FS -- 275 amp Pipeline Welder, Continental 163 engine

Yeah , kinda like if somebody trespasses and drowns in your swimming pool while you're not home . Doesn't matter if you have ten foot high chainlink topped with razor ribbon and six locks on the gate that they have to get through . It's still your fault , and you'll be held liable .

Is that generally true? I have wondered about requirements for towing my log splitter here in Washington state.

The laws tend to be MORE OR LESS uniform between the states, but it's the little details that will drive you utterly mad.

They generally offer reciprocity in cases of honest misunderstanding or when the laws are more strict in the state you are traveling to or through. But you might have to go plead your case to the judge.

Check with the Washington state DMV (or whatever they call it) to see what you need. Or call your friendly local cops, they are the ones that are going to hassle you about it.

In California, farm and construction implements that are not generally driven on the street do not have to have license plates for incidental travel on the roads.

This counts for tractors, combines, center loaders, graders, rollers and compactors, mining dump trucks, unitized pavers, profile grinders, and other self-propelled construction equipment. And for certain trailer-mounted or trailer-converted equipment (bolt an axle and tires to one end of the cement mixer, and a tongue & coupler to the other.)

Farmers often have to cross the road with tractors and other implements to farm their land on the other side, without loading it onto a road legal trailer each time for a 200-foot trip, or a quarter mile down the road if he's renting another tract. That's where the laws originate.

Where you DO have to get license plates is stuff that is on the road all day for long distances - tow-behind forklifts that travel on their own tires, most cargo and utility trailers.

Tow Dollies are a gray area, some states require plates on them - but they do not carry any cargo, just the front wheels of the car in tow. (This is where semantics are important and words really do have meanings - you have to parse out the exact statute word for word...)

The car *on* the tow dolly has to have current tags on it if it's being towed on a public street - if you don't or can't get tags you have to use a full car trailer and get all four tires off the street.

And you can get plates put on almost anything, handy if you are a rental yard that wants a Certificate Of Title to prove ownership. They have the Special Equipment plates that are motorcycle sized and cheaper than usual.

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I'd check. As an example, when moving from Southern Ca. to Texas in the 50's, half of our whole goods being shipped was stopped at the boarder. It was packed in two 40' trailers and the law at the time in TX allowed for no semi-trailers after another.

Now they run 80' and make it anywhere.

So call ahead as some state l> >> Ignoramus21666 wrote:

Here in Oregon, one is not required to license a trailer unless the gross weight of the trailer plus contents is over 1800 pounds.

Jon

Another plus is that there any many people, like you, who know these machines inside and out.

i

"Ignoramus15568" wrote

I have one on my SA 200, and it is great. The main thing is that you can get parts easily, it runs at low rpm, and lasts forever.

Steve

It's an L head four banger. A ten year old could fix one.

Steve ;-)

IIRC the SA-200 engine is a model F162, and the Big 40 engine is model F163, the major difference is the F162 has a front mounted magneto ignition and the F163 has a coil and top mounted distributor. IIRC there are other differences in oil filter and water pump shaft size?

IIRC some of the later Millers, especially smaller and those with other branding, used a cheap looking external belt driven (top of generator) alternator rather than an internal exciter winding and are not as highly desirable.

In the pipe world Lincoln welders are loved for their pure DC generators and smooth and steady DC output. This is particularly good for root and hot passes and for downhand work. There is a definite 'grey' culture on pipe jobs. If you show up on the job with a blue machine you will probably be lonely and will be assumed to not be very good or knowledgeable, you will be judged and probably tested closer and more often.

The Millar Big series welders are 3 phase AC generators rectified to DC. This gives a square wave form which fluctuates slightly and some think is helpful when welding dirty or rusty steel. Pipe joints are normally very clean and well prepared. The 3 phase generators seem to demand less engine power to turn. Both welders will happily burn 3/16" (or 1/4") LoHy but the Lincoln's rain hat will be standing straight up and barking. I suspect that the Lincoln will use a little more gasoline (when working hard) but both use ~1 gal/hr. Both will put out about 375 amps but the Lincoln is rated 200 amps @ 60% duty cycle while the Millar Big 40 is 300 amps @ 100% duty cycle. The Millar can run big flux core (drooper) wire feeders and has no problem with ArcAir. The Millar has AC power usable even when welding, most? Lincoln SA-200s use the exciter windings to provide DC auxiliary tool power but not while welding.

As JTMcC (who has always impressed me as very knowledgeable wrt grey machines and pipe) said, "the Big 40's were reliable and had a good reputation. Not used in mainline (pipeline) construction but a lot of structural and equipment guys loved them." I have welded lots of pipe with Big 40s, but would never claim them to be as good or as nice as Lincolns for pure pipe work.

