Tow behind padfoot/sheepsfoot compactor

[John Shipp]

I grew up washing dad's DeVilbis JGA's and got promoted to putting on the primer coats, I am still excellent at putting huge runs in topcoat

Dad used to put a "dust" coat on concentrating on the harder to get corners first, but not getting to heavy a coat, then second coat (still not heavy) when 1st still tacky, then third coat to get the gloss. Me, I'd still have paint left in the pot so would go for a fourth, that's when big curtains of runs start rolling down everywhere. Ugh.

When doing full respray, you'll dance back and forth over the least viewed sides, or trickier bits, getting your three coats on, you'll have finished third coat on some of it before the dance takes you to the dust coat on the main parts of the job.

Set you gun up so the trigger doesn't go full bore. Open it up slightly for later coats.

I love painting, even with runs. It means you've done it all, even the scrapers!

Cheers.

 

[ippielb]

 

[ippielb]

 

[Nige]

Those large pivot bolts that you're having all the trouble with "tightness" I would suggest you really need castle nuts secured with a split (cotter) pin, or maybe Nyloc nuts might work.

Re the weld cracking. Could you maybe try preheating the area to somewhere around 150 DegC before you start.?
Another thought. Cut all the welds off and weld the two inside beads first, then you can weld the outside beads with better access. Maybe smaller size beads rather than one large one and hit each one with the needle gun afterwards.?

 

[Welder Dave]

Maybe some Loctite on the big nuts would be a simple solution? You could probably drill a hole in the bolt and make your own castle nut too.
Some preheat would definately help with the welding since you're really pushing the limits of your small Mig machine. Would be best if you could get a bigger welder, even a stick welder to do the highest stress welds but lacking that a good preheat would help to get better penetration. More smaller passes gives a finer grain structure than 1 big pass but having the pieces hot and keeping them hot with 2 or 3 passes will make for a stronger weld. Another thing that helps to stop cracking is to weld from both sides inwards so you don't leave a crater at the edge. Cracks can start easier at the crater.

 

[ippielb]

Those large pivot bolts that you're having all the trouble with "tightness" I would suggest you really need castle nuts secured with a split (cotter) pin, or maybe Nyloc nuts might work.

Re the weld cracking. Could you maybe try preheating the area to somewhere around 150 DegC before you start.?
Another thought. Cut all the welds off and weld the two inside beads first, then you can weld the outside beads with better access. Maybe smaller size beads rather than one large one and hit each one with the needle gun afterwards.?

I dont know if i said it in a previous video, but you are correct. I should drill a hole in each flat of the nuts and then take an angle grinder and cut out the slots, but it's so difficult to cut or drill into $90 nuts haha.

I did not know about the smaller beads being stronger then one larger. But i did take out the torch and heated the area, very warm. Welded it super hot uphill, made a mess, then post heated it. Then did another pass on top of it downhill because im far better downhill them uphill and it made it look a lot better.

Maybe some Loctite on the big nuts would be a simple solution? You could probably drill a hole in the bolt and make your own castle nut too.
Some preheat would definately help with the welding since you're really pushing the limits of your small Mig machine. Would be best if you could get a bigger welder, even a stick welder to do the highest stress welds but lacking that a good preheat would help to get better penetration. More smaller passes gives a finer grain structure than 1 big pass but having the pieces hot and keeping them hot with 2 or 3 passes will make for a stronger weld. Another thing that helps to stop cracking is to weld from both sides inwards so you don't leave a crater at the edge. Cracks can start easier at the crater.

I'm not sure what type of loctite i would need for such large fasteners, i couldn't imagine it being cheap. I agree with making my own castle nuts. That way it would not come loose.

I learnt something new today about multiple smaller passes being stronger. I wish i would've known at the beginning of this project. But i guess if i ever have to do some repairs down the road, or build something else, i am going to be doing the smaller passes.

Also good to know about starting the welds at each end. I always try to stop at the end of my welds and let the material build up to try and get rid of the crater but it doesn't seem to get rid of it completely.

 

[Welder Dave]

They make a Loctite for larger than 3/4" fasteners. Not sure you would have to drill the nuts to make them castle nuts. The slots wouldn't have to go too deep and you could kind of round them with the cutting disc since you'd want a decent sized cotter pin. I wonder if you could put the nuts snug like you want them and just drill hole right through the nut and bolt? The other thing I've seen is to thread the nuts for a set screw. Tighten where you want and then tighten a set screw or 2. If you need to adjust just loosen the set screw.

