Question for welders!

Bigbear

Bigbear

The Kodiak
Trusted Member
I recently acquired an old but descent cable crossover machine. Its too tall to fit into my basement but I got a really good deal on it so couldn't turn it down. What im wondering is can I just cut like 6 inches out of the frame to lower it? Id think just use a grinder and cut the pieces out then hire a mobile welder to come weld it together. Is that a reasonable idea and would the welder be OK with that or would they even have the know how to just cut it and weld it themselves?
 
The other strange thing is routing the cables i had to buy some for it. Ive never seen one like this it has a pully directly above the plates which goes up and down with them then two pullies at ghe top and one at the bottom under the plates. So basically it runs off one cable but if the lower and upper pully have a grip attachment where does the cable anchor? Would it really just put all that force on the lower pully if im pulling the top one? Seems like 150lbs could just pop the clamp right off the grip and pull it through
 
The only other thing I can think of is it has two eye bolts welded to it so maybe when using one attachment ex the top one for flys, you would ancor the lower one to ghe eye bolt with a caribeaner
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It almost looks like you can take it apart at the top so you have the 2 stacks seperated. In the first pic posted, are there not 3 large nut/bolts that look like they would allow that entire stack to be disconnected from the top middle peice that connects the 2 stacks?
 
Sorry my mistake.. I had it in my head its too tall to get down to the basement, but you are saying its too tall to fit in the basement.. If that's the case, dissemble it as much as possible and take the peices (marked where you want to cut them) into a machine shop with a metal chop saw.. then cut them on the saw to the cuts are 90 degrees and not fucked up from cutting with a grinder.. then bring them to basement and get welder to glue them back together..

*Take lots of pictures of it together before you take it apart. make sure you get pictures of how every bolt is alighned etc..


If I were you, but a cheap chinese welder from amazon and a cheap cut off saw and do it yourself..


amazon.ca/ARCCAPTAIN-Welding-Inverter-Portable-Equipment/dp/B0B1TGB5NW/ref=sr_1_4_sspa?crid=2S2KL8CPYR22N&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.6ApxWonJkiKU3luOZjDOFJXDBpv9Y4e6KPXOs9BDazHXklSVaSL92zBtYZNi4mrSfACOH_O61rdNY1_0WOn2ZH1V1GVXf6bZew9d6FUHivGm_uHh9uY6L1T7ukNCub3jCwuIPwNcZTv6CpZLIbIPeUSgN69JtX-N6TVyDZuyDxwoooiq_l6Q8GM-v9_7NDCyzWo9415d36MKOcuHcsZDAP5SEP5LtND0IMR26TMrqWNzJDkpDO9SmYQFVQfzH-vSYsm99d0xZWWQxbidsA633C07_BCDBg78C2e11RAfrss.Eg0KMAzteNIS2c2Jv4u9hWDU33UD99WM_jEFbdhdv9g&dib_tag=se&keywords=welder&qid=1792379043&sprefix=weld%2Caps%2C241&sr=8-4-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1


Chinese welders are shockingly decent.. I got a 220 one and it's actually decent for all my needs.

If you are doing it yourself, buy some clamps off amazon too so when you weld it together, they will hold it straight for you.
 
It is square HSS (hollow structural steel). Mild steel for welding purposes. The cable system is correct.

Pain in the ass to get this done. All the members were welded at assembly and you must have assembled it in sections. See those single bolts on the round bar? They need to come off and the rods cut down appropriately. If there is a hole in the rod you have to put it back in. Cutting round bar and reconnecting is not recommended for many reasons. Further down the section the HSS needs to be saw cut. It will take a while to hold it and a simple tape measure will work. Cutting with a zip disk is an option of you are very good at it LOL.

Finally to line things back up and provide more weld area take two pieces of flat bar and capture one corner of the HSS to provide stops in two directions and the ends touching is the third direction- all will be well. Most saw shops have a little welder. Try a machine shop. Will be expensive to do this though. Welding is a bit of a knack. When it's important I get others to do it. If you meet up with someone that can and you want to rent a welder for 4hrs from Home Depot let 'er rip with the zip disk- those can be rented from Home Depot as well.

Likely will have to cut your cable and put the clasp back on as well.
 
This would be easy for a red seal fabricator/welder to do. Ask me how I know 😜
Based on the pics, this is what I would do:
1. Shorten the rods 6” from the top, redrill holes that mount them in the HSS.
2. At the top of the HSS uprights, I would zip cut the welds and slide the horizontal HSS down 6” respectively in their HSS uprights. Re-weld in place and then trim the 6” of the excess sticking up past the horizontal HSS.
3. Leave the new cable lengths up to you to figure out. New cable and fittings available @ Home Depot.

Done deal, easy peasy.

It should be done outside it will be much safer than the sparks inside your house. I would NOT grind or weld inside your home. Besides the fire risk, those processes will stink up the house. Ask my wife how I know, lol.
 
I checked around the mobile welders here charge about 130$/hour would i be correct in assuming this might just be a 3 or 4 hour job?
 
About 1/2 day or more yeah, they will have a lot of setup time and have to make some money for the day. If it is done inside your house, probably more. If you have it apart, it’s outside or you take it to their shop it will be easier for sure. If they do it in your house you will want them to take their time to setup ventilation and fire blankets/suppression. Also make sure they have insurance for sure if doing it inside.
 
Hold on a moment. I see the one side has no clearance issues. If you spun the unit 90deg and that support cross member was not there wouldn't it fit? If so that cross member can be relocated or removed as they are they there to stop twist and stuff and done. Way, way easier than what is being proposed.
 
Mfg Eng said:
Hold on a moment. I see the one side has no clearance issues. If you spun the unit 90deg and that support cross member was not there wouldn't it fit? If so that cross member can be relocated or removed as they are they there to stop twist and stuff and done. Way, way easier than what is being proposed.
Click to expand...
Fair point, we aren’t there to see exactly how it will fit in the house. I was thinking the OP could possibly do all this work without welding by using fish plates (1/4x2” or 4” flat bar) and bolt it all back together after it is trimmed.

Thereby it is almost free and the only cost would be a few feet of steel and the 3/8 or 1/2” bolts.

Since I am no longer in the trade (no equipment access) I would go with trim and bolts in lieu of welding.
 
Mfg Eng said:
Hold on a moment. I see the one side has no clearance issues. If you spun the unit 90deg and that support cross member was not there wouldn't it fit? If so that cross member can be relocated or removed as they are they there to stop twist and stuff and done. Way, way easier than what is being proposed.
Click to expand...
The cross member has both top pullies attached to it on both sides
 
DmanTRT2025 said:
Fair point, we aren’t there to see exactly how it will fit in the house. I was thinking the OP could possibly do all this work without welding by using fish plates (1/4x2” or 4” flat bar) and bolt it all back together after it is trimmed.

Thereby it is almost free and the only cost would be a few feet of steel and the 3/8 or 1/2” bolts.

Since I am no longer in the trade (no equipment access) I would go with trim and bolts in lieu of welding.
Click to expand...
Thats definitly an interesting idea
 
So if I take it all apart and just it in to a welding shop id save a ton of money. That might be best then they can decide what ever is easiest and would still work
 
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