable conditions (no excessive breeze or rain) Dual Shield is a great choice. I have not found it to be any stronger than regular Flux Core or 7018, but, I do find I need to run much higher heat with it. So, to each their own.

The main reason I bought the 250 was for a much higher duty cycle ( 60% at 250A) than the Lincoln 180 ( 20% at 180A) intending to use Flux Core. Rebuilding a loader bucket for my brother seemed to take forever with the Lincoln with all the cool down cycles. Pretty much anything I do is inside so conditions aren't an issue. Blue Demon is on order and i'll keep you posted how I make out. Thanx for the info.

The Blue Demon Dual Shield arrived to- day and I have done some test welds on 3/8 base and 5/16 vertical, horizontal "T" joints with each process ( Flux Core, Dual Shield, Mig) alternating side by side, maxed out for my welders to see what happens and compare. Cut and etched each piece and oddly enough my 180 Lincoln on Flux Core initially did as good or best for penetration. The Dual Shield feeds on the 15ft lead, no problem and runs really smooth. I am going to play around with the Dual Shield wire speeds etc. to see what that does. Haven't tried vertical or overhead yet. Pretty amazing to see the flux almost drop off on it's own. Thanks all for the excellent advice and as luck would have it I can apparently only just lately be able to buy the 11lb wire rolls in Canada at a reasonable price.

[homeboy]

So far I have been pretty much going by the chart for my settings, "max for .035" and took a cut and etc sample up to the local fab shop for their opinions on the dual shield on flat/ horizontal T joints. He said to crank up the voltage and wire speed. went to about 29v and 450 ipm and what a difference, just a hiss and go. Never actually experienced spray transfer before so took a minute to figure whats happening! It seems to kick in at about 27v. How high can you go with .035 dual shield? Trying vertical up on 1/8 "T" joints and not getting it yet with the chart settings, not good penetration and lots of spatter. I never did really master it anyways, just vertical down with Flux Core. Did a couple at 27v and 350 ipm real fast vertical down with 1/8 and did a break test. The welds never let go but the weld itself started to crack at about 45%. The weld is concave so I may try a second pass to get more depth. Better catch on quick because my scrap piles done and I'am into to my shorts rack! The gas is a "Tri-Mix " of CO2, AR and O2, The local shop doesn't have the spec's on hand.