Welding Pipe Fences for Horse Corrals Questioner

[Just Duke]

Now that I am ambulatory again I'm exploring building pipe fences for horse corrals.
I figure I might as well learn even though I can't do them at the present.
My question is should I use stick, MIG or TIG to build these when using pre owned "Sucker Rod" from drill rigs. Where we are going there is an abundant amount available.
I do plan on coping the ends and running the top rail solid across the top.
BTW The last time I stick welded was 1974 in High School shop so I'm rusty.

[Calamity Jake]

Mig or tig makes for a better weld with no slag to chip off.

[fastfire]

I have stick and wire welded drillrod pipe from oil wells, dont expect to make beautifull welds.
This pipe is magnetic , you'll be going along making a good weld then all of sudden massive arc blow.
You can't control the derection of the arc. The pipe as a fence will last a lifetime.
Go with the wire if that's what you feel more comfortable with, I'd stick weld for me.

[MT Gianni]

I have run stick on a fence before with decent results. As one of the best welders I ever worked with told me though "If you can run a caulk gun , you can run a wire feed".

[bstone5]

If the sucker rod is used and has some rust, stick welding would be best.

Built large bird pens with tubing years ago.

[DougGuy]

That old pipe is very magnetic after it comes out of the ground, a mig machine will weld it but man it is some kind of a struggle because it will puddle up where IT wants to and not where YOU want it to. Sometimes the only way I could mig it was after it was heated cherry red and allowed to cool. Stick won't be much more forgiving but it will weld better than mig. 6010 stick is your friend, you can run it downhill and you can also mig over it very easily which it won't run over 7018 very pretty at all.

[hiram1]

make sure you rap the ground wire around the pipe 5 or 10 times befor you start welding takes care of the magnetic field in the pipe

[Just Duke]

If the sucker rod is used and has some rust, stick welding would be best.

Built large bird pens with tubing years ago.

Harbor Freight Grinder ;)

[Just Duke]

That old pipe is very magnetic after it comes out of the ground, a mig machine will weld it but man it is some kind of a struggle because it will puddle up where IT wants to and not where YOU want it to. Sometimes the only way I could mig it was after it was heated cherry red and allowed to cool. Stick won't be much more forgiving but it will weld better than mig. 6010 stick is your friend, you can run it downhill and you can also mig over it very easily which it won't run over 7018 very pretty at all.

I could degauss it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degaussing

[Just Duke]

make sure you rap the ground wire around the pipe 5 or 10 times befor you start welding takes care of the magnetic field in the pipe

Thanks for the heads up.

[RED333]

If you have a concert pad, stand the pipe up on one end, left fall like a tree.
Do this 2 or 3 times, each time swap ends, it should know the magnetism out of it.
As it is steel it wont hold the magnetism to well.
I would use SMAW(shielded metal arc welding) stick welding as most call it.
Gona be hard to get good looking welds as it is.

[bob208]

I would stuck weld it with 6010 or 6011 dc reverse polarity. a lot of pipe lines are welded with that process. I passed a 6g test with that. you can degauss it. or learn how to use a magnet on the opposite side of the weld. i have done that before. but if possible I would go with the degauss.

[bear67]

We weld up a lot of upset oilfield tubing in Texas and I suggest you stick (SMAW) weld it. For pressure welding and to pass xray, we use 5p/6010 a lot and run it a little hot. I prefer 7018 for corral/fence welding--just because that is how I was taught. You can rent or borrow a portable stick machine and in the pickup or on a trailer is easy to move down the fence line. I still can not get used to a wire feed out in the field.

IMPO sucker rod welds better with 70 or 8018. The carbon content of the steel in sucker rod (pump rods) makes the welds sometimes crack or crystalize especially when being hit by livestock. I was instructed as a nipper by my elders to always use Low H on sucker rod and 56 years later I am following directions. I taught welding on the college level for a few years and I can talk the engineering, but this is farm welding and we are not passing Xray or ultrasound testing or putting high pressure gas in the finished product. Besides, I am so shaky and see poorly enough that I know I can't pass any stinkin' tests anyway. Wish you were closer, I could supply the welding equipment and even some out of date rods.

[Farmall]

Not sure if you do, but a PTO generator on a tractor, and an old AC "buzz box" welder will weld magnetized sucker rod / pipe pretty well.
always preferred to make straps to hold the rod to the pipe, as opposed to trying to weld the rod straight to it.

[Pb2au]

Stick weld them. Simple, field expedient. Dragging a mig or tig around with the bottles is a pain in the posterior.
7018 is my welding rod of preference, but for that material 6010, pr 6013 will do just find.
and I agree, your china freight grinder will be your pal cleaning up the ends for welding.

