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Up Topic Chit-Chat & Non-Welding Discussion / Off-Topic Bar and Grill / CACTUS AND BRADY TEXAS PICTURES
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Parent - By Cactusthewelder (*****) Date 10-23-2008 11:33
I know her !!!!     And her sister
Parent - - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 10-23-2008 07:12
roflmao yeah you better run for hills man he's gonna tatoo his name on your forehead " Cactus was Here" lol
Parent - - By Cactusthewelder (*****) Date 10-23-2008 11:34
Im gonna run over him in my gator
Parent - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 10-23-2008 12:17
you wont do that he's 1 of your best welders maybe bump him a lil though as a warnng lol
Parent - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 10-26-2008 21:02
Just bumping this back to the top so the pics we worked so hard on can be looked at
Parent - - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 10-27-2008 01:05
is this your tractor lol
Attachment: tractor.jpg (18k)
Parent - - By Cactusthewelder (*****) Date 10-27-2008 01:07 Edited 10-27-2008 01:09
d*mn     I sure think it might be !!
Parent - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 10-27-2008 01:19
lol
Parent - - By Cactusthewelder (*****) Date 10-26-2008 23:25
Now there are plenty of pics to look at
Parent - - By shorthood2006 (****) Date 10-26-2008 23:34
im sitting in front of my computer....waiting ....and waiting...
Parent - - By Cactusthewelder (*****) Date 10-27-2008 00:33
look at the first post
Parent - - By shorthood2006 (****) Date 10-27-2008 01:03
lol i saw em cactus. waiting to see more action shots.
Parent - - By Cactusthewelder (*****) Date 10-27-2008 01:05
look again there are over 70 pics
Parent - - By shorthood2006 (****) Date 10-27-2008 01:11
are the subs coming from across the water. they were using the same style subs at neighbors on the "m" rigs. that is what they referred them as...."m rigs"
Parent - - By Cactusthewelder (*****) Date 10-27-2008 01:12
NOPE THE SUBS ARE BUILT HERE AS WELL AS THE DERRICK   NABORS RIGS ARE BUILT BY NOV IN CHINA  WE HAVE A FEW FOREIGN PARTS BUT VERY FEW. WE BUILD OUR OWN DRAW WORKS ALSO. MACHINE EVERYTHING IN HOUSE
Parent - - By shorthood2006 (****) Date 10-27-2008 01:14
we had to reweld some of the derricks after the magna fluxed them. they are definitely turning out quanity rather than quality in china.
Parent - - By shorthood2006 (****) Date 10-27-2008 01:16
there are alot of china triplex pumps on these rigs in okla.
Parent - By slagline 3 (**) Date 10-27-2008 19:22
Yea boys, I spent nine weeks in China at the SJ Petroleum Manufacturing plant, it seem like I spent most of my time marking up welds. This was the Loadmaster
version of the 550 Big Easy FMLR (fast moving land rig) AC Draw Works. Sudstructure raised hydraulicly. It was a far design, but the craftsmenship was crap.
When these rigs got to Nabors yard in Crosby yard, they would chop the hell out of them to get them to work. Had to cut in a path for the drag chain in the stem of the mast. Wonder where the little chinaman was at that engineering meeting? After putting the Top Drive in the Mast, it was like ten pounds of sh.t in a five pound bag. Some of the welding in the bulkheads was covered up, so no NDE was available.... the guys at Loadmaster didn't want to open up Pandora's box,
If you know what I mean.LOL.
Parent - By sbcmweb (****) Date 10-27-2008 20:21
NO WAY! Not in China!!
Parent - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 10-27-2008 22:52
there are 77 to be exact hope i domnt get in trouble for my pointless input
Parent - - By sbcmweb (****) Date 10-27-2008 20:20
OMG!!! Cactus doing the chicken dance is just priceless!!!!!! I would love to see him do the robot!!

We should get a chorus line going. You, Me, Cactus, Dutch, West, Logan, Kaye & Jenn to round it out. We could take Broadway by storm!!!

Think of it, Shad. Soon, you'll be there too. :-) S.W.
Parent - - By Cactusthewelder (*****) Date 10-27-2008 21:05
AS LONG AS I GET THE LEAD PART !
Parent - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 10-28-2008 00:02
I thought you were the director?
Parent - - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 10-27-2008 22:50
yeah i know i been counting the days getting machines ready cant wait for the weather to make up it's mind what it's gonna do and if not screw it i'm goin within a month of working there  i can have the coin to buy me a vantage too and run lights and fans and weld and a mig welder hell he'll need to beg  me to stop working lol it seems like they enjoy their work up there and thats the kind of atmosphere i like the. i renamed a few of the pics trying to get a laugh out of them really i just couldnt resist with shots like that when i saw him on his knees with his arms in the air i thought obamma and alah and busted up laughing my wife said i was mean i told her cactus and the others will get a kick out of it if not take it and run with it lol but then i saw the 1 i called the chicken dance and had to rename it too i treid figuring up something for him standing by the sureyor tripod but couldnt think of nothing guess i should of called john lol
Parent - - By jrw159 (*****) Date 10-27-2008 23:10
What, did someone call me? :-)

jrw159 :-)
Parent - - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 10-27-2008 23:15
what do you want to be called i have a few ideas
Parent - - By jrw159 (*****) Date 10-27-2008 23:22
Don't bother me with them unless they are new ones. LOL

