backhoe from scratch and scrap

[Crusarius]

My goto rods have always been the 6011 and 7018. But now that I have my Miller 251 the stick barely gets used. I have been threatening  to get it back out and see if I can still weld with it.

Gasman, thats where you come in

[sandhills]

I have a buzz box and a small mig that'll only go to 140, I like it but use the stick for heavier stuff, the thing I don't like about the mig is "I" can't see around the nozzle in a lot of spots I weld in where as with a stick I can but I do prefer the wire.  6011 is my go to rod, I use 7018 on hard stuff also.

[grouch]

I see I'm not alone in my 'go to' rods choice of 6011 and 7018.

Y'all are gonna cringe at the ridiculous looking MIG welds coming up in the next set of photos. I really struggled trying to get decent penetration on 1/4 inch steel with that HF machine set to max. Grinder disk manufacturers love me.

sandhills,
I have that same problem with visibility. That nozzle is a lot fatter than a rod. (That's my excuse and I'm stick-ing to it).

[grouch]

Controls pedestal.


Takes a lot of stuff to hold things in alignment while cobbling.


It's a skeleton of wood, clamps and steel. Each piece is there to trap the pedestal legs in the place and angle I want them to stand.


The pedestal leg -- the thing that will hold the controls at a convenient height -- is the rusty chunk of 1/4 x 2 inch square tubing coming down from upper right in the photo. The piece of wood is there to make that leg flush with the outside of the main frame. The big nut laying on a scrap of 1 inch steel, just below center of the photo, was just right for spacing the leg back from the stabilizer bracket. You use what you got.


Closer view of the big nut being used as a spacer. That gap gives me a chance to weld in there.


Front face of the pedestal leg. Mark is the cut line for the compound angle needed at the lower end.


Rear face. Not much of a cut line.


Inside face with cut line marked.


Couldn't cut that compound angle on the HF bandsaw, that's why the hacksaw with the rusty blade is there.


That extra shiney place along the cut line  is where I tried to use the Sawzall. Back to the hacksaw.


I cut a little bit on each side, rotating the piece and deepening each cut about the same amount.


About to break through one corner. As each cut was deepened, it acted as a guide.


Eventually the job was reduced to connecting the corners.


The bandsaw did provide a convenient table and clamp for hacksawing.


It was not as long and tedious as anticipated. Went pretty quick and it cleaned the rust off my hacksaw blade.


Looks ok to me.


Doesn't have to fit that rounded edge.


Good fit on the main frame.


It's trapped between the 2 pieces of white steel tubing and clamped to the piece of wood. The piece of white tubing it's clamped to makes sure the rearward face of each pedestal leg is in the same plane.


View of the conglomeration from the rear.

I should explain the black appearance of parts of the boom, dipper, etc. This project did not fit in my garage. Most of the time, it was left out in the weather. I found some black, slimey, "Coastal Moly EP" grease that mostly ignored the extremes of Kentucky weather. Every place I smeared that stuff stayed rust free through season after season. It's worse than anti-seize about getting all over everything, but it was great for keeping all those DOM tubes and weld beads pristine.

[btulloh]

I didn't think anything was worse than anti-seize for getting on everything.  I learn something new on here every day.

Nice work.

[grouch]

Thanks btulloh.

Trying to wipe that stuff off your hands will smear it further. Even Fast Orange takes a while to get it to let go. It protected those parts through rain storms, 100F temps, sub-freezing temps, wind and snow. I went through one little tub of it through the whole project.

[grouch]

Controls pedestal continued.


This shows how the pedestal leg was marked for cutting. It leans toward the operator and toward the centerline of the tractor, so a compound angle needs to be cut at the base to make it flat against the main frame of the backhoe.
The clamp shown holds a piece of scrap flat bar against the side of the main frame and the pedestal leg is pushed against it. An old utility knife blade laying on another piece of scrap steel is slid along to scratch a line in the leg.


The cutting procedure was shown previously.


Back in place; view from inside looking outward.


Just like the other pedestal leg.


Both legs clamped in place for test fit. That temporary framework allows pulling each leg out for work by just loosening 2 clamps. The stack valve assembly is even easier to pull out and put back exactly in the same position.


Grinding is a necessary evil.


More evil grinding in preparation for welding.


Bevelled for deeper penetration.


Could've been bevelled deeper there.


Typically globby start for me. Didn't trust my MIG abilities for this, so it's 7018.


