Welding in Backyard

[IEATRICE]

I didnt want to hijack the garage thread.

What precautions would you guys take if you were to weld in a backyard setting? my backyard has a wooden fence and currently is grass and has a wooden porch. Yard size is (guessing) about 1200sqft open rectangle shape.

Clearly, i would remove the BBQ and try to stay away from the fence.

is grass a problem in the summer? Worst case scenario i would still have a fire extinguisher on hand, a large bucket of water as well. Best case scenario i'd also have a garden hose hooked up ready to go lol.

As i write this i just remembered that I am getting a concrete patio in the backyard in 2 weeks so there will be minimal grass there.

thoughts?

[jcrazyjj]

you guys worry too much. as long as your grass isnt super dry/dead youll be fine. its not like its gonna start a giant forest fire. if just if a fire is started you could easily stomp it out. youll be fine.

[MoonRise]

How much and what type of welding are you thinking of doing?

For welding, you really should work on/over a non-flammable surface. The direct welding work table/bench/surface should probably be a metal plate or something else that can withstand the welding heat with no burning or such.

Grass burns. I've set it on fire with the sparks from an abrasive chop saw. Had to get a bucket of water and put it out. And that was on (mostly) green grass, not tinder dry and summer parched stuff!

Precautions? The best one is common sense and thinking.

If you are getting a concrete patio and want it to stay looking nice, then don't do metal grinding//cutting/welding on/near the patio. All those small steel particles will quickly make rust stains on the patio. And grinder swarf can travel a pretty good distance, so keep that in mind if you don't want the patio or the fence or the porch to get rust stains.

One possibility for an outdoor 'metal-working' ground surface would be packed sand. Relatively cheap and doesn't really burn.

[bensweld]

If you have close neighbors i would suggest using some kind of screen to prevent onlookers from getting their eyes flashed ,kids don't know better.

[ol' Stick Guy]

Wet down the grass around your work area and put down a spark pan round cutoff saws and grinder swarf near your welding area. If you are going to pour a pad of concrete get heat resistant so you will not explode chunks out of it from slag.
If you are wooried about rust discoloration you can acid stain your cement

[mrandrei]

I sometimes weld in the backyard and never experienced any problems. I actually prefer it even more than working inside the shop. Ventilation is not a problem anymore.

[STwelder]

Welding in the grass will kill the grass, not so much the weld sparks or slag or the occasional hot piece of steel falling on to the grass, all though they wont help the grass,but your feet trodding down the grass will do the most damage to it. And as stated some sort of welding curtain for the neighbors eyes, and keep the water/garden hose charged and ready. And HF sells fire proof tarps for welding, they work great for grinding sparks and such too.

[loudnproud]

harbor freight also sells welders blankets you could lay out.

[farmersamm]

only thing anyone left out..........

BUY EARPLUGS FOR YOUR NEIGHBORS.

[Road Warrior]

If you've got kids, bettter not let them outside with bare feet anymore. One misplaced welding rod, or a piece of wire, sharp bit of slag, etc, etc.

A few years ago, I was doing a job and set some grass on fire. It went up a small hill to a small "hog house". The house was really small, maybe 6' X 10', and the short wall on it was about 3' high, with a tin roof.
The grass was burning all along the backside of the building and I ran over and started stomping it out. Without thinking, I put my hand down on the tin roof and was instantly burnt. I had 4 or 5 big blisters on my hand before I even knew what happened.
Valuable lesson learned there that day.

Another dandy story since we're on the backyard welding subject.
I was welding a hitch on hay bale trailer for a guy. In my yard, getting late in the evening and the grass was getting wet from dew.

I was using my Lincoln Ranger 8, running some 7018 about 130 amps.
Not wanting to lay on wet grass, and again without thinking, I went to the shed for some plywood to lay on, but didn't have any plywood.
The next best thing was a sheet of 4' X 8' foil faced insulation board. I laid the insul board on the ground, cooked off a few rods and laid my stinger down on the insul. board to answer my cell phone. I pulled off my gloves, reached up and grabbed hold of the trailer to pull myself up and BBRRRZZZZWWWFFFFTTTTTZZZZZZAAAAAPPPPP!!!! I got the crap shocked out of me. My clothes were damp from the dew, making me an excellent conductor from the stinger right to the trailer. To this day, I don't even like to stand on a wet concrete floor when I weld anything.

[Apples]

I remember one time I was cutting up some steel outside for some reason or another, using the 9" angle grinder.

Hot as anything would have been 40-45degree day (that's like 110-115 F I think) and I turn around and here is this fire burning my

Ha....

[mark8310]

Welding and torchcutting is not the problem,,,,, grinding and chop-sawing is. They throw the sparks further out, and you look, no problem, but they smolder for a little,,,, you look up a little while afterwards, you got fire.

I wouldn't be so worried about MY backyard, but the neighbors backyards, that butt up to yours.

Note, in many localities, starting a property-damaging fire thru carelessness, is now a criminal offense, not just a civil matter.

[IEATRICE]

Thats an interesting issue you bring up with the criminal offense thing - it's a very grey area ...I find it very peculiar that any degree of carelessness would warrant a criminal charge...there would have to be a certain threshold to the degree of carelessness...it would have be shown that you showed gross negligence

anywho...great responses...keep them coming.

Btw, our plans changed with the concrete patio...the concrete ends at the opening of the backyard so i will "only" have a deck and grass to deal with...errr watch out for

[farmersamm]

Mark's right on the button

The legal beagles are startin' to make just about everything a criminal offense. They do it by statute. Not the old common law definitions of criminal negligence. It's a grand new world.

They're prosecuting tons of people now for traffic accidents that wind up in a fatality.

Just a bunch of creeps that need to justify their jobs, and pass judgement on others

[farmersamm]

I'm waitin' for it to be a crime to default on your bills. Not too much of a stretch of the imagination now days

[Sandy]

Originally Posted by mark8310

Welding and torchcutting is not the problem,,,,, grinding and chop-sawing is. They throw the sparks further out, and you look, no problem, but they smolder for a little,,,, you look up a little while afterwards, you got fire.

I wouldn't be so worried about MY backyard, but the neighbors backyards, that butt up to yours.

Note, in many localities, starting a property-damaging fire thru carelessness, is now a criminal offense, not just a civil matter.

Cost recovery is another biggy they are going after. I love to work outside, but anymore I'm taking the time to run a sprinkler first, 50-60 foot area. I always keep a good sprayer set up real close at hand.