Thread: Any Pro welders out there?

I am by no means a pro welder, but part of my job is getting paid to stick steel together, so I am not completely naive on the subject... Haha.

Are all the photos of the drawbar of the trailer, or is it some kind of cantilever mount? With the close-ups I have no real context...

I would do what Robbo has said, however I'd step the repair material up to 5mm or more, and drill speed holes in it, so you can puddle (rosette) weld, and pick up lots of material with your fish plates.

In the first picture it appears to be a corner between the drawbar and front crossmember, if that's correct, then I would be using a jack to close the weld up, and re-welding with a few runs to pick up a good amount of material, plating this would be difficult as you can't get to the top side, so I don't know if I would bother on that joint... but I am not there to see it.

I'd say your boat builder would do it somewhat similarly to how has been suggested.

Keep us posted, and hopefully the trip goes smoothly from now on!

Cheers
Will

The first pic is where the a frame goes through the front bin on the van

If you need to come up into "town" for repairs, I'm sure there will be a place to stay. Hope it all gets sorted out quickly.

Given that the best / most likely method of repair would be arc welding, and this uses electrodes, then yes disconnect batteries and solar panels / chargers.

Looking at the last photo that van looks like a Golf which are excellent.
It is very rare to happens on them specially because they have an excellent suspension.

Pedro, what wall thickness is the RHS? Is it gal?
I would grind the existing weld smooth and clean, re-align and reweld. Then grind the vertical welds flat and strap them with flat bar the same thickness as the parent material, but 10-20 mm smaller than the vertical dimension of the RHS (see attachment).

I'm a bit concerned about the corrosion at the site and internally, unseen. I'd be considering drilling a small hole and pouring Fisholine into it.

end results are excellent in my totally ignorant opinion
every bit that was accessable was attended too,,

here is hoping thats the end of your woes for a while!