Some undercut present.


Looks like about 3 passes, but I don't remember.

[grouch]

Control valves mount.


When last shown, this thing was tacked together. I used that MIG squirt gun all over it. Determined to learn that process and this was the least critical thing to learn on.


Not terrible.


The machine I used says it can do up to 1/4 inch thick steel. It will do so if there's no wind, clean steel, a welder who knows what he or she is doing and has successful MIG welding experience, and the tide is high in Borneo. I blame Borneo and you can't prove otherwise.


This is not an example of good welding.


Wire brushing it doesn't improve it all that much.


See my little inspector with the big eyes? No help.


Underside, brushed.


Back in position.


Operator's view.


Ugh. No closeups!


That short vertical plate on the controls' mount needs to be attached to that leaning leg.

[grouch]

Controls and pedestal, continued.


Some slices of angle used to connect the controls to the pedestal.


Other side.


Let the squirt gun begin.


This is not the worst of it.


How would you like to see this apparition floating in the darkness in your garage?


A new art form is born -- Gruesome MIG.


Tacks are not as scary.


But under the right care, they grow up to be scary.


A grinder is the only cure.




Bolted in and not falling off.


Reachable. That's also a good feature.


The last of the holes have to be plugged so wasps don't take over the controls.


That's the last of MIG on this project.

[Ox]

Borneo made me chuckle. 

Is that MIG welder flux core only?   

The way I do vertical is to keep spot welding, laying the next one over the last so it looks like a row of nickles.  Haven't wore out the solenoid in my welder yet and it's over 10 years old.  Maybe you can try that next time and see what you think.  I have never been able to run a constant bead vertically.  It'll just run and sag and glob up.  I'm sure there's a perfect setting or something but I've never been taught or been to school and am self taught.  Self taught only goes so far.

[gasman1075]

Crusarius,

That is very kind of you too offer. I am in Stephentown NY on the Mass / NY border close to VT. 40 minutes east of Albany.

Thanks Jack

[grouch]

Borneo made me chuckle. 

Is that MIG welder flux core only?   

All of this was done with MIG (Metal Inert Gas). The gas I use is 75% CO2 / 25% Argon. The machine came with a roll of flux core wire, but I used that up making a mess on a lawn mower deck. I need to get another roll so I can practice even when the wind blows. It's pretty obvious I need the practice.

The way I do vertical is to keep spot welding, laying the next one over the last so it looks like a row of nickles.  Haven't wore out the solenoid in my welder yet and it's over 10 years old.  Maybe you can try that next time and see what you think.  I have never been able to run a constant bead vertically.  It'll just run and sag and glob up.  I'm sure there's a perfect setting or something but I've never been taught or been to school and am self taught.  Self taught only goes so far.

The only time I've had acceptable fusion of parts using successive, overlapping tacks is when welding sheet metal -- under 1/8 inch thick. Anything else just looks like it's welded and I can knock it back apart with a hammer. Since my vertical-up welding with stick is globby, it's not a surprise my MIG is even worse.

[21incher]

Welder says up to 1/4 inch means it only has power for a good weld on 3/16. So many of the small mig machines are overrated.  This has been a great thread to follow.  I think your next build should be a cnc plasma table to allow you to save time and tooling on builds like this. Things it used to take me hours to machine can be cut in a couple minutes with no destroyed tooling.  I wonder what your electric bill looked like with those miles of weld. Thanks for sharing.   

[grouch]

21incher,

I suspect you're right on the overrating. It does a decent job on 3/16 and under without going so slow that it builds up.

A CNC table would be fantastic, but that's out of my league -- too much I'd have to learn just to start planning!

It helps to spread the welding out so no one electric bill raises alarms. Even those that did were easily explained, "You have to remember we had some really [hot, cold] days back at the start of that bill."  ;D

[Ljohnsaw]

It helps to spread the welding out so no one electric bill raises alarms. Even those that did were easily explained, "You have to remember we had some really [hot, cold] days back at the start of that bill."  ;D

I was doing a LOT of welding one month - like 15 lbs of stick.  I have a HIGH electric rate and I figured I was spent about $20 extra that month.  WAY cheaper then doing Oxy-Acet!

[grouch]

Bucket.


An aluminum yardstick is handy for drawing big circles and arcs. I drilled holes where needed. That's a piece of 3/16 inch thick panelling being used for drawing a pattern.


