Reefer floor repair

It is great mig welder for aluminum. There is a chart on the inside of the door for settings. You will naturally have to dial it in along with the argon pressure. Them holes could filled with aluminum pieces as well. Then just weld them in. Then smooth out the welds with a grinder and sander. Once you dial it in for that particular job, it will be a fairly quick weld job. You will probably spend more time at Northern than you will welding the trailer. That is a fact. I saw the photos and that welder is going to waltz thru them cracks. When finished, store the welder and save for an arc welder and or another mig. I do not weld for a living, yet I do invest in those types of tools. In trucking, you will eventually require them at some point.

 

Depends on what your inverter is rated for peak and continuous, and if the welder runs off a 120v connection or 240v. I honestly wouldn't recommend it as welders demand high amps and that's gonna be putting a lot of stress on the inverter and your batteries, even if you leave truck running on to keep batteries charged. Have you gotten a quote from a trailer repair shop to get an estimate of what it would cost to get it fixed? I know you're trying to DIY to save costs, I was in that same boat last year, I had one section fixed to the tune of about $800 if I remember correctly, only to have several other sections start bowing in to the point a big hole appeared and was rejected by a shipper for that reason.
After that, I just parked the trailer and made a deal with a carrier partner to buy one of his reefers for a good price.

 

It does not look like a difficult job. Yet, you also have to weigh in time consumption vs earnings. You have to take time to go gather all of thebtools and materials. Could you be earning the $3k within that time? You have to factor in downtime as well. Plus, on an old trailer, if the inside is in this condition, how are the suspension bushings, etc. The amount of time, effort, money going into an old trailer probably does not beat finding a way to get into a new or newer trailer. The air tight doors and Insulation on a new trailer saves you enormous amounts at the pump.

 

I'm automatically assuming financing is out of the question, right?

I would still get a quote just to see what it might cost, maybe it's not as much as you expect it to be, maybe you can find a reputable shop that will allow you to make payments, you never until you ask. What area is your home base? Maybe someone here can refer you to a shop, I know of two, but they're in Nogales AZ, I don't know if you run lanes close to there.

As for DIY, you can probably be able to fix it yourself if you have the time and the tools and the know-how, but running a welder off your inverter I wouldn't recommend. Based on the specifications of the welder you were looking at, it looks like it needs up to about 3300 and up to 15000 watts to properly work, if I did the math correctly (Watts required = amp multiplied by voltage).

 

What i don't understand is why you stay someplace if you're not making money. Especially with the rates now?

Plenty of places out there.