One Step Closer to Front End Loader Domination

I chalked up another wonderful day today.

I was hoping to work on my Offroad Swag finger brake, but I needed to finish the Kubota front end loader brace to get it out of the way, so I worked on that instead.

The brace is a steel channel with two end plates on it. It goes on a hydraulic rod to prevent the front end loader from coming down.

Yesterday I went through the shop like a hurricane, moving stuff into more-logical positions, throwing things out, and generally turning a crowded shop into a spacious one. I moved nearly all the metalworking stuff to one end, and I distributed it around an open area, facing in. I took my beverage fridge to the dump. That hurt, but it was a very cheap fridge with no defrost cycle, and it was so badly engineered, it was not possible to use it. It froze over every few days.

For some reason, the guy who sold us this house had a big set of shelves on the wall by the workbench. First of all, a workbench should never be against a wall. Things will fall down behind it, cleaning it will be impossible, and if you put something heavy on it, you will have to turn it over and over while you work on it because you can’t walk behind the bench. The seller’s bench was against the wall, and when I moved here, I told the movers to put mine there TEMPORARILY, and I let it sit there for two years. Now I can get to it from all sides.

I’m digressing. The shelves were in a place where they got in the way. All the other shelves were across the shop. I took everything off the shelves, dragged the whole thing outside, pressure-washed it with Dawn, and put it with the other shelves. I put stuff on it relatively neatly, with some effort at organization.

Now my bench, tool chests, and metalworking tools are all in one area. That’s where I worked on the brace. I loved it. I was able to get to things without climbing over junk or walking around the tractors.

I did something I should have done sooner: I did final measurements for the brace. I raised the loader to see how long the brace needed to be. When I did that, I realized one end plate on the brace needed to be installed at an angle. It was going to rest against the framework that supports the loader. The loader cylinders move, and the framework doesn’t, so when the loader is raised, the cylinders are at a sharp angle with regard to the framework. The flat plate at the end of the brace has to be angled so it will rest flat against the framework.

I took a T-bevel and measured the angle on the tractor. I drew the angle on the brace. Then I cleaned off my dry cut saw, put it on my Harbor Freight scissor lift cart, and cut the brace perfectly.

That made me happy.

I considered quitting, because I didn’t have enough steel. When I changed the end of the brace from perpendicular to angled, I lengthened it. I had a 3″ square of steel ready to weld over it, but now I needed 3″ by 4″. I decided to weld the plate on the other end to get me a head start on the next day.

Problem: I could not find my welding magnets. I needed them to position the plate on the brace for tacking. Again, I considered quitting.

I don’t know if the movers stole my welding magnets, or I left them stuck to a machine tool in Miami, or what. I knew I was not going to have them to help me with the plate. I decided to try a woodworking clamp.

I got myself a long bar clamp and used it to hold the plate in place. It was not a great setup. One end of the clamp rested on the newly cut angled end of the brace, so it didn’t have much to hold it in place. Also, the clamp had rubber pads on it, and I was using it for welding.

I fired up the Harbor Freight welder, took a deep breath, and started tacking. No problems! Once I had the first tack done, I knew I was home-free, because I could use that tack to hold things together while I moved the clamp to produce better alignment for the other tacks.

I placed my tacks, removed the clamp, and welded the plate on. Things went very well by my standards. I saw the weld pretty well, and I didn’t blow through the metal. I put the weld more or less where it should have been. It wasn’t gorgeous, but it wasn’t terrible, either.

The welds were shiny, I didn’t get porosity, and I didn’t have any disasters.

When I was done, I played around with my Dumore hand grinder and a carbide burr, prettying up the welds a little, but I didn’t do much. It will look okay as it is.

Now that I’ve got things fixed so I can see what I’m welding (and now that I have a decent metal supplier), I should be able to get much, much better at welding in the coming weeks.

I’m going to get some more welding magnets. I have a feeling mine are in Miami. I’m not going to wait around.

I’m glad I had the dry cut saw. It does beautiful, precise cuts, and it’s fast. I need to make a mobile stand and base for it.

I guess I’ll go see the metal dealer tomorrow and get more steel for the brace. I should be able to finish the metal work tomorrow, no problem. Then I can throw a coat of paint on it. When the paint is dry, I’ll form some leather over the ends, glue it on, and be done with it.

I still think I’ll start parking the tractor outside from now on, but the brace is an important thing to have because it will allow me to work on the tractor without removing the loader. Today I had to install a support for the battery, and I had to climb over the loader bucket over and over. I won’t have to do that any more.

If I can get the brace welded up tomorrow, I can start welding (or practicing to weld) the finger brake. Once the finger brake is done, my world will change. I’ll be able to make some incredible stuff, very quickly.

I love the Harbor Freight welder. It’s extremely handy. Very easy to use. I’ll be doing more welding now simply because I have a tool that takes a lot of effort out of it.

I’ve been watching Forged in Fire lately, and it’s hard to believe how little the contestants know about tools. They don’t know how to use the drill press, which is a simple tool. Almost none of them can weld. They can’t use a mill. A lot of them call themselves master smiths. All I can say is that the master smith exam must be pretty easy. Seems like all they know is how to heat and beat steel, and many of them can barely do that.

I don’t know how to forge a knife, but I can use tools every knife smith should be very comfortable with. Teach me to forge, and I’ll be the master of all master smiths, not because I’m great, but because most of these other guys are hopeless with standard metalworking tools. They make mistakes no machinist would make.

I’m mediocre at many metalworking tasks, but I know the basics. That would set me apart on that show. Not that I plan to become a knife smith. Just something that occurred to me. Made me feel better about my skills.

I don’t know much at all about fixing houses and cars. Something for the future, I guess.