Anything welding

How many passes 4??

 

Yes sir.

 

OK, finally getting around to posting one of my other garden tractor welding projects. This was the first welding I had done in 7 years after changing careers. Was learning flux core in a new Miller 135 110V after MIG welding for 20yrs. Forgive some of the not so pretty welds.

Garden tractors (GTs) are heavy duty mowers designed to plow and pull heavy stuff. The one here is 1000lbs and shaft drive so quite a bit heavier duty than a 500-600lb lawn tractor. GTs use a 1-pt sleeve hitch vs a 3-pt hitch on a tractor. The other GT with the loader I posted has hydraulics, this one does not have an auxiliary hydraulic circuit so implements have to be electric.

Goal was to have ability to use the GT in 4 ways: 2" Receiver hitch mount, tongue mount, winch, and sleeve hitch, all easily broken down with clevis pins.

Most of the iron is salvaged from a pickup bumper hitch.

First thing I did was build a receiver hitch mount out of an ATV receiver hitch. Flipped it upside down, drilled and tapped a 5/8" hole in the bottom, cut the head off a bolt and screwed it in, then plug welded it in so it was flush inside the hitch. The flat bar mount is the license plate mount from the truck hitch I cut in the middle and welded back together to fit the width of the GT rear frame.

Next was the winch mount. I flipped a 2" drop receiver hitch upside down, welded heavy wall galvanized fence post to it and welded a winch mount on top of it. Initially it was straight but I didn't like the angle of pull on the winch cable so I sliced the pipe, pulled it down at a 45deg angle, and welded in a wedge to angle it down. Gusseted stress areas.


Next was the lift arms. They are the 5/8" thick crossbody of the hitch I salvaged the iron from. Perfectly bent for this project lol. Sleeve hitches use a single 5/8" pin for mounting the implements so I welded and gusseted in a piece of 5/8" ID pipe. The bolts keep the implement from moving side to side and jam into the hitch. Included sleeve hitch to pin mount adapter(I cut them out of 4" square tubing) so you can see what the implement hitch looks like.




First the receiver hitch goes on with the bolt thru the GT hitch, (1) 1/2" bolt on either side of the GT frame, and (2) 1/2" clevis pins which the hitch will pivot on. The receiver hitch will fit any truck hitch and the tongue sticking out will allow any tow pin stuff to pull like a garden dump trailer.

Next up, the winch just slides in the reciever hitch and can be used w/o the lift arms if so desired. Winch is a $50 HF ATV winch with remote control (keyring)

Last, the lift arms which will lift any standard GT sleeve hitch implements.

https://youtu.be/sOCywqEQxrg
What do I do with it you might ask? I pull a box blade to grade my driveway, plow, use it as a forklift with a sleeve hitch fork set I built of of barb wire T-posts and scrap pipe, pull my cart etc. It will lift ~400lbs before the front of the tractor is bouncing--need some front weights lol.

 

I agree, I think it’s really cool and try and snap candid pics for those around me. Sometimes those are the best

 

when you guys are bending tubes for projects. Do you just shoot from the hip or do you use some type of software to draw up your parts and measure etc.

 

Not a helpful response.

I'm more of a trial and error type. I do need to learn the programs that help with this type of question. Materials can add up fast and severely cut into your profit.

 

I made template bends of various angles with a mark on them, so you know where to position it in the bender. Sometimes I draw a full scale drawing on the ground using my sample bends and transfer the marks onto your piece to be bent.

 

Here's a few welds from today. 3/16" plate. I figured I would stitch weld it and take my time so the piece doesn't warp.

 

You can get bendtech software. I hear a lot of guys say it saves time/material.
I'm old fashioned and draw out any custom stuff on the shop floor to scale in soapstone. Then I take measurements from there and bend away. I'm very particular about it though so I know a lot of people wouldn't have the patience for that. If my fabrication gets to the point of being more complex than what I'm building now where every 1/8" counts, then I'll look into the software.
Things like sliders and such are kind of in my head and I can build those without measuring now (unless I'm doing something custom for the customer).

 

Appreciate the info guys. I have never don’t a whole lot of tube work so it new and trying to learn. Most of the time I just jump in and either with cardboard or something. So far I have just tried to draw something close and work off that. Which will probably be the way I continue. Was just curious if software made it easier. I am working on making some template bends to help but so far it has been measure, guess, and bend haha.

 

Maybe once I get somewhat proficient I will jump into the software world. I always tend to learn better doing it first hand.

 

It all comes down to just what your building .

How often do you bend the same thing .

What kind of tolerances do you need to meet total stacked tolerances all these things play into the equation .

The most critical is how you were taught.

In my misguided youth CAD was a distant dream .

I was taught Mechanical Drafting the good old Top Front and Right side view.

My Go to is also Paper and pencil or card board or plate steel and Soap stone.

Because that is how I was taught. Most of the youngins might be hard pressed to draw something out .

 

This. Cardboard is your friend if making something with bends and angles.

 

carboard = CAD ( cardboard aided design... right? )

its a toss up I think. Computer programs, or just figuring it out on paper. one of the youtube channels i subscribe to for Fusion 360 CAD stuff recommends to ALWAYS draw it out on paper, THEN put it in CAD.

right now I don't have the scratch to buy the bendtech stuff, but I did make some cheater bends. TFS on youtube has an excellent series on bending basics and covers how to make some cheaters. They've worked out great to know how much material each bend uses, and where to start each bend.

 

Yeah I have watched and learned a good bit from this guys channel, i just need to make some more cheaters to help me out. I downloaded the Fusion 360 and played around on it but I do better with soapstone and a piece of metal haha... Im not old school but everything I know is old school.

 

That's an awesome $49.00 (HF coupon price ) hydraulic system you got there. Great idea.

 

Forgot to take pics before I painted it. But modified the intake tubing for the front of my turbo. The filter will go down into the wheel well now.



Old setup

 

Started on a different brace for someone's BAMF shackle hangars. I actually marked where to start and stop the stitch welds so it looks more uniformed. Lol

 

That looks awesome. You may want to consider adding a tube clamp onto it. Depending on how new their hangers are they most likely have 1 or 4 protruding threaded inserts on each hanger it makes removal and installation a pain once the hangers have been torqued and suspension installed. The first ones I made didn’t have them and it required a rather large pry bar to install and remove. I use camburg tube adapters. I also mount them as close to center as possible so the crossbars can fit in a smaller box for shipping.

 

Installed the new pipe.

After



Before