Career Ending Mistake! (Welding Cracks on a Skid Steer 

I really appreciate how you showed the good, the bad, and the ugly. This type of honesty allows us to see the real conditions and problems that arise when doing such repairs. I also have no doubt that your repairs are structurally sound, and will last. Thank you Anthony!

Almost turned into meltin skid steer Anthony lol. Good shit 👍👍

A, you did not F it up, you did good. Been working metal for 50+ years and we never stop learning. Repairs, out of position welding, and related is where the boys and the men part ways. Great vids. Rock on Anthony.

In my career as an auto body repairman, I saw a few little fires like that. Ford used magnesium on radiator support panels on a few year models of the trucks and we were constantly warned not to weld on them. Glad you saw it in time.

And that right there is exactly why I keep specifically a CO2 fire extinguisher handy when I am doing welding on anything like this. A CO2 extinguisher doesn't make a HUGE mess and won't contaminate a weld area. And the CO2 will get down in those real odd areas that you can't see.

I am just a amateur welder with a mig welder and my welds usually are pretty ugly. I am surprised at how often you regrind welds. There is a lot I have to learn about welding and most welding videos do not show grinding metal out or multipass welding processing end to end. This is extremely helpful for someone who seeks knowledge but perhaps doesn't have the resources or cannot benefit monetarily from home welding. Thanks. Subscribed.

I know you was quick with the fire but in my mind it seemed like minutes!! I’m sitting here going “Fire!! Fire!!” Glad it turned out ok!👍🏼

i was in a sale barn this year, and even after wetting down the hay and moving it as far as i could by hand i had the wind take a spark and instantly flare up. fire extinguisher didnt do shit to put it out and wind was blowing pretty good. next thing you know have 2 stalls lit up and wind pushing the fire towards about 20 head of cattle. ive never bailed water so fucking fast in my life out of their troughs to manage it

Definitely a how-to. Problems pop up fast and how to deal with them.. funky for sure.

"The back of my head? Really?" Fuckin got me 😂 Love it! 🤙

always remind myself that complacency kills. its honestly words to live by. keep up the good work brother

Holy shit that fire was going good very quickly! That would have shaken me up too. Thanks for sharing the ups and downs.

Anthony, thanks for being real for us and not pushing out fake “everything works all the time for me” videos. Those don’t help anyone.

Often cracks at the toe of a wells like that are from an oversized weld that draws stress to it. It might seem counterintuitive but sometimes less is more. You might want to use a penetrant test to see if you need to replace more. CWI and ironworker here. Still waiting to put up a staircase together.

Dude I’ve been religious watching your videos, my wife got me a stick machine and you’ve shown me a ton of shit already, thank you brotha! Almost took out a whole block with those sparks my man🤣🤣

You mentioned you could have prevented the fire by gorilla taping the fire blanket up so the sparks wouldn’t get there. What I have done in the past is either use several stabila torpedo levels or sola brand they have wicked magnets on them or just magnets to hold the blanket. I haven’t had much luck with tape. Thanks for posting!!

Usually I would say don't be so hard on yourself but after years of watching you do your thing I think I can say you being hard on yourself made you a better welder/fabricator. I love the transparency, be your own worst critic.

Hello Anthony, I worked in timber industry an in summer time the forest service makes loggers keep fire tools on site one of them is a 5 gallon backpack water-filled fire extinguisher with hand pump.i always have that when doing welding repairs with normal dry extinguisher as backup.much cheaper an don't make a big mess when used.they were called piss pumps keep in cab in winter.

I've never ran into a situation like that but if I did giving the location of those cracks I would have approached it with the electric die grinder and a tapered carbide Burr would have been slower but no sparks

Always fun when you get a fire going down in the bottom of something. If someone has never dealt with a fire like that it's hard to understand how fast they can take off into something you can't get a handle on. I keep a couple of extinguishers on hand at all times but the piss can is my first go to, less mess to clean up and a lot cheaper. I've put out some healthy oil / grease fires with one, even though it's not the correct method. Definitely a must have on any mobile rig.

Been following you for years, and will continue! Thank you Mr. Anthony!

I'm always welding on something that as so much oil soaked dirt and grease don't matter how much i wet things down or clean it up seems like always got a fire lol keep on doing what you do like watching

holy shit man that was a close one there. new fear unlocked for me I'm glad I always keep a fire extinguisher in my mini van rig in case something goes wrong. high respects to you remaining calm and not saying F@#k many times during the fire 🤣

Good job with the repair and getting the fire out..😂 seeing the fire was a eye opener for me too because I be welding on different types of machines from time to time watching you there helped to make me more aware. I'm watching you a long time now and I'm always learning something from you. As always greetings from 🇮🇪 🇮🇪 from your friend Martin 👋🖐👍

I am gonna need another sticker.....I was in a car accident and my SUV was a total loss... Going through some chit right now... Love your videos dude... Keep up the great work man...