More beads does give a finer grain structure but you have to put enough heat into the material you're welding. To give an example, you could heat your plates almost red hot but if all you had was a 120 volt Mig welder with .023" wire and did 4 passes good luck on having the welds having the same strength as I good pass with a 3/16" 7018 or dual-shield flux-core at 250 or so amps.

 

[John Shipp]

Could you lose the inside washer completely (the one under the bolt head)? Would give you another quarter inch of thread on the outside to drill cotter pin holes in?

 

[ippielb]

Could you lose the inside washer completely (the one under the bolt head)? Would give you another quarter inch of thread on the outside to drill cotter pin holes in?

That is an option, but with the limited clearance i have between the drum and the bolt head, i have to remove the drums completely to remove the bolt.

What i could actually do is remove the 3/8" thick washer, and replace it with a 1/4" thick washer that goes around the bushing. That way i could tighten the bolt down as tight as i want, because my bushings stick out farther then the cross bars. So it would tighten down on the bushing and there would be no preload on the pivot plates. And with my frame going from front to back it would put the force onto the rear cross bar until it deflects that 1/4" ( from removing the 1/8" of thickness from the front and back thick washers).

 

[John Shipp]

Does your bushing go through all the way then? If it does, that might be worth a try, doing it as you say.

 

[ippielb]

They make a Loctite for larger than 3/4" fasteners. Not sure you would have to drill the nuts to make them castle nuts. The slots wouldn't have to go too deep and you could kind of round them with the cutting disc since you'd want a decent sized cotter pin. I wonder if you could put the nuts snug like you want them and just drill hole right through the nut and bolt? The other thing I've seen is to thread the nuts for a set screw. Tighten where you want and then tighten a set screw or 2. If you need to adjust just loosen the set screw.

More beads does give a finer grain structure but you have to put enough heat into the material you're welding. To give an example, you could heat your plates almost red hot but if all you had was a 120 volt Mig welder with .023" wire and did 4 passes good luck on having the welds having the same strength as I good pass with a 3/16" 7018 or dual-shield flux-core at 250 or so amps.

Well, i had heated up the 3/4" plates quite warm, Then cranked my welder up as hot as it could and welded uphill. It was burning 1/4" into the thick plate and drooping down, but i managed to keep it going and while i worked uphill it would hill the cut.

My welder is hooked up to 230v, and was on #7 which should be 210 amps?

One thing i am having issues with, is the flux core wire is grounding out inside the gun behind the tip so i often have to remove the tip then cut some of the wire off and then put the tip back on.

 

[ippielb]

Does your bushing go through all the way then? If it does, that might be worth a try, doing it as you say.

Yes, there is two separate bushings, one in the cross bar, and the other in the packer frame. 3" OD, 2.52" ID. Then there is the full length bushing that runs all the way through both of those bushings. and i cut it so it would protrude out of the bushings slightly so i could tighten the bolt so it would lock the bushing onto the bolt. But alas, my cross bars were not perfectly straight, and my dimensions are slightly off. Same with how i cut my bushings. My chop saw never cuts perfectly straight.

 

[John Shipp]

Well, if you can shim things or adjust it somehow to pull up tight on your inner long bushing?

On the welder, are you changing the tips often? New ones have less grounding problems, until the first time they do, after which it's a downward spiral of annoyance

 

[ippielb]

Well, if you can shim things or adjust it somehow to pull up tight on your inner long bushing?

On the welder, are you changing the tips often? New ones have less grounding problems, until the first time they do, after which it's a downward spiral of annoyance

I could probably get a few different thicknesses made out to shim it perfectly. That's actually exactly what i'll do. Leave my bolt and nuts intact. And then there wont be any positive pressure on the pivot plates making them easy to pivot. Lessening wear on everything. Good idea.

I don't even want to admit how many tips i've went through, these stupid things arent cheap. I got to the point where i would remove the crap wire, clean the tips as best i could. Then take a toch nozzle cleaning tool and remove the burs from the inside and keep using them. But my issue is the wire shorting out pre tip. inside the part of brass that the tip screws into. "contact tip adapter", come to think of it, that coil that goes inside that may be missing...