[akajun]

Stick weld with 6011 on ac works very well for old oilfield pipe. If it's 2 3/8" it's just transmission line and likely not magnetic. Anything bigger and it could be drill stem and possibly magnetic. Every now and then I'll get a piece that is magnetic. Take your stinger lead and wrap it around the magnetized piece and run a bead on it, that will remove the magnetism .
Also figure out what Angle you need on your chopsaw to fish mouth your pipe, minimizes your grinding.

[M-Tecs]

One more vote for 6011 Stick. Mig doesn't does do well if outside in the wind.

[texassako]

Ours were all stick welded, and what I learned to weld on when I was a kid. It was used sucker rod with used oil field tubing for posts and top rail. A word of warning on any pipe you may use. If it is used pipe pulled from a well that was plugged, plan on repainting that pipe every year. It was free to us since we had a workover rig operation at the time, but the painting probably cost more than the savings in construction.

[bearcove]

New tube is as cheap as scrap cr#p. Thinner but will take paint and last longer. Hire a welder with a portable run 6010 5P+ downhill 2 passes, you fit for him. cheaper in long run

Pipe welding is my trade

[DCM]

Another vote for stick/SMAW. It will be the most productive for your purpose.

[buckwheatpaul]

Duke, I went to junior college and learned how to weld.... continuing education....I use stick over the other two.....plus if you learn stick welding use a DC welding only unit....you will get deeper penetration and better flow of the molten puddle....I owned a wire welder and sold it.....as a matter of fact I was welding today for a blocker pole for my creep feeder for our calves....hope this helps....

As you learn I bought some heavy steel jigs for the various pipe I use. These jigs allow you to cut saddles and various angle cuts that are useful in welding. They simply clamp to the pipe and you take your torch and make the cut following the angle on the jig or you can take a soap stone and trace it out from the jig to the pipe and then cut it out....hope this helps....Paul

[buckwheatpaul]

I vote for the 1/8" 6010 rod (DC Welder rod)....good penetration.

2-3/8 and 2-7/8" pipe is my usual weld....very strong and runs from 78 cents to 1.30/linear foot and the standard oil well pipe is 32' joint

[ubetcha]

I tried using pipe for the posts and the rails. The problem I was having was the horses soon found out they could lean on the rails to reach farther out to get a fresher grass. It didn't take long for the welds to break at the rail/post joint. It became a real PITA. re-welding all the time. Don't have horses any more.

[DLCTEX]

If using sucker rod on pipe I would run it through holes in the pipe, then weld it, or use straps to attach it. If you keep your ground close to the area welded you will have less problem with the magnetic splatter. I used 6011 for most of my pipe construction.

[CLAYPOOL]

Wrap ground cable 5 - 6 times. Stick weld w/portable. Drain holes on bottom of pipes... Do not weld them solid, leave ' em weep. Cope patterns made of metal sold at your local welding supply store are very handy as stated. Lots of rust will be air borne, use a respirator..!

[james23]

I also would recommend the stick welder. We have built lots of gates with oil field surplus over the years. As others said, old oil and rust makes the mig a poor choice while a cheap arc welder will work fine.

[NavyVet1959]

Welded quite a bit of drill rod for cattle corrals in my youth. Always used stick (DC) and an old Lincoln gasoline powered "Pipeliner" trailer mounted welder, because that is what we had on the ranch. I've tried MIG before on a home project, but quickly discovered that the splatter was more trouble to clean up than chipping slag from stick welding. I consider MIG for appropriate for welding very thin materials (at least for me). If it gets thinner than 16-gauge, I tend to burn through too many times when I'm stick welding.

Cattle corrals tend to be subject to more abuse than horse corrals. We had a large (2200 lb or so) bull decide one day to CLIMB over the fence to get to a heifer that was "coming in". The drill rod was bent at an angle where he climbed, but my welds held. Never had a horse do anything that crazy. Did have one (gelding) that was so stupid that he ran THROUGH a barbed wire fence when he saw the female was being ridden across another pasture. He *could* have just gone through the open gate about 20 ft to the left, but he didn't.

[starmac]

Check the triggers and make sure they are comfortable on the harbor freight grinders. I bought several of them a few years ago, so I could keep them in the service trucks and shop and not have to change wheels everytime I needed a different wheel. The best thing I could say about them was because they were cheap, it didn't hurt much to give them to someone that didn't have much use for a grinder, or to just plain throw them away.
This has been several years ago, maybe they have found a better chinaman to build them now.

