Operation: Pole barn/shop

[_Weldman_]

whtbaron and Weldman....

What kind of cell phone boosters are you guys using? I live in a similar situation...cell towers are behind a high hill and signals are blocked. I have to go about 3 miles away to get a signal.

Since you are in the US like me unlike whtbaron that uses other carriers I'm using a WeBoost 72 dB directional antennae temp mounted on a PVC conduit. To see how strong of a signal I get I run a app on my phone while turning it or at least the wife does as I'm hanging on in a tree and she is telling me over a walkie talkie the strength of it ditch the RG6 cable and just run RG11 for best results, they do make F connectors that will fit it it's easy along with tool just need to order online.
https://www.weboost.com/products/home-complete

[_Weldman_]

At least cleaning the bathroom is easy

Little extreme there but we do have a RV toilet and for a bathtub for right now is a rubber 5 gallon feed tub Pole barn comes first to hunker down in with camper and if we hit the road again we have a place to fall back to, but breaking ground for a house next spring after I repack all the cylinders on backhoe, put in power steering, and fix up the engine.

[whtbaron]

whtbaron and Weldman....

What kind of cell phone boosters are you guys using? I live in a similar situation...cell towers are behind a high hill and signals are blocked. I have to go about 3 miles away to get a signal.

I haven't bought one yet, but my understanding is that you need a signal to boost. I can get weak signals in the yard away from the steel bins/sheds, but it's sketchy. If your closest signal is 3 miles away, you're probably hooped unless a really tall tower can grab you some rays...

[shortfuse]

Since you are in the US like me unlike whtbaron that uses other carriers I'm using a WeBoost 72 dB directional antennae temp mounted on a PVC conduit.

Thanks for the info.....

[_Weldman_]

Few more poles put in going up 9 feet, almost ready for the roof.

[Welder Dave]

Thanks,
Running E71T-11 Lincolns NR211 and it goes on well. Little trick on welding magnetic pipe is to wrap the ground lead as many times around it and helps pull the magnetism away from the welding area. I'm running .035 in some areas and sometimes .045.

I'm pretty late to reply but I wasn't referring to arc blow with magnetic drill stem. It's not a structural pipe and therefore if welded should take every precaution to ensure adequate strength. NR211 is a general purpose wire and not designed for structural welding or dynamic loads. Welds looking nice doesn't always equate to strength. I think NR232 or 233 would have been a better choice for self-shielded flux-core but your design does help limit the strength the welds have to hold.

[_Weldman_]

I'm pretty late to reply but I wasn't referring to arc blow with magnetic drill stem. It's not a structural pipe and therefore if welded should take every precaution to ensure adequate strength. NR211 is a general purpose wire and not designed for structural welding or dynamic loads. Welds looking nice doesn't always equate to strength. I think NR232 or 233 would have been a better choice for self-shielded flux-core but your design does help limit the strength the welds have to hold.

That type of wire won’t fit my machine due to its size, NR211 is approved for AWS D1.1 also according to FABshield 21B another T11 wire is rated up to 3/4 inch structural. The whole T8 classification came from re-classification after Northridge earthquake in California, no seismic activity here.

[12V71]

That type of wire won’t fit my machine due to its size, NR211 is approved for AWS D1.1 also according to FABshield 21B another T11 wire is rated up to 3/4 inch structural. The whole T8 classification came from re-classification after Northridge earthquake in California, no seismic activity here.

There is miles of sucker pipe in feedlot pens around here that has been welded with 21B or NR211, that stuff gets bashed by cows, hit by loaders and dozers cleaning pens and you don't see weld failures. Usually it gets ripped apart through the pipe wall. I will say that 21B seems to have less of a tendency to pinhole vs NR211. A bit of preheat helps prevent the pinholes with 211, at least for me.
After installing semi loads of the stuff, I've run into very little that has been severely magnetized. One of my guys said the stuff gets magnetized when they bang it around going in and out of the hole. He should know after pulling oil wells in Oklahoma and Texas for many years.

[milomilo]

Coming right along nicely.

[_Weldman_]

There is miles of sucker pipe in feedlot pens around here that has been welded with 21B or NR211, that stuff gets bashed by cows, hit by loaders and dozers cleaning pens and you don't see weld failures. Usually it gets ripped apart through the pipe wall. I will say that 21B seems to have less of a tendency to pinhole vs NR211. A bit of preheat helps prevent the pinholes with 211, at least for me.
After installing semi loads of the stuff, I've run into very little that has been severely magnetized. One of my guys said the stuff gets magnetized when they bang it around going in and out of the hole. He should know after pulling oil wells in Oklahoma and Texas for many years.

