Aluminum trailer tailgate ramp build

[earthmover1980]

My new friend recently decided to drop by, and showed up with his Miller xmt-350! He says try stick welding with some 6011 5p+. Nice n smooth. Day goes by. He calls me in the morning, said he will be bringing his spoolmatic 30a and wc24 adapter by! Ok, well my other aluminum projects were completed at that point. I have this R&R aluminum 5x8 tilt trailer.Its nice, but has too steep of a climb angle to drive anything wheeled up. I use it for my four wheeler, and mowers. So I decided to build a tailgate ramp similar to the new aluminum trailers. I looked all over online just for design ideas. I rounded up some 2x3x.188 aluminum angle, and some 1x1 box. I do weld aluminum at work with a Miller spoolmate 185. I only do misc. small repairs on our semi-dump trailers. So, I am decent at it, but not as good as a professional. Many variables go into welding aluminum, and I am still learning all the popular alloys. Anyway, I was bored on a cold Michigan winter weekend. My shop was calling me. I answered! So here are a few pictures of my build. This is my first build thread, so I am still learning...

 

[earthmover1980]

The Spoolmatic Miller spoolgun has impressive performance over our Spoolmate 185 attached to the Millermatic 185 short circuit machine. They spray arc transfer from the XMT is truly night and day different. I used pure argon and Alcotec 4043 .035" might wire. This will make life so much easier picking up mower projects.
Wish I had taken more pics. I did use heavy galvanized steel gate hinges instead of the weld on aluminum ones. I tried the aluminum weld on hinges unsuccessfully, since I over penetrated, and blistered through joining hinges! I did trim off the big long triangle end on the steel ones for a better appearance. My next build may include a winch pedestal, and hand winch. I also hope to deck it totally in aluminum plank. I'm happy for now.

 

[lis2323]

Nice work on the ramp. It turned out real nice!

I have an XMT 350 also. I have a 30A spool gun plus the XR push pull cabinet and gun for aluminum.

 

[earthmover1980]

Lis2323,
That sure is a nice Miller welder and accessories! How much difference is the function between a push pull, or spoolgun? I am amazed at the quality of welds I could produce with the spoolmatic 30a. I would like to aquire a spoolmatic used. eBay just hasn't had many. My same friend who brought the XMT over has a wc115 with contactor he would sell me. I am probably going to buy that for now, so I can run a control cable wire feeder off of my Lincoln Ranger 8 gas drive. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Sjfab]

I like that XMT setup. I have the 304 at home and use the older 300's a lot at work (stick only). I've been waiting for a wire feeder to add to my arsenal. Hard to beat the arc of those machines

 

[lis2323]

earthmover: Not much difference between the spool gun and push pull. Biggest advantage of the push pull is being able to use a big roll of wire as opposed to the 1 pound spools.

I recently sold my Miller 350P to a friend who had a big aluminum job coming up. I did like the Python push pull gun better as I found it more ergonomic.