Matt I have decades of experience with plasma cutting and have a few suggestions. When cutting along a straight edge, always pull the torch - do not push it because it seems to always stick and end up producing a jerking motion. Wrap the torch lead around your right arm (if you are right handed) to insure the lead does not catch on anything while cutting. Before you make the cut, practice moving the torch along the entire cut length to make sure you can make the whole cut with one smooth motion. Also, make sure you are comfortably supported so your body weight does not push down on the torch. Good luck
I always appreciate comments with more thought in them than: "love your work Matt". Your technique suggestions have the chance of helping hundreds, perhaps thousands of users. Good on you Al.
Great advice! I'll add to the body position comment, do your best to make sure you are in a stable, balanced position that you can reach the whole cut with the torch. I can see at the 2:42 mark or so you are not really in a great position hunched over like that, you should have either raised the steel being cut or kneeled on the floor (watch out for sparks!) Great job as usual Matt! Cheers from Tokyo Stu
I always thought Wisconsin had the market cornered on self-deprecating humor ... way to go Minnesota! Thanks for letting me live vicariously through your hard work.
Matt you hit the nail on the head, where you mentioned about getting out of your comfort zone try it. I like that you do that and you learn very quickly your mistakes and correct it to where YOU are satisfied. Who cares what other say about your welding skills they can just shut up or put up and give tips on how to.
Thanks for sharing the things you learn along the way with the plasma cutter - I have yet to try one of those. Being from MN, your videos are especially fun to watch!
My cousin, a professional welder/fabricator, uses a plasma cutter like drawing a line with a Sharpie so I bought one and found out that it just looks easy.
I've always found the opposite with my plasma, if I trail the torch the dross goes into the kerf gap, angled forwards it tries to shoot up and out, especially with thicker material.
@@danieltaylor9970 I think you misunderstood what I meant because if you angle towards the direction you are cutting the kerf is behind the direction of cut, sorry if I’m not clear on my directions, God Bless
@@johnbourgeois1414 To be clear, if you're cutting left to right ---> is it: ( A _____ / ) OR ( B _____\ )? I think you're both saying A. To put it differently: do you A) drag the tip of the torch behind the grip, or B) push the tip of the torch ahead of the grip?
OK. You already have the threaded holes in the trailer. Just weld some round rods in the brackets. Just push the bracket in, and just pull it off when done.
So 2 slots would catch more debris then 2 steel plates and 8 bolts, or 8 bolt holes when brackets are removed? If only they’d make like a slotted flat screwdriver to scrap debris out if debris would ever get caught in a slot. #shakingmyhead
Matt, Great addition to the trailer! Nice work! Also impressed when I saw a shot (in the background) of you hauling the skid steer sideways. Just in time for hauling your heavy stuff back and forth to the new house!
Matt, You will be skilled at an excellent woodworker as well as a metal master. These two trades are good to have. I love to see you do both in one of the projects you might have at the new house, where I think you might need to build something requiring both skills.
I have seen some pretty bad situations where a ramp like that can lift where it is attached to the trailer and slide out. You may want to consider adding a "cap" of sorts to the mounts. Just a flat bar mounted along the center of the mount so you slide the ramp in from the side. That way, they can't just lift straight up if something gets loaded in a strange way. You could also drill a couple holes through the ramp and mount and slide a pin through to secure them. I have really enjoyed your channel and following the trailer build. Looking forward to following along while you work at the new homestead!
I'm enjoying your bubbling enthusiasm for everything you do. Your new property looks superb and I wish you well. With a surname of Cremona, I immediately thought of musical instruments as I once dabbled with the 'cello. Have you thought of offering some of your best cuts to instrument makers? Just a thought. Cheers, Col, NZ.
There was nothing wrong with the way you did it, but I want to suggest an alternative. Cut the strip double the width, score it in the middle with a grinder, metal cutting circular saw or bandsaw, bend it over (maybe need to heat it up) and then reinforce the outside with weld. I picked that up from Diresta. ;)
Matt, if you use the pistol handling technique of a light pressure between your hands- one pushing to balance the other, it will help your 'jerky' movement which is why you're not establishing a clean cut. Also, if you extend your hands and position your body so you're pulling with the Lat's on your back... you can establish much smoother long motions combined with hand to hand pressure. All this helps to make hand plaz cuts smoother.
looks really sharp, what's the possibility of a work light on the tongue of the trailer with a pole that could be extended? Enjoy your snowfall because almost 90° here in the Southwest
Does this mean you will always be clean shaven in future. Enjoyed the video. Nothing wrong with weld and there's a learning curve on plasma cutter. Thanks for sharing.
