front grill gard haul rack combo

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Yeah anyone who has never been to West Texas or the Panhandle in the winter during one of the random thankfully not very frequent snow storms don't even believe it ever snows in TX.

I've been here in the Iowa "tropics" for 35 years now. I moved here from Grand Forks, North Dakota. When your born there, the winters are no bother, you know how to dress for them. When I left in 84, the February lows were -40F, with highs in the -30s, that lasted most of the month. I'm living about 50 miles south of what I call the perma snow line, where we get melt offs and freezing rain, but not enough long term snow to own a snowmobile. It mostly stays around +20F for highs of the day. But it does shut down my outdoor tasks. And this year it's a month early. Leaves are still on the trees.
So scrap steel is $25/ton, but the steel I bought to fix my skid steer bucket 3 weeks ago, was $60 for a 5 foot strip of 4 inch x 1/2 bevel edge. Seems the price of new steel has not come down, but the tariffs has destroyed the scrap market. Hold on to your scrap!

[Frank S]

I've been here in the Iowa "tropics" for 35 years now. I moved here from Grand Forks, North Dakota. When your born there, the winters are no bother, you know how to dress for them. When I left in 84, the February lows were -40F, with highs in the -30s, that lasted most of the month. I'm living about 50 miles south of what I call the perma snow line, where we get melt offs and freezing rain, but not enough long term snow to own a snowmobile. It mostly stays around +20F for highs of the day. But it does shut down my outdoor tasks. And this year it's a month early. Leaves are still on the trees.
So scrap steel is $25/ton, but the steel I bought to fix my skid steer bucket 3 weeks ago, was $60 for a 5 foot strip of 4 inch x 1/2 bevel edge. Seems the price of new steel has not come down, but the tariffs has destroyed the scrap market. Hold on to your scrap!

10-4 on save my scrap steel.
I did some work on a pipeline up in Montana one winter. A bunch of us showed up to test out one morning. the temp must have been in the -30 range we had spent the weekend in a Motel in Bute and everyone's machines were cold soaked almost to the point of having slush in the antifreeze at the job site the Foreman told me that I might as well head back to Texas as he was no going to have a Holbart machine on his pipeline let alone a dang diesel as he called it.
I said OK, but I thought that should get the chance to at least bust out on my test, so I lingered while all of the Gasoline Lincoln SA 200 Pipeliner machines were cranked over and not a single one of the things would start. The line boss said well let's see if that heap of your will at least start.
I flipped the switch and didn't push the start button I just poured me a cup of coffee while he was saying just as I thought that thing wont start until summer.
OH it'll start probably before you finish your cigarette, he took another puff and about then my machine cranked over on its own a couple of times then was sitting there idling away. He dropped his coffee and his cigarette and stood there open mouthed and bug eyed.
I un spooled part of my leads and said hook em up boys DR. Holbart is ready to defibrillate your Lincoln's hearts. I worked in a tent the whole time we were on the pipeline making transition manifolds and turn backs and never did test out but every morning a few of the Lincolns needed defibrillating.
I loved the auto start feature on my machine it wouldn't even turn over until the preheaters did their work.

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Gasoline Lincoln SA 200 Pipeliner machines

My brother worked in Houston as a rig welder. Seems this was the only accepted machine they were allowed to own. He always bad mouthed my Miller Synchrowave. He was a talented welder, started in high school. I call my welding 'sh*t-ass', but I get penetration, just looks like crap. He retired early from welding when he moved to Minnesota. Sold off his SA200, and purchased a Miller plug in model.
His widow just gave me his Miller Maxstar 140. I have not had the chance to use it yet, but reading the blogs on it, it won't burn rod unless powered with 240VAC. It is an older unit, darn these were expensive in the day. It's smaller then a shoe box. Some Austrian inverter company made the electronics, and failed in making it work at 120VAC. My intent is to use it to TIG the sheet metal repairs in my 57 Chevy truck. I've never use lift TIG before, so that should be interesting. I'm used to using the foot pedal, with HF start. So we shall see if I can plug weld panels in place this next spring. That's the truck I purchased some of the KBS products for. The driver side toe kick floor is the first to repair. I just wish I had the room to remove the cab and clean up all the rust properly.