The SA-200 and Big 40 are both excellent machines and were the two industry standards for many years. They both cost more to run (use more gasoline) and are heavier than more modern machines many of which also offer CV, AC and TIG features. The current favourite in my patch is the Lincoln generator / Kubota diesel powered units from Red-D-Arc, Most rig weldors want to use the same fuel in their welders as in their rig truck, but some are still using new diesel trucks hauling plain old gas powered SA-200s that are as old as the weldors running them.

Just my .02, YMMV

Private, great summary. I have learned a lot. Rectified 3 phase has a

360 Hz AC component and the ripple is only 5 percent, so it does not amount to much. I obviously would not claim to know anything about pipeline welding, so perhaps that 5% makes a big difference.

Looks like Lincoln sells a diesel version (Pipeliner 200D) that looks like the old Shield-Arc 200 and has the same construction with DC exciter, etc. Looks like it is in a stainless enclosure also.

i

Looks like a very nice machine and the Kubota diesel engine is well regarded for economy and long trouble free service life when oil and filters (especially fuel) are properly maintained.

It is a real tribute to Lincoln's high quality industrial design that a generator designed in WW2 is still the current standard of the industry. I bet the current price is a lot higher than that of the 6090 (SA-200) that I learned on which was $1407. new, including the electric starter which IIRC was optional. I bet that machine is still working and worth as much or more today than it was when new, and has earned a lot of money for the weldors it has enabled. I can only guess at how many $ of gasoline it has consumed.

Private, Kubota diesels are great.

I once bought a 20+ year old diesel powered floor scrubber that was all rotted out.

The price was $120 or some such.

As I expected, the scrubber was junk, but inside of it was a perfectly well working Kubota diesel. These engines can stand up to a lot.

I scrapped the remains of the scrubber.

i

It's interesting that the starter was an option up until the early 70's or so. In mainline construction the Miller PipePro is on roughly a quarter or more of the rigs. Lincoln Vantages are about the same, the remainder are mostly 200's (old and new), 300D's and a few 250's. You're right, the Miller alternator machines won't keep up with a DC generator and that's why they weren't used. The PipePro is an inverter and the Vantages use the chopper module, both are made to mimic the characteristics of the true DC generators, plus they'll do other things the pure DC machine won't so they are catching on well. The PipePro cost's more than a 200, the Vantage less. PipePro has had quite a few reliability problems.

JTMcC.

Ignoramus12951 wrote in news:7tednSE0Ab62Y-TWnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

Speaking of Continental powered equipment, I have a query.

Does anyone think there's any value in a small (85CFM) Worthington air compressor? It's got a 90 cu.in. Continental flathead on it, V4 two stage compressor and runs like a top. Good air tank on it as well for it's age.

It will also rake a whole yard of leaves in about two minutes. It makes a very nice leaf blower.

John

Would that be delivered? ;-)

Steve

85 CFM is "Small" by today's standards, when they want two or three guys working off it at the same time, Now Now NOW! But that is plenty for one pavement breaker, or one sandblast pressure bucket, or...

Asking in r.c.m where most of us aren't in that big a rush (and don't mind stopping it to check the oil and coolant levels every few hours) and it's a perfectly good unit.

Tell us where it is, and what's the 'daily rental rate' for RCM people - you may be able to make it earn it's keep...

I usually fix it up things I borrow a little in lieu of part of the rental - things it needs, like new belts and hoses, an oil change and PM, or rework the output manifold with new quick connects and ball valves, a new point chisel for the breaker hammer, stuff like that. Do that a few times, and you'll have it fully fixed up, tooled & stocked with spares - better than cash sometimes.

I don't need a towable compressor that often, but it's plenty big enough for an Electrician that occasionally has to chip out a direct burial pole base without wrecking the conduits inside the concrete.

Or we find a massively oversized footing that heads straight to China for no reason - take off the top 18", place new conduit sweeps out the sides, then drill and dowel the new footing to the remainders of the old one.

And it's big enough to act as a temporary backup for a small shop that lost it's electric motor compressor, especially if it has an idle control and unloader on it. Get them through the day till the McMaster-Carr Fairies can deliver a new motor.

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Bruce L. Bergman wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Thanks all, for the suggestions. I wrench+weld, anything 'cept autos, for a living.

I'm in the 'between Cleveland and Akron, Oh' area. And yeah, it will run a single hammer, there's probably one laying around my buddy's shop going to poop. ;)