Taps come in sets of three. A taper tap, a second tap and a plug tap. The taper tap is used first and partially cuts the thread, the second tap completes the thread in a through hole. The plug tap finishes the thread to the bottom in a blind hole. You may have more luck using the taper tap or the second tap with an impact wrench and always use tapping compound rather than thin oil. Hope this is of help.
I found that lifting the front of the trailer using the jack while it's still attached to the truck, makes crawling onto the trailer not as violent crossing that center point when loading...
During your trailer design did u consider including a receiver hitch in the rear of your trailer? Great channel and you build with my two favorite things, wood and steel! Keep up the good work!
On my trailer we built slide in shelves on the back side of the trailer to store the ramps. Lock them in with a padlock. Very convenient . Also, I think you could have cut slots in the trailer to receive the ramp flange and accomplished the same thing without having to mount and unmount your brackets .
Drilling two holes per side on the trailer and welding two round stock bars to those angles and bending them in a particular way like on a peg board would make installation of the angles a breeze... or bolting those round stock to the aluminum ramps somehow and eliminating those angles altogether .
Hey Matt glad to see your getting some practice in with the welder again Also An idea that might help you out is instead of bolting and unboltting the brackets on/off whenever needed why not just cut a small groove where you put the bolt holes on each side then the ramps can just hook right into the groove and I don't think that a 1/2 × however wide the ramps are would hinder you much when using the trailer for logs...... just idea though keep up the good work and thanks for another great video as always
Try to do plasma cutting at waist height as you have more free movement to do the cutting. As for your welding you should do more push forward welding apposed to drag welding, but drag welding can be good on thinner material.
Hard to tell from the video, but it looked like you needed more air pressure on the plasm cutter? Could be why it didn't cut as well as it should have. What was the recommended pressure from Lincoln?
Matt. Another nice video. Time to buy a real tractor - so you can unload at the farm & save trips & hassle. I suggest that 3hp/acre is a proper goal. 60+ hp with a front end loader. Forks on a tractor are glorious for handling lumber. Shoot for 2500-3000 lb capacity. Tractor will be an essential tool for land management & arboretum creation. Enjoy!
FYI In Florida if Your trailer weighs less than 2,000 pounds You only need that ticket from a certified scale an the cash to pay for the Tags, NO TITLE 2,000 pounds and above It has to be inspected and get a VIN number for It
Another is welding one small line at the bottom which will be a refill and then finish the upper surface. This way you may not have to do it by parts but in single flow on three or four wedding lines. Regards
Matt Love your channel. Do you have an air dryer for your air compressor? How many CFM is your air compressor? I've found that if you dial the amperage in on some scrap of that thickness steel the plasma will cut with very little dross.
Matt, Get some Permatex Anti-seize and put a couple of dabs on the bolts 1x per year.. you don't want those to get stuck on your or the threads to rust up when not in use. It's like Frank's Red Hot sauce, you put that sh*t on everything (threaded) Nice work.
Have you thought about making mounting brackets on the inside of the fenders to carry the ramps ? That way you get to keep the inside of your truck bed free to carry more things.
I am 73 so if I sound a bit overwhelming then I apologize. I agree with you Matthew as its yours and your working towards a goal an I might add, only time stands in your way. You are quite accomplished and very malicious at the things you create and need not back away from that welder thats yours too by the way and get some learn time in when you can. I am a old time mechanic/welder and yours do look just fine from fifty feet or my place of five thousand miles away... that said, they are just fine. Just keep poking those videos out and we will try and bump up that gratuity marker.
Could you have cut some slots in the rear of the trailer to accept the ramps? You may want to give some thought to installing some angle iron under the trailer to store your ramps so they will always be handy.
Nice work Mat just one note about cutting with plasma...it was a bit rough and uneven at the edges but strenght wise it's more than ok! perhaps using a metal cutting saw in this case would have made the job neater. Anyways greetings from Malta ;-)
Hey Matt, sounds like things are chugging along just fine down there. Had the sound up for this video , my wife recognizes your voice, says you sound like Ray Romano. LOL.