Anything but late for supper. :-)

jrw159
Parent - - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 10-28-2008 00:02
supper was the farthest thing from my keyboard
Parent - - By jrw159 (*****) Date 10-28-2008 00:24
Well you know me when it comes to food. I don't waste any time getting my grub on. LOL

"Da*n, are you done already?" and I answer "Are you gonna eat that?" :-)

jrw159
Parent - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 10-28-2008 00:33
you sound like my mother inlaw she has to taste something off of everyones plate and she has the same thing i asked her once if mine tasted different than hers she called me an a%# lol
Parent - - By JTMcC (***) Date 10-28-2008 00:53
If you're buying a Vantage, in your area, give Munn Supply a call and get a price from Phil Treadwell, He's a good dude and he'll treat a rig welder well and deliver the machine to whatever job you're working on, his TX number is 800-299-6866. He gave me one of the better prices I got, but my local guy was just about a hundred over so I bought from him., Phil has sold hundreds of Vantages to pipeliners the last couple of years. Stumps has sold quite a few of those machines to pipeliners in his part of the world as well.
I'd recomend a V400 over the V300, they are only about 1k more.
Gerald Tidwell makes the slickest remote (w/110v outlets) for those machines in my opinion. You have to swap out one of the 120v recepticals to a regular from a gfci bit I woulda done that anyway. It still leaves you with one duplex gfci outlet. Lincoln has a remote for about $400 with no 120v outlets, they have a remote with the 120v outlets for about $900. Tidwells remote w/120v is about $500. His spools are pretty slick as well.
There is no end to the number of electrical stuff you can run from a Vantage while welding.
I'm pretty happy (so far) with the way my machine runs downhill pipe as well, It's a big time stacking son of a gun and loves the 5mm 8P+. It runs LoHi just how I like it (on the Downhill Pipe Mode) with the anger management dial at around 2 to the soft side. I run downhill pipe (bead to cap) at around 3 to the soft side. These are very nice machines. I run all stick rod either LoHi or pipe rods in the DH pipe mode, it runs like my old 200 in that mode. It is awfull quiet tho. I can hear my stereo quite a bit better than before and I always have my stereo a blastin.
My take on buying a vantage and decking it out so take it or leave it : )

JTMcC.
Parent - - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 10-28-2008 01:09
thanks for the input but it'll be a while before i can get another machine 1st i need to get back to work which wont be much longer and then i gotta buy a house and get that setup and hooked up to water and elec. and then i need to get another truck so little by little i'll get it like johnny cash 1 piece at a time and if and when i do get a vantage i was planning on the 400 beacuse of it's capabilities
Parent - - By JTMcC (***) Date 10-28-2008 01:45 Edited 10-28-2008 02:10
Once you're back in the mix it goes pretty fast.
The bank will want to see a couple of checks, that gets you into a pretty nice mobile home.
Then the bank wants to see a couple of more checks, that gets you a machine, or just work and pay cash. Cash always rules in this world.
If you're working in a yard and driving few miles, a machjine might be more important than a truck, your decision.
I've had a few junk trucks.....but never a junk machine ; )

Either way when you get in there it doesn't take long, mobile home prices (like all home prices) have dropped, and there are a lot of used models available for cheap at least in my part of the world.

You are going to love that Vantage 400, it took me a while to get mine adjusted right, but man it's the best thing since sliced bread : )

I just put a new front porch on my old shack, and fired up the grill, cooked the best two New Yorks I've ever seen, plus some brats for the kids. It's about 68 degrees outside, nothing in the world like the smell of meat on a grill ; ) add a cold brew and the world is good.

It won't be long before you are out there in the mix, making YOUR money. The doctors told me when I was about 13 years old I'd never walk without a limp. I've never limped a day in my life. The Doctors look at the worst case results, your mileage may vary ; )

Get out there and get it man.

If you need a 2"-4" beveling machine to get the job, I'll loan you one. Mines just sittin.