Good job with the water and fire extinguisher. That’s happened to me before. Even with fire blanket, a small fire, like that can easily be put out with an air hose with the turbo nozzle.

Good thing you were prepared with that fire extinguisher! Definitely should have left the arc gouger in the truck on this job!

Over the years, ive learned to always keep a big cleaning spray type bottle of water within reach when welding/cutting on something that may easily catch fire. I also sometimes have the air hose with a blowgun handy. Works to blowout small fires and also handy for cooling things back down if you're welding in the proximity of shaft seals and such. This reminds me.....i still need to get a few fire extinguishers for the cold storage part of my shop.

You say you have "complete faith" in a lifetime repair. I'm still trying to figure out the cause of the crack. It appears to be going across a non-structural fender. Somehow there is too much flex there. I was thinking it needs a gusset, but is it possible there is another hidden crack somewhere?

This was the most relatable vid I’ve watched from you , 10/10 more like this 😂

Maybe not a how to but it's a reality. Sometimes it's good to see things go wrong because that's life.❤

Utmost respect for showing it all -- good, bad, and ugly! Hats off ^^

*A lot of welders have a "flaming shed" story. Like airplanes, every one you walk away from is a good one. And every other ASV skid loader has this issue. They should make reinforcement kits for it.*

Been there on a mini bike, had the engine / carb covered with a welding glove and blanket. It didn't matter. The spark found a way to the air filter. I grabbed *TWO* empty fire extinguishers while contemplating if I should push it *OUT* of the building before it explodes (gas tanks are vented). LUCKILY, I found a *THIRD* fire extinguisher that did the trick.

A ready pumped up garden sprayer is a good thing to have on hand . ..... you can poke the wand into tight spaces....... it may not stop everything, but worst case it will buy you time.

Good job on catching the fire. Look into getting a used Pressurized Water extinguisher (PW) you refill it with tap water and a shot of Dawn dishwashing detergent and charge it with a tire inflator to 100 psi. I use them all the time welding esp outside with leaves, wood and such about and self-refill makes it a good choice. Because you fill it in the shop, there isn't any hesitation to use it, esp if the neighbors kid is showing off his super soaker, water stream is good for an easy 50 feet.

I've done that before. Skid loader belly pans are always full of engine and hydraulic oil. If one is used on a farm or landscaping then it's probably full of hay, straw, leaves and mulch too. Take the bellypan off and powerwash the hell out of it first

Out of ALL the YT videos I have watched, this has to be the most brutally honest by far. I laughed and loved it (like those stupid Fuckin signs) GREAT job.

You're completely right about the battery, it takes literally 5 seconds to take it off and you eliminate any chance of frying the computer

I was welding a hay stacker bed up and a little fire happened. Rotary files work great in corners.

Daily reminder that fire extinguishers should be in every shop in multiple locations and changed out for known working ones regularly. especially in a hot shop doing welding.

I did it too with my own car... welding a metal patch to the windshield pillar. I protected almost everything... but a spark went down the pillar and dit put some electrical wires in fire... no arm, except some wires were pretty melted... Oh, and there was grease in there too, from anti-rust protection...

Great lesson, Anthony! Our family loves your stuff. Keep up the great work!

Good recovery brother 💪sorry but i had to laugh when you put away the arc and came back with the grinder 🤣

When that fire lit , Anthony said “Oh hell nah I ain’t about to be buying them a skid steer “

Still the realest welder out there!! Great vid

That was scary af.

I try and leave the vehicle able to be moved quickly and also have an air hose with a long blow gun i made from steel fuel line . most of the time you can blow the fire out even oil fires and cool down any hot slag that falls into places you cant access . the fire extinguisher makes a mess and takes awhile to clean before you can start working again.

Damn near pissed my pants when I seen that fire. I was rooting for ya. Lol

you got a real terry davis vibe. i like that.

thanks for keeping it real Anthony

I'm right there with you man. Try as you might, the perfect piece of molten metal will find the gob of grease. 😂

Great recovery ❤

Other than the childish temper tantrum antics you saved the machine and did a fantastic job of fixing.

As much as you wear a respirator and a grinding shield you should invest in a papr system. Millers new one is a grind shield and welding hood all in one. Way more comfortable than a respirator also.

If I can get inside a building I’d preferably use dual shield mig on this repair. That’s just me though .

When welding cracked metal drill a small hole at the end of the crack it relieves pressure and will stop it from continuing out after drilling then weld out as you normally would just something I picked up repairing equipment.

Fires good for the soul . Way to handle it kid .

After setting a couple pieces of equipment on fire even after I’ve done as much as I could to prevent it from happening in the shop, I keep a water hose and water extinguisher handy for the inevitable grease fire. That freaking powder is evil and no matter what you do short of taking the stupid thing completely apart, it gets everywhere and can cause electrical issues later. One time I had a small flare up and as I was putting it out one of the new guys came running to me with an extinguisher. I more or less dared him to use it and before I would have let him I would have pushed the machine out of the shop and let it burn to the ground…… it was junk anyway.

