Finney

Tick bites do that to me.

hillskine, There is actually 3 beads there. Rule of thumb make the weld as wide and tall as the parent metal. See below

The plate mount has a grease zerk. The telescoping pieces have 1/8" plus clearance. Got a little more done today until it got too hot, just can't take it like I used to. Have to go back on boat repairs tomorrow so unload and reload, fun fun.

Yep one of them, he wants 2 more cattle feeding barns when this is finished.

Took my truck to the dealer to get it serviced when we were working in St. Louis. Told them its heavy, they said no problem. While sitting in the waiting room heard a boom. Service manager came out and said we need to talk. Went back to service area, 2 post lift, chain on left side broke. There hung my truck, drivers door about 1" from the post. They had to get a rigging company to get it down.

Got a little more done today. heat wasn't to bad today but they are saying it will be back tomorrow.

Thanks for the kind words. I started welding in 1976, got a job in Elkton KY on a pipeline running a dozer clearing. It was fairly open country and I could get way ahead of the crew and find a shade tree and rest. The superintendent was a retired welder that still drove what he called his welding car. He would come up to where I was and BS for a while everyday. One day he asked if I wanted to learn to weld pipe, I had learned the basics in FFA and thought it would be good to learn pipe welding. So he would come up about everyday with some nipples on his truck and give me lessons. This went on for a couple of months and one day he came up with the main inspector and told me I was gonna test. Passed the test and from then on when I would get ahead he would come and get me and I would use his truck and weld on the line. He was a fine fella but he demanded excellence, no short cuts so I learned from one of the best. I stayed with him until he retired. He passed away a few years ago and I drove his welding car at the head of the funeral procession. Back on work a local factory call with a broken aluminum fixture for a CNC mill. It was 1-1/4" thick aluminum. They had machined out the new piece and bolted and doweled it together. It took a couple of hours to weld. I forgot to put sun screen on under my shirt and almost burned my chest. Started out about 330 amps and finished up at around 180 amps.

First hoop installed. Got the second made and hauled over this afternoon.

If its listing 2-3" and the weight is distributed right it is only going to get worse.

The old pontoons which this was have one piece floats and most will have a 1/2" drain plug in the back end of the float. The newer ones claim 3 sections with a 1/2" plug on the top of each section, But you can put air in the back section and it will come out of the front section. If it is a newer (1990) one I will air all three sections up at the same time to keep from cracking the baffle. I never like to go over 4 psi. I then spray the whole float with soapy water. If any leaks are found then I drill a 1/4" hole in the bottom of each section and to drain the water. After repairs are made I will air it up again to check the repairs and look for more leaks.

mYou have any idea how much HP you are making?? I saw the dyno sheet on the truck motor and it was north of 1,400 out of a 5.9 cummin.

Started on a loading chute today. The end will swivel to meet the truck if they are not square backing in. More pics to come as I get more done.

If he wants me to fix the other side he is going to be waiting a while.

Local Marina called last week. Another pontoon with water in the floats. I went by and drilled them, left one had about ten gallons in it and the right one was half full. The guy had put silicone and tape around the strut to stop the leak, had to burn it off with torch, well it not as bad as JB weld. He wanted a price for the repair, I gave him one and he said its too high. I told him that's fine and started to leave. He then flagged me down and said fix the worst one and he would put more silicone one the other one. Pic#1 you can see the crack at the strut. Pic#2 hole after the strut is cut out of the way. Pic#3 the patch. Pic#4 putting a little air in it to check for leaks. Pic#5 strut replaced.

I build some parts for a couple of pullers around here and its amazes me how much power they can make. If there's a weak point they will find it. The guy that pulls a diesel truck would have to change the rear ring gear and pinion (Dana80) after 3 pulls. Put a 60,000lb Rockwell in and that cured that.