I was wondering why no one uses gas welding out on the trail....It's a whole lot cheaper than a wire welder, but Ive never heard of it. I know having O2 and Acetylene in or on the car seems scary, but utility trucks carry this stuff all the time with no probs, so I was just wondering what you guys thought. Thanks Alex

 

I suppose it would be possible, but you are looking at around $300 for a small oxy-acetylene setup and you do have to be a little careful with acetylene tanks. They are a bit like a soda bottle in that the gas is held in solution and I recall you have to let them settle a bit before use. A couple of jumper cables, batteries out of 2-3 trucks and a few arc welding rods does the trick quite nicely:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri....shtml#Welding

 

Yeah, I do realize that they need to sit for a bit. I just see them on a lot of utility trucks, and a professional welder I know uses this setup out on the job, and doesnt have any trouble with it...I was just wondering what you guys thought about it. Plus, Im learning oxy acetylene welding right now, and Im doin pretty good. Just askin..

 

I don't think I have seen any one with that sort of rig on the trail, but I think I have heard of someone doing it. Just make sure it is all strapped down *very* securely. The O2 cylinder can turn into a rocket if you accidentally knock off the regulator.

Would be nice to have the cutting torch, too.

 

ha ha...def. wanna keep that regulator on both of those. Yeah, the torch was the other nice thing i was thinkin...thanks for the input

 

If you go that way, you might check with the local Forest Service folks and see if you'll need a special permit for the gas welder. Out in the National Forests here in CA, you are supposed to have a "burn permit" to operate a welder out in the woods (different than a campfire permit). I've never picked one up for my on-board welder, but unless it is set up you would not know it was on the truck. A couple of red and green gas bottles might be a bit more obvious, though.

 

yeah...good tip...thanks