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Welding shop on wheels

M543A2

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These are really nice welders. One caution; BE SURE TO PUT DOWN THE REAR STABILIZERS! The unit is very prone to tipping if it does not have torch tanks on the front.
I got one on an M200 from Stout Field in Indy for about $2000. It had all of the boxes full of equipment and runs really well. Equipment included an arc air outfit, mig welder, many feet of very heavy weld leads, many torch accessories and hose, all new, a rod heater box, helmets, goggles, protective clothing, and much more too numerous to list. A welder supply shop my son frequents said that even without the equipment the welder unit would bring around $8000 out of his shop. to make you feel better about the price, look at engine powered units even at farm stores that are around 200 amp, much less duty cycle for $3000!
As pictured, we had a spare deuce, so we mounted the weld unit on it for better portability. We have added a rear deck that has tool boxes at the sides (off 5 ton parts trucks) with a tail gate and ladder. The deck is of 1/4" steel to make a sturdy work area. There is a door in the middle that allows access into the area above the truck frame inside the welder support frame that has a bottom in it to allow storage of lengths of stock steel here.
It is a project in the making, so it is not painted pr completed yet. It is my son's pet project at the moment, so he will be fitting it out even more with an air storage tank and a hose reel with 100 feet of hose.
The arc air is great for cutting up old machinery like combines where there is a lot of sheet metal. It does not care if there is any kind of metal in the way as long as it is conductive to electricity.
Regards Marti
 

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M543A2

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For anyone who wants the manual for these welders, go to ordnancecorpsusa.com and purchase the "Metal Workers CD". It has an unbelievable amount of information on it, including the government manual TM9-3431-272-14&P, Welding Shop Trailer Mounted Model 11838792 which is for these units on the M-200 trailer.
It is apparently the complete manual for the unit.
Regards Marti
 

ichudov

Member
399
15
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Location
Chicagoland, IL
M45A34, I am drooling!

My own pleasure is that the machine has only 2 hours on it. Kind of neat. It also came with a screw compressor and a hobart wire feed.

Anyhoo, I am wondering if anybody has that manual for free download.

I do run a website liberatedmanuals.com, with all military TMs free, but it does not have that manual.

i
 

M543A2

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Our compressor developed an oil leak in the round cooler between the drive end cap and body of the unit. It was impossible to fix, and a new one was quoted at around $700. We adapted it to send the oil to a heat exchanger I had from an industrial machine. One side of the exchanger has the oil from the compressor going through it, the other side coolant from the engine. This does two important things, it cools the compressor and also warms the compressor oil to keep condensation out of the unit when not in use. We run the compressor occasionally when the welder is warmed up to circulate the compressor oil through the exchanger and warm and dry the unit. The conversion is not hard to do. You do need an exchanger that will stand the air pressure put out by the welder. I cannot readily get pictures of the adaptation unless I take the unit off the machine. If anyone has a leaking cooler, I can probably explain how I converted the compressor coil to route the oil to the exchanger.
Regards Marti
 

NEIOWA

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NE IOWA
Good deal. When that unit was on DRMS the listing was something like "unknown condition, has not been started or used in many years....." You never know.
 

brianrbull

Member
351
9
18
Location
Casnovia Michigan
M45A34, I am drooling!


Anyhoo, I am wondering if anybody has that manual for free download.

I do run a website liberatedmanuals.com, with all military TMs free, but it does not have that manual.

i
The Manuals in question here are still "Classified" and not avaliable to the general public.... just like the manuals on the M1031 Contact Truck and several other pieces of equipment.... Hopefuly one day they will be avaliable....
 

salvorone@aol.com

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new smyrns beach fl
several years back i bought 5 of those at albany ga. sold them all . was disapointed with trailers, were very heavy , and overbilt , junked out two trailers , loved the perkins diesel . wish i had kept the engine. still have a wirefeed from one, thought i might use but didnt ,will sell. some didnt come with the starters, hope yours are all there , good luck with your purchase :shock:
 

M543A2

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ICHUDOV: The manual is not classified to where you cannot get one. They just might not be free. I have the CD I mentioned from Ordnance Corps in a posting above with it on it. It was not all that expensive.
Regards Marti
 

ichudov

Member
399
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Location
Chicagoland, IL
ICHUDOV: The manual is not classified to where you cannot get one. They just might not be free. I have the CD I mentioned from Ordnance Corps in a posting above with it on it. It was not all that expensive.
Regards Marti
Marti, thanks a lot. Would it be possible if you could email it to me. My email address is ichudov AT gmail DOT com.

Thank you!
 

derickjbrown

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Location
estacada OR
i worked on a program that rebuilt these from the ground up. and yes the trailer WILL FLIP. just a fyi.

we pulled over 700amp out of these units, no joke.

the generator is seperate from the welder, we guessed it to be about a 25kw , i think??? thats what we came up with.

the #1 part that was hand made was the electric box that is mounted behind the gen/welder on the fire wall. this part is not available. the person that was directly involved with making this welder is named mike helson #419-584-0008. really a nice guy.

the air compressor is super easy to rebuild. and it cost 30,000$ for a new one. at least thats what the gov. was paying.
 
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