Ran some NR212 in some spots cause I ran out of the 211 and will say that lays the best when welding it. No pin holes here, I have sanded down each joint to clean metal, maybe you have too much trash in the weld for it?

[12V71]

Could be, We would tack up and brush the chit out of the joint. But the 21B wouldn't do the pin holing.

[farmersammm]

I've found that pinholing depends on the brand of wire, and how clean the metal is. Lincoln NR211 is very good for avoiding pinholes. Blue Demon is not. Other brands, I dunno, but I assume there are differences.

I've never run 212. Nor have I ever run any of the structural wires. I guess I mostly use 7018 for just about everything.

[farmersammm]

And.........................if you grind out a 211 weld, you'll mostly find that the pinholes are at the surface, not down in the weld profile. I have a love hate relationship with the stuff

[_Weldman_]

Could be, We would tack up and brush the chit out of the joint. But the 21B wouldn't do the pin holing.

I actually take it down to shiny metal with a grinder sanding disc 24 grit plus take any slag or surface imperfections from cutting torch down to smooth surface. Probably could eat off where I plan to weld.

[Leogl]

You will find out that moisture and too high of voltage is the pinhole problem shelf life on 211 isn’t very good once you open it

[_Weldman_]

Something like this

[whtbaron]

So when you start attaching grainery sheets, is the plan to drill and tap each hole in the pipe?

[_Weldman_]

So when you start attaching grainery sheets, is the plan to drill and tap each hole in the pipe?

Nope, on top of that middle pole will be another pole running horizontally connecting all 5 poles and from there will be u bolts using neoprene washers that will grab the middle top grain bin sheets. The other part that will be secure is the ends if you are looking at the last picture posted, the left and right side will drape over the whole frame past it about a foot you see now but won’t touch it. I will weld out rigger poles on the outside of 4.5” poles as seen here..

After the outrigger poles are welded on will take the door frames that came from these grain bins they are 8’ tall and have a 3/16” flange that matches the roofing profile cut them up and weld them to outriggers to bolt the roof to. Middle roof panels will be 18 gauge and rest will be 20 gauge of 5 panels in total.

[_Weldman_]

After a 3 day snowstorm I got more going up, one more to go then where string is if you can see it I will cut the pipes off and saddle a 36 ft long pipe on top.

[_Weldman_]

Where can I find information on allowable spans for steel sheeting? Needing something thick enough to span 4 feet without support, was contemplating tread plate but was leaning more towards expanded metal grating to cut back on weight. Will need to hold enough weight to support what one usually supports in a loft in a garage/shop and will be welded to the floor joists.

[M J D]

Where can I find information on allowable spans for steel sheeting? Needing something thick enough to span 4 feet without support, was contemplating tread plate but was leaning more towards expanded metal grating to cut back on weight. Will need to hold enough weight to support what one usually supports in a loft in a garage/shop and will be welded to the floor joists.

If you can find the non flattened expanded metal you may be able to use that. Otherwise some type of formed decking. " Let's go Brandon"

[farmersammm]

It depends on the size of the bay. Think of the expanded metal(and actually any sheet good) as a drum head. The more weld around the perimeter, the better.........

Sheet goods want to suck in towards the center when loaded. Smaller bays are better, less area, more perimeter weld.

4' is pretty wide, probably too wide for standard 3/4 expanded. Break that 4' span into small bays using angle iron will increase load capacity. Doesn't take mondo thick angle iron, but the wider the legs, the better. Even flat stock is useable. Anything that will take a load under tension.

How to set up a load bearing floor with expanded.................

The material I had to work with. Picked up at auction for a song, barely made it home without the axles coming out from underneath it. This was a traditional cross plank floor. I hate this design on stock trailers, but it's common.

New lower sides to replace manure damage. BUT NOTE HOW THE EXPANDED IS SET UP. Small bays, but relatively light weight crossmembers(the long strips are only 1/4" flat stock)...........just a way to cut clear span on the sheet goods. After the expanded was installed, the floor was overlayed with standard 2" dimensional lumber.



Been on the road for 25yrs. Heavy, repeated load cycles.

Without the lumber, the expanded could take a person walking on it without any noticeable deflection. The bays are about 18"x18". Take a look at a lawn equipment trailer to get an idea as to how much clear span you can get away with.

[farmersammm]

https://metlx.com/resources/span-data/

[_Weldman_]

Flat stock it is then, then whatever expanded metal I deck it with.

[_Weldman_]

That was about 117 lb. pipe (6.5# a foot @ 18 ft) to get up there on top without the front end loader since it couldn’t reach that high. Thankfully I rucked a few thousand miles in the infantry carrying up to 150 lbs at times.