WOW never seen a crack develop there was it cracked on both sides? Good job being aware and catching that fire before it really got out of hand.

Logging equipment is always the worst. Wood chips mixed with leaking oil and grease. A lot of it you just flood the belly pans out with a fire wagon and make sure the wagon is filled back up before you start.

I always have a blow gun with a long tube on it so I can reach down in to put out a fire. If possible, have a helper as a fire watch.

I liked your Battery comment about saving thousands of dollars here's a story. I work at a Heavy duty Truck Dealership had a truck come in that would run but had a list of codes and ran poorly. the customer had welded some expanded metal and plate to the dump body and he had shorted out every module in this truck except the Engine ECM and the VCS. all said and done truck was down for almost a year about cost him about $35,000 to repair.

Great video, Ialways learn something.

last summer bone dry cutting hay had to stop go home arc weld a crack on the haybine and 7018 rod goes good dont want to stop that either but then could hear some crackling sound somewhere opened my helmet lawn was in flames all around me taking off at amazing speed good thing had 5 gallon pail water close by

For people that say that it doesn’t matter to disconnect the battery I have seen new equipment have modules fry over not disconnecting the battery that would have been very costly for a customer.

Way to go Anthony 👍

Love the videos Anthony!

Looks good to me. I bet that made you pucker a little. Taping the fire blanket is a good idea, I'll have to remember that.

Good stuff 👍 but seeing you wire wheel so close to the fire proof blanket sketches me out. Been there done that and the wire wheel grabbed the blanket and warped the thing faster than I could react. Same job I was doing crack repair on sheet metal on a bowling pinsetter machine and a pile of dust hidden under the machine started smoking, no fire thankfully. They cleaned out that part under the machine for the rest of them after that lol.

that has happend to me a few times luckly i always have a fire extinguisher next to me when im welding ive used it many times and saved myself lots of money

I'm always setting the greasy equipment on fire at work. My first go-to is the air blow gun. That will blow out most small fires. But yes I have an extinguisher next to me just in case

Good video! No pretending, it is how it is.

There's a word for people who think disconnecting the negative terminal of the battery is "unnecessary". We call those people "morons".

HELL YEA!!! Awesome vid Rockstar! Doesn't matter how well you protect, them damn fires start from time to time! When is the next house update?

After welding, I would have ground it flat and added a 1/4" plate about 6" x 8" over the top to beef up that bad connection design. When the bucket is full there is alot of weight there.

From what i been told just remoing the battery wouldnt stop high frequency or the high voltage from ruining computers or other electronics. I was told there is a device you can hook on to the battery to reroute the harmful electricity from welding. Of course i always just place my ground in a good clean spot and havent have problems yet

Well you know like all of us, not all work goes perfectly!!😮

"How to pre-heat a skid steer for welding." 🏆

In my 25 years of welding I can't even count the number of fires that have started in our shop.

I understand what you are saying but if it works for the duration of the machine then it is a how to. Way gooder than anything I could do

That’s my biggest fear is that I’ll burn down my shop from a wild spark.

we rarely see the back of your head, Thanks! LOL

I always use a wet towel. Forget that fire blanket. . A wet towel friend.

what size fire extinguisher do you recommend carrying on your welding truck? Do you have to get specific ones to carry on a welding bed out in the weather?

You ok. Fire comes with the game. But you did good I learned a lot. I’m in the union ironworker and I see a lot of fires set by professionals ironworkers. It’s just going to come with it.

Removing the battery could save thousands? It’s common practice and I understand that but it’s the only thing in the electric system capable of absorbing stray currents! It’s a fire risk if there’s a short and manufacturers are covering their backend by saying it’s necessary but think about it! It’s capable of producing far more current and has the internal resistance to nullify even a big welders stray currents! I’m happy for anyone to prove me wrong! I’d suggest disconnecting the ecu over the battery and On sensitive electronic systems that can suffer from stray emf damage then shielding is the only protection to rely on

A can full of fire retardent powder frm an outdated fire extinguisher sprinkled around before starting helps suppress little flameups.

Keep welding forever

Poor man's powder coat. Paint it before the weld cools off!

Great video always enjoy the videos close call but I bet every body hsd had that happen some point no damage no harm. 👍👍

What killed Willy Doyle? ..... OIL An old timer told me that when I first started into welding. Never forgot it!

😳 YIKES! Glad it turned out ok.

How much would a process like this be priced at ?

What wheel are you using to prep and clean up welds ? And what grit , do you use the same wheel for both??

Grab a water can extinguisher to keep with ya. 2.5 gallons, you can refill it yourself, and you don’t have all that corrosive dry chem afterwards.

Cleaning the surface around the weld would help the paint stick

Always paint when its hot. ,🍻

Do you have a lot of problems with your lens flashing while recording?

Right on bro keep up the good fucking work