Metal Thickness?

[Vigo327]

One advantage i have in running my chinese welder and plasma cutter is that i only run them on 240v. I think a lot of disappointment on the internet with chinese 'power electronics' of various kinds not living up to their ratings etc is coming from using a 'dual voltage' machine on 120. I don't recall if i have cut 1/4" yet but i have definitely cut some things that were close and im currently blaming the 'not great' cut finish on my shaky hand technique and uneven travel speed.. But if i get better and it still sucks im gonna start blaming the machine! lol

 

[BxB301]

Awaiting a box from Surplus Center - It should be able to test run this week.

 

[BxB301]

Taylor Swift was right, haters gonna hate hate hate

 

[MTGreen]

Taylor Swift was right, haters gonna hate hate hate

That's awesome, congrats on the progress!
I understand it's not finished yet, but it looks like some really substantial weight needs to be added to make it effective as a digger as your skids appear to be picking up and walking quite a bit

 

[BxB301]

That's awesome, congrats on the progress!
I understand it's not finished yet, but it looks like some really substantial weight needs to be added to make it effective as a digger as your skids appear to be picking up and walking quite a bit

Thank you for the congratulations, its nice to see some positivity here on my project.

Here is some of what I learned 2.3 minutes after firing the engine up for the first time;
Non-selfpropelled/tracked machines absolutely suck to move. Anybody that owns one and say they are just "slow" is seriously understating it.
I found it quicker to just curl the bucket to move/drag myself forward a few inches at a time, than to manipulate the boom/stick to achieve the same motion.
- I see what you mean, but no, those were intentional/frustration drag marks.
(Also, I learned I'm pretty impatient)

 

[MTGreen]

Thank you for the congratulations, its nice to see some positivity here on my project.

Here is some of what I learned 2.3 minutes after firing the engine up for the first time;
Non-selfpropelled/tracked machines absolutely suck to move. Anybody that owns one and say they are just "slow" is seriously understating it.
I found it quicker to just curl the bucket to move/drag myself forward a few inches at a time, than to manipulate the boom/stick to achieve the same motion.
- I see what you mean, but no, those were intentional/frustration drag marks.
(Also, I learned I'm pretty impatient)

Not sure what your plans are for finished mobility, but several ideas occur to me about putting easily removable swiveling wheels on your skids or retractable wheels with over center levers to lower off the center section of your machine. It also occurs to me to use one of those motorized trailer movers to lever one end up and use the motor to move it like the one below:

Just some thoughts.

Of course you could always put a trailer hitch on the back end, add some wheels, make the skids telescoping with pins, and use it like a towable backhoe. The truck you hook it to could also provide quite a bit of weight and stability as well

 

[ptsg]

Taylor Swift was right, haters gonna hate hate hate

That's great! Looks awesome!

I'm so glad you decided to ignore them and did your thing anyway. There's nothing but joy to use something you build yourself, specially after you had so many people saying "it can't be done, it's not worth it, bla bla bla".

Do you think you'll need some spikes or spuds on the front legs to keep it from pushing forward?

 

[kf4uda]

Looking good, keep the updates coming!

 

[BxB301]

Looking good, keep the updates coming!

I think is needs a little bit of a redesign.
I made a video on the build and problems if anyone cares to see it

 

[LD1]

I think too many GPM for the motor size....and just in general. Too jerky. And bogging and almost stalling the motor.

Without digging back through the thread, what pump did you use and whats the HP