JTMcC.
Parent - By JTMcC (***) Date 10-28-2008 02:08
I'll add this on fans, If you need a fan for your legs, or just to be comfortable in the heat or to blow fumes away:

I used a Wildcat (squirrel cage ventilation fan) for many years, they are over $500 from Graingers....but when it finally quit on me I went to Home Depot, and they have a fan that moves a ton of air, I use mine outside all the time and for confined space ventilation as well. They only cost about 40 bucks ($39.99 or so). I have one on my truck and one in my trailer. Best thing since sliced bread ; )

JTMcC.
Parent - - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 10-28-2008 02:12
yeah i know the loan routine been there many times if i buy a new machine i'll go with cash and looking at getting a repoed or used m/h as for the truck it can wait i started with an 86 chevy dually tub rig and then a 3/4 ton xcab tub rig and then had to down grade to a 1500 s/cab trailer rig then got a 99 gmc x/cab tub rig and now i have my dodger but the miles are piling up maybe by this time next year the truck will come into play but gotta cover our heads first it'll come it always does never amazes me of the ways i find to make things happen
Parent - By JTMcC (***) Date 10-28-2008 02:20
You might want to do a search on foreclosed mobile homes in your (and surrounding) zip codes.

We've looked at several foreclosed properties in my area. Nothing I want to buy yet, but maybe....

It's a buyers market right now.

JTMcC.
Parent - - By up-ten (***) Date 10-28-2008 04:23
"anger management dial at around 2". I  know what dial your talking about but why did you call it that? I've got a V400 and I just love how quiet and smooth it runs but it's developed a panel rattle that will be hard to fix. The screws are all tight and I think I'll have to wedge a few foam ear plugs on the panel edges and see how that works.   Hey Shad, have you tried a Vantage yet?
Parent - - By J Hall (***) Date 10-28-2008 09:48
I took the tin off and put self stick weatherstripping in between.  All is quiet now. I hate rattles. Once the tin is off it is easy to see where you need the weather stripping.

"anger management dial at around 2".  That's good.
Parent - By up-ten (***) Date 10-28-2008 19:50
Thats a good idea and I'll give it a try. Thanks JHall.
Parent - - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 10-28-2008 14:34 Edited 10-29-2008 00:19
no i aint tried 1 yet but hae been told i can use 1 if i need it i tried a 305d once it dont run 5p down hill to save it's a&% just not hot enuff for me but i have worked with guys that have a vantage 400 and you cant hardly hear them run that would get hard to get use to i like to hear my machine when i'm welding
Parent - - By Cactusthewelder (*****) Date 10-28-2008 21:54
I HAVE A VANTAGE 300 AND A 400 AND I JUST BOUGHT A NEW 500 IN THE 300 FRAME TODAY
Parent - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 10-29-2008 00:20
do they all weld pretty much the same other than being able to run multiple accessories while welding on the 400
Parent - - By JTMcC (***) Date 11-02-2008 16:33
Because that's what it does, adjusts the machine from a harsh aggressive arc to a soft mellow arc.
I run Lohi up around 2 to the positive side, not negative as I said above.
I've welded most of my life with 200's tuned to the mellow side, so that's really what I like meself. A lot of it is personal preference

JTMcC.
Parent - - By up-ten (***) Date 11-02-2008 17:00
Do you leave it in downhill mode at that setting? I've always liked it in the downhill mode running lohi uphill. Running lohi in that stick mode uphill never left me impressed. As you mentioned, it does come down to personal preference. But the Vantage 400 hasn't disappointed me.
Parent - - By JTMcC (***) Date 11-02-2008 21:33
I use the down hill pipe mode for all stick welding. So does everybody that I personally know.

My machine hovers around the +2 setting with LoHi, I adjust it up or down from there, I like to set it just aggressive enough to wet out at the edges like I want it to, but no more.

JTMcC.
Parent - - By JTMcC (***) Date 11-02-2008 22:30
up-ten I don't know if you run any flux core wire, but the anger management knob can really change the characteristics there as well.
At least one wire that ran very harsh with serious splatter on my Classic II w/CV, runs much more happy happy on my Vantage with the Anger dial maxed out to the soft side. No splatter, more enjoyable, all around goodness. I can put the dial at straight up zero and it ran just like it did on my Classic.

JTMcC.
Parent - - By up-ten (***) Date 11-03-2008 04:26
No I haven't run any wire but that is good to know. Stupid question, does running wire use more fuel?
Parent - - By aevald (*****) Date 11-03-2008 05:22
Hello up-ten, hypothetically, the higher amperage requirement of many wire applications would work the machine harder, hence, higher fuel consumption along with greater weld deposition. Theoretically speaking of course. Best regards, Allan
Parent - - By up-ten (***) Date 11-03-2008 13:53
Thanks again Allan. Bob
Parent - - By JTMcC (***) Date 11-03-2008 14:48
Another plus is that when you run flux core, your remote amperage control becomes a remote voltage control without having to run a seperate control cable.

JTMcC.
Up Topic Chit-Chat & Non-Welding Discussion / Off-Topic Bar and Grill / CACTUS AND BRADY TEXAS PICTURES
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