I find carpentry projects relaxing, mechanical projects educational, and fencing projects routine. I have no experience with welding projects.
Then this particular mix of carpentry, mechanical, and fencing projects combined into a welding project. I set off down the YouTube rabbit hole of DIY welding. 2 hours later I was convinced I could totally do this, no problem, and the cheapest wire feed flux core welder at Home Depot would be fine.
This gate post was bent out of shape thanks to an aggressively growing tree. I cut the bars previously connecting it all together, and now pushing it all out of place. I used a come-along to pull the post back to vertical, then put overlap metal rods on the fence rails to tie it back together with sister joints. Then used the grinder to remove splatter and numerous sharp edges.
Turns out, I was right, but not about what I was convinced of. The smallest cheap Lincoln kept throwing the 20amp breaker in the shop so I moved to generator power. Then the welder was undersized for the thickness of the metal and ran into thermal overload very quickly. Each time added a twenty minute cool down period.
After this project I returned the tool and sized up the the next one. Both problems solved. The welds are all ugly, and these kind of farm applications are great learning opportunities for my hands.
All projects need interruptions. Miss Molly Tamale the new puppy was happy to oblige by getting her head stuck in this fence chasing Hay Bale the barn cat during one of the shut downs.
The other end of the cattle run needed a control gate. Maple is quieter than steel and I need calm cattle. Now there’s also a loop I bent and welded for the sliding latch to anchor against. I am inordinately proud of this whole assembly, thank you very much.
The big win at the end of these upgrades is a cattle run to reliably load cattle onto the trailer. The picture above shows where the stock trailer will back up to, this is the gate opposite the repaired gate. Now they will pass through to either pasture or trailer, at our direction. The log is there to bridge the gap when the trailer is fully backed up.
It does work. We have done the three easiest loads ever over the last week while getting the AI process done on two cows.
I was also able to convert some old bedframe steel into a dolly for a pig feeder. One afternoon of messing around and a lot of convenience added to the pig feeding process. New welding skill, for the win. Headgate attempt is next.
