New welding business

[jake of all trades]

Ok so I just had a carrier change I have always had good experiences welding so that’s what I choose as my new profession. I will mainly be doing pipe fence, truck repair, wrought iron, some custome auto stuff, and light commercial. I am looking at a ranger 305d, but I also know there is a chance I will want to weld pipeline some time so my question is this very few welders have a blue machine for pipelining and almost all have a pipeliner or a classic of some sort or something like that, Will a ranger 305d handle pipeline? I mean it’s the welder that has the skill not the machine, or is showing up with a ranger305d like brining a popgun to the ok corral?

JE

[jake of all trades]

Come on som one has to have the answer to my question please answer.

[KGIOR]

While I find people here very helpful and not blindly brand loyal you do have to realize that you probably won't find a bunch of Lincoln experts on the Miller forum.

You may want to try posting your question at weldingweb and the aws forum.

Good luck,
Ken

[Woodweld1]

The reason you see so many pipe guys running lincolns (SA 200/Vantage) is because there arc quality is better for that particular application, and they are very reliable, when your job takes you around the country, and the contractor is dependent on you to keep the schedule you can't afford a break down, and if you do break down it has to be a quick easy fix, the machine must run 12hrs a day 6-7 days a week (even more if you run it to power your trailer) not many machines can handle that demand, the smaller less expensive machines (trailblazer/ranger) require more oil changes, maintenance, and fuel. Years ago I had a ranger 8 I had to change the oil every 50 hrs, on my vantage its every 200 hrs. On the smaller machines after about 2000 hrs the maintenance becomes even more frequent because they simply run alot harder and hotter. That said if you are going to do all your pipe work in town and your not going to travel or take on any really demanding jobs you'll be fine with almost anything.

The larger machines are also alot quieter too (you have listen to it all day long)

[FusionKing]

You are in the welding projects section.
You will get way more readers on the welding discussions section.

[welder_one]

if you are out on the road and running that machine for more than 4 to 5 hours per day and running hard, then a diesel drive would be the better option... less fuel usage, longer engine life, and a heck of a lot quieter..... albeit, i am NOT a lincoln fan, ive heard good things about the 305, but boil it down and its still just a gas burner. ...

as stated before, you have to listen to it when youre working, after having a diesel machine, i wont go back to a gas burner again

[KGIOR]

The 305d is a diesel, but a high rpm diesel.

My personal opinion is that if you are in a industry that has other diesel equipment or off highway diesel pumps then the small diesels may make sense.

If you are buying a unit to use for heavy daily use then a low rpm diesel is a better investment.

If you are using it for more moderate use then a small gas or propane unit makes sense to me, or maybe a inverter run from a gen-set.

With that in mind what one person likes to work with is different then the next.

Ken

[welder_one]

The 305d is a diesel, but a high rpm diesel.

Ken

see.... told ya that i didnt know too much about em... i do agree that the low rpm diesels are the way to go if the machine runs more than 6 hours per day 6 days per week... my pro 300 ran 11 hours today for example, and only burned 3 gallons of diesel

[Sberry]

I would likely get what I could afford and was the cheapest, its one thing to plan ahead but not always worth it for the "what if's" Early one I bought SA200 figuring I would at some point make it to pipeline, never worked out that way and finally bought a couple smaller cheaper units, way lighter, still haven't worn those out. The Linc was a waste of money for me, too big, too heavy, should have got small unit first and if and when I decided to hit the road would have gotten the machine I needed.

[JTMcC]

I am looking at a ranger 305d, but I also know there is a chance I will want to weld pipeline some time so my question is this very few welders have a blue machine for pipelining and almost all have a pipeliner or a classic of some sort or something like that, Will a ranger 305d handle pipeline? JE

I don't know where you live. If you're in Canada then disregard my advise because what they call pipelining differs greatly from American pipeline welding.
But if you're in the US, there are a limited number of machines suitable to the mainline construction work done here. If you are calling gathering systems (oil patch welding) or distribution work "pipelining", then you can disregard as well. But I'm "assuming" (right, right) you're talking about transmission line welding in the United States and in that case you will need one of the few machines used in that area. Those are: Miller PipePro, Any Lincoln SA-200, several of the Lincoln SA-250's, the Classic 3D's and 300D's, or a Vantage.
You really won't get a test with a machine that's not suitable and proven in that field.
A lot of people miss use the term pipelining, if the above doesn't apply to the work you're interested in then just ignore it and maybe someone can give you better info.

JTMcC