[Just Duke]

New tube is as cheap as scrap cr#p. Thinner but will take paint and last longer. Hire a welder with a portable run 6010 5P+ downhill 2 passes, you fit for him. cheaper in long run

Pipe welding is my trade


I can't ever get anyone to show up. Also at the rate they charge you would think they have three kids in Harvard.

[NavyVet1959]

I can't ever get anyone to show up. Also at the rate they charge you would think they have three kids in Harvard.

Welders are pretty fair from my experience. At least as compared to air-conditioning guys. For some reason, *they* think that they can charge more for the installation of a systems just because the system costs you more. It takes just as much effort on their part to install a low cost 2-ton low SEER unit as a high cost 5-ton high SEER unit, but they have the nerve to charge significantly higher. With welders, they charge by the hour. If you live on a farm / ranch, learning how to weld is a good thing to know. Or becoming good friends with someone who knows how to weld and who will work for beer. :)

[Pb2au]

Ok, slight thread hijack imminent,,,,
So is the magnetizing of the drill rod a product of the use in the earth during drilling, or a product of the manufacturing process? My guess is during the drilling, but the deepest hole I have drilled is for fence posts for cows and horses. So I hardly qualify as an oil well driller.
Inquiring minds want to know....

[tygar]

In the old days I used quite a bit of pipe fencing/corrals but I'm not a welder so bought it, usually used, due to cost.

Sometimes it was economical but with it bending & getting messed up, I usually went with wood with hot wire.

[Just Duke]

Hopefully with the small amount of talent I posses I should be able to cobble these together.
Thanks for all the help guys

[BruceB]

I'm reminded of "the definition of a good welder", which I heard somewhere or other.
Having known a lot of welders over my fifty-odd years in mining, I now offer it to y'all:

"A GOOD welder is one who can weld a banana peel to a 2x4."

My imagination isn't up to visualizing that....

[Buffalo Barbie]

Hopefully with the small amount of talent I posses I should be able to cobble these together.
Thanks for all the help guys

Talent? Can you sing and dance? :bigsmyl2: [smilie=p:

[MT Gianni]

I'm reminded of "the definition of a good welder", which I heard somewhere or other.
Having known a lot of welders over my fifty-odd years in mining, I now offer it to y'all:

"A GOOD welder is one who can weld a banana peel to a 2x4."




My imagination isn't up to visualizing that....


To that I will add "in a sandstorm in Wyoming"

[MaryB]

What is the best low cost welder for small home repairs? Nothing thick, 1/8" max probably. I know flux core wire is pretty easy, I have used it but I am not fond of the splatter from the flux. I am a welding beginner, I have done it a few times with flux and regular wire feed is it.

[NavyVet1959]

What is the best low cost welder for small home repairs? Nothing thick, 1/8" max probably. I know flux core wire is pretty easy, I have used it but I am not fond of the splatter from the flux. I am a welding beginner, I have done it a few times with flux and regular wire feed is it.

I learned welding back in high school on a Lincoln AC-225. They survived the abuse of many students and never needed any repair. A few years ago, I stumbled across one of them on Craigslist for around $100 and bought it. Sure the version that also does DC would be nice, but I've more than paid for this welder with over 250 ft of metal picket fence that I built along my backyard. The only thing I've bought for it was a new ground clamp and a roll of ROMEX and some plugs to make a REALLY LONG 220V extension cord. My generator cannot provide enough power to run it for a prolonged bead at the amperage that I needed, so I had to go the long extension cord route. For anything thinner than 16-gauge steel, I will probably burn through it. For 16-gauge, I seldom burn through and for 14-gauge and thicker, I don't burn through. If you are skilled, I suspect that you could weld even thinner materials. I'm just relaying *my* welding ability.

I did not have good luck with the flux core wire feed welders either. The splatter was more of a pain to remove than the slag from stick welding, so I don't do the wire feed anymore. I *hear* that if you use gas shielded instead of flux core wire, it's a lot better, but I have no firsthand knowledge on this.

If the welding you are going to be doing is either only in your shop or you are willing to create an extension cord long enough to get from your 220V outlet to the work area, then the old Lincoln "Tombstone" (AC-225) welders are good.

[Just Duke]

Talent? Can you sing and dance? :bigsmyl2: [smilie=p:

How did you find me here?

[TXGunNut]

How did you find me here?


Never try to hide from a determined woman.

[MaryB]

My last attempt at stick welding was not pretty... it held but not pretty... I prefer a wire feed and the bulk of what I will be doing is thinner materials.