Had to drag out some old drafting tools for part of this. My CAD drawing is there in the lower right of the photo.


This has nothing to do with the backhoe; it's a drafting set from the '70s.


Checking various ways to cut that pattern out of 3/8 inch thick plate.


Ready to cut out one side of the bucket. The pattern is undersized by 3/16 inch -- that's how much my plasma cutter's kerf is offset from the edge of its nozzle at this pattern's thickness.


Both bucket sides cut out, leaving a football-shaped hole in my plate.


A little better view of the parts and slag. Those homemade tongs are extremely handy. If I hadn't found them, I'd have to make some.


The back of the bucket and the front edge are also made from the 3/8 inch plate.


Just can't get away from grinding, its noise and its dust.


Back, front, and sides laid out and ready for assembly.

[Kbeitz]

This projects going to be Heavy...

[Crusarius]

Hey grouch. anytime I use my plasma I had to stop grinding to take the slag off. slag kills stones and is hard on everything else.

I have a few different ways to remove the slag.
1. slag hammer - slow painful and accuracy of the hit is important.
2. Needle scaler - much better than the slag hammer but sometimes does not get all the slag off. may be the cheap needle scaler.
3. I made a 4" wide blade for my air hammer - works just like a slag hammer but much easier to hit the slag with poor accuracy.

If I do need to do any cleanup after knocking the slag off I use a soft pad. Very similar to flapdisk but lasts 200 times longer.

[grouch]

Crusarius,

The grinding was for weld preparation -- getting that rust off. All the slag from the plasma cutter was easily knocked off with the chipping hammer.

I use a needle scaler for removing welding slag. It's especially handy for 6011 slag.

[Ox]

A needle scaler is one of those tools that are indispensable for several things yet many folks don't know they exist. 

Has anybody seen an electric one?

[grouch]

I wore out a pneumatic one. Never seen an electric needle scaler.

[grouch]

Bucket.


Sides tacked together with 3/8 inch rebar as spacers. Front edge welded in place.


It resembles a bucket at least.
(Yes, Kbeitz, it was already getting heavy at this point).


Front edge to side panel weld. 1/8 inch 7018 rod. Not too bad; a little cold maybe.


Ugh. This is why I have a basket on top of my AC/DC welder just to hold grinders. No way to look at something like that and say, "That's good enough".


Back is on.


Bucket is 16 inches wide, outside to outside, and the main curves of the sides are 19 inch radius. (Will try to post dimensioned drawings at the end of all this).


The rest of the bucket comes from the 3/16 inch thick stuff cut off the front bucket during the bucket buttectomy a few pages back.


A propane weedburner, a railroad rail 'anvil', and a gentle persuader used to make the curve match the bucket sides better.


Tacking and clamping to finish persuading the 3/16 inch thick steel to conform.

[grouch]

Bucket.


Closer view of tacks used to get that panel to match the sides.


Working it in, tack by tack.


That corner is out by about the thickness of the steel -- 3/16 inch.


Almost looks like rivets. Almost, that is.


More complete view of the clamp used to pull that last bit into place.


Bottom is flush with the sides. Note the vise grips and strip of 3/8 steel used to make sure I didn't pull that thing off the table onto my toes while clamping, beating and tacking.


Heavy tacks, but I didn't want it springing back out.


Closer view of the corner fit to front.


Center, where the 3/16 inch bottom is tacked to the 3/8 inch front.


Other corner at front.


4th corner tacked.

[Crusarius]

you did not add any taper to the back of the bucket? How does the dirt come out when you are digging. All of the buckets I am aware of are narrower in the back than the front. This helps the material come out easier. Also makes digging easier not dragging the entire side of the bucket along the dirt.

[grouch]

you did not add any taper to the back of the bucket? How does the dirt come out when you are digging. All of the buckets I am aware of are narrower in the back than the front. This helps the material come out easier. Also makes digging easier not dragging the entire side of the bucket along the dirt.

No taper. I made this bucket as near a copy as I could to the Terex linked 'way back near the start of this thread. It looked a bit odd to me, too, but I took a leap of faith that they had excavating experience to back up the design. So far, it has been very nice to work with.

The pivot and the radius of the sides (and therefore, the bottom) make this thing just ease through material. It acts more like an ice cream scoop whereas the buckets I've used before act more like a tablespoon held backwards in your fist or a paddle.