Hi matt watching your video of trailer one thing that you were doing wrong when welding if you are right handed you travel left so you can see the joint from the arc but practice makes perfect Cheers
Hummmm... so now you have to shave....! Freezing 🥶 weather...! Not nice... when is like that I like to be indoors... at the bench...! Thanks for the video! P.S.- try Portuguese red wine... then say something...! Thxs
Matthew, Adam Savage recently posted a clip of his receiving his new work bench. You might like to see your timber in his man-cave, and his reaction to the timber and the bench!
When you started building the trailer, I thought you were making it a tilt bed because of how far back the hitch frame went. It might have made it easier to load logs or the track loader.
No, I won't be painting them
That's a weird way to spell "first"
@@gizanked English is hard
A can of spray zinc coating would be beautiful, and technically not paint :)
Monster.
You are right, anodizing would look way better.
Matt
I have decades of experience with plasma cutting and have a few suggestions. When cutting along a straight edge, always pull the torch - do not push it because it seems to always stick and end up producing a jerking motion. Wrap the torch lead around your right arm (if you are right handed) to insure the lead does not catch on anything while cutting. Before you make the cut, practice moving the torch along the entire cut length to make sure you can make the whole cut with one smooth motion. Also, make sure you are comfortably supported so your body weight does not push down on the torch. Good luck
Thanks!
I always appreciate comments with more thought in them than: "love your work Matt". Your technique suggestions have the chance of helping hundreds, perhaps thousands of users. Good on you Al.
Great advice!
I'll add to the body position comment, do your best to make sure you are in a stable, balanced position that you can reach the whole cut with the torch. I can see at the 2:42 mark or so you are not really in a great position hunched over like that, you should have either raised the steel being cut or kneeled on the floor (watch out for sparks!)
Great job as usual Matt!
Cheers from Tokyo
Stu
Certainly a heavy duty trailer you have built it will last a lifetime !!!
I have enjoyed watching all your videos so far thank you 🙏 and happy working
I always thought Wisconsin had the market cornered on self-deprecating humor ... way to go Minnesota! Thanks for letting me live vicariously through your hard work.
Those 3 pieces are awesome, the truck, the trailer and the skid loader. You’re totally equiped.
Matt you hit the nail on the head, where you mentioned about getting out of your comfort zone try it. I like that you do that and you learn very quickly your mistakes and correct it to where YOU are satisfied. Who cares what other say about your welding skills they can just shut up or put up and give tips on how to.
Thank you!!
Great job Matt no snow in the UK yet! And remember stay safe and make. ☕☕👍👍😷
I love it how humble you are about your welding and cutting most people (like me) would blame the equipment that being said your doing a great job
Thanks for sharing the things you learn along the way with the plasma cutter - I have yet to try one of those. Being from MN, your videos are especially fun to watch!
My cousin, a professional welder/fabricator, uses a plasma cutter like drawing a line with a Sharpie so I bought one and found out that it just looks easy.
When using any type of cutting torch if you angle the torch head in the direction you are cutting you will get a much cleaner and complete cut
I've always found the opposite with my plasma, if I trail the torch the dross goes into the kerf gap, angled forwards it tries to shoot up and out, especially with thicker material.
@@danieltaylor9970 I think you misunderstood what I meant because if you angle towards the direction you are cutting the kerf is behind the direction of cut, sorry if I’m not clear on my directions, God Bless
@@johnbourgeois1414 To be clear, if you're cutting left to right ---> is it: ( A _____ / ) OR ( B _____\ )? I think you're both saying A. To put it differently: do you A) drag the tip of the torch behind the grip, or B) push the tip of the torch ahead of the grip?
I just began watching your videos, very interesting and very well done. I will continue to follow you, thank you for sharing. Eric, Central NH
I liked the project but laughed out loud at that ad read. Love the enthusiasm. 😄
hahaha I had a great time with it
If you cut two slots in the trailer, the ramps could dropped in and there would be no need to remove your brackets when hauling logs.
Would create a catch point and would allow the tube to be filled with debris
@@mcremona Make a plug for the slots? Make a cover for the barckets?
OK. You already have the threaded holes in the trailer. Just weld some round rods in the brackets. Just push the bracket in, and just pull it off when done.