 

[ippielb]

 

[Welder Dave]

Do you have the insulator on the nozzle between it and the diffuser? The diffuser is the part the gas comes out and the contact tip goes in.
Looking at the size of the nuts, I think tapping them for a set screw or even a bolt could work good. There's not really any force trying to loosen the nuts. They just can't come loose. It would be easier to do too.

 

[ippielb]

Do you have the insulator on the nozzle between it and the diffuser? The diffuser is the part the gas comes out and the contact tip goes in.

This is a diagram of exactly how my torch looks like. Which one are you talking about?

I have removed A so i could get into tight areas, then accidentally touched C to the work piece and melted the spring washer that holds A on, so i have to buy a new C to be able to put on a new A. I'm starting to wonder if my dad was welding and took D out and didn't put it back in.

 

[Welder Dave]

D is the liner. C is the diffuser. The insulator is the white plastic type material inside the nozzle (A). It stops the nozzle from being electrically hot. If you removed the nozzle you must be running self shielded flux-core wire. Without the nozzle everthing is electrically hot and it's very easy to accidently touch C or B to the work and cause arcing. I'm not sure if your Mig gun uses a jump liner at the gun or it's a 1 piece liner right from the drive rolls? It's what let's the wire feed smoothly through the long power cable. If your gun uses a short jump liner and it was removed would cause all kinds of problems. If it's a 1 piece liner and is cut too short will do the same thing. Could your dad have cut it shorter because he couldn't thread C on? If the mig gun is coiled up it could make the liner protrude further out of the gun where the diffuser (C) wont thread on. The liner is electrically hot since the welding wire goes through it. The liner needs to be the right size for the wire being used. It's most critical with smaller size wires. If it's too small will cause problems. Most liners are good for a couple sizes of wire.
What wire are you welding with? If it's self-shielded flux-core I'm a little worried it's not the proper wire for your project. Basically you want something comparable to 7018 stick electrodes. The common self-shielded wires you see in box stores or even in welding supplies are general purpose wires that aren't designed for dynamic high strength loads. They also have low penetration. I guess if you put big enough sound welds they could still work though.

 

[ippielb]

D is the liner. C is the diffuser. The insulator is the white plastic type material inside the nozzle (A). It stops the nozzle from being electrically hot. If you removed the nozzle you must be running self shielded flux-core wire. Without the nozzle everthing is electrically hot and it's very easy to accidently touch C or B to the work and cause arcing. I'm not sure if your Mig gun uses a jump liner at the gun or it's a 1 piece liner right from the drive rolls? It's what let's the wire feed smoothly through the long power cable. If your gun uses a short jump liner and it was removed would cause all kinds of problems. If it's a 1 piece liner and is cut too short will do the same thing. Could your dad have cut it shorter because he couldn't thread C on? If the mig gun is coiled up it could make the liner protrude further out of the gun where the diffuser (C) wont thread on. The liner is electrically hot since the welding wire goes through it. The liner needs to be the right size for the wire being used. It's most critical with smaller size wires. If it's too small will cause problems. Most liners are good for a couple sizes of wire.
What wire are you welding with? If it's self-shielded flux-core I'm a little worried it's not the proper wire for your project. Basically you want something comparable to 7018 stick electrodes. The common self-shielded wires you see in box stores or even in welding supplies are general purpose wires that aren't designed for dynamic high strength loads. They also have low penetration. I guess if you put big enough sound welds they could still work though.

Yes, i most definitely found out that everything becomes hot haha I have one spot i needed to get into that was super tight so i took the nozzle off and now i need to replace everything up front haha.

My liner has quite a few arcing spots inside with spatter in there. Not sure if its one piece i needed to get some welding done yesterday before it started to rain on me. I've went through 20 tips now doing this project and it seems to get worse as time goes on. It's always when im starting a new weld, i press the trigger and when the wire touches the work surface it arcs and then stops pushing wire. I have to take the tip off and just behind the tip the wire melted and it feeds into itself and makes a ball behind the tip itself. Usually fusing itself to the tip and melting itself inside.

E71T-GS wire, but i should've been using E71T-11 reading the difference of multi pass and single pass wire.

 

[ippielb]