So 2 slots would catch more debris then 2 steel plates and 8 bolts, or 8 bolt holes when brackets are removed? If only they’d make like a slotted flat screwdriver to scrap debris out if debris would ever get caught in a slot. #shakingmyhead
@@daviddorge1559 yes, it's a tube
I had a crash course in welding this summer. I've always wanted to try it, and now I want MORE!
Weld everything!
@@mcremona Haha, yeah!
Matt, Great addition to the trailer! Nice work! Also impressed when I saw a shot (in the background) of you hauling the skid steer sideways.
Just in time for hauling your heavy stuff back and forth to the new house!
more impressed each time i see that trailer... but not as much as the sawmill
Should have used your metal cutting skil saw. Having seen you using one I went out and got one. They are great.
Nice addition to the trailer! Where theres a will theres a way and those mounts work well!
I found this very interesting to watch, Would not have thought you would have to industrial machine equipment that you do.
Great video and it was nice to see fresh snow.
Nice work. Wow look at the snow🥶
Awesome work Matt, those ramp mounts add so much versatility! 😃👍🏻👊🏻
thanks Fred!
Matt, You will be skilled at an excellent woodworker as well as a metal master. These two trades are good to have. I love to see you do both in one of the projects you might have at the new house, where I think you might need to build something requiring both skills.
Just bought the exact same ramps but in 7' for my dump trailer. Very impressed so far. Should have done long time ago
Best product plug I've seen since Steve Ramsey used to open with his MicroJig.
Those are really great ramp anchors!
I have seen some pretty bad situations where a ramp like that can lift where it is attached to the trailer and slide out. You may want to consider adding a "cap" of sorts to the mounts. Just a flat bar mounted along the center of the mount so you slide the ramp in from the side. That way, they can't just lift straight up if something gets loaded in a strange way. You could also drill a couple holes through the ramp and mount and slide a pin through to secure them.
I have really enjoyed your channel and following the trailer build. Looking forward to following along while you work at the new homestead!
Good job Matt, worked out fine. 👍👍👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I've watched the build. Great series. It's great to build your own things. Re-ramps, why not just cut slots in the rear cross member?
Rear crossmember would fill with debris
I'm enjoying your bubbling enthusiasm for everything you do. Your new property looks superb and I wish you well. With a surname of Cremona, I immediately thought of musical instruments as I once dabbled with the 'cello. Have you thought of offering some of your best cuts to instrument makers? Just a thought. Cheers, Col, NZ.
There was nothing wrong with the way you did it, but I want to suggest an alternative. Cut the strip double the width, score it in the middle with a grinder, metal cutting circular saw or bandsaw, bend it over (maybe need to heat it up) and then reinforce the outside with weld. I picked that up from Diresta. ;)
Matt, if you use the pistol handling technique of a light pressure between your hands- one pushing to balance the other, it will help your 'jerky' movement which is why you're not establishing a clean cut. Also, if you extend your hands and position your body so you're pulling with the Lat's on your back... you can establish much smoother long motions combined with hand to hand pressure. All this helps to make hand plaz cuts smoother.
Freezing time!! 🥶 🥶
Another GREAT video Matt 🙂
looks really sharp, what's the possibility of a work light on the tongue of the trailer with a pole that could be extended? Enjoy your snowfall because almost 90° here in the Southwest
Nice work Matt.
Yay! Mathew gets to tap some holes!
Does this mean you will always be clean shaven in future. Enjoyed the video. Nothing wrong with weld and there's a learning curve on plasma cutter. Thanks for sharing.
I wouldn't count on it :)
Excellent Video
Taps come in sets of three. A taper tap, a second tap and a plug tap. The taper tap is used first and partially cuts the thread, the second tap completes the thread in a through hole. The plug tap finishes the thread to the bottom in a blind hole. You may have more luck using the taper tap or the second tap with an impact wrench and always use tapping compound rather than thin oil. Hope this is of help.
I found that lifting the front of the trailer using the jack while it's still attached to the truck, makes crawling onto the trailer not as violent crossing that center point when loading...
During your trailer design did u consider including a receiver hitch in the rear of your trailer? Great channel and you build with my two favorite things, wood and steel! Keep up the good work!
You could weld or bolt some angle iron to the bottom of your trailer (one ramp on each side) to slide in your ramps.
Nice stuff Matt. Lol same thing happened to me in my last video. Weather was warm and nice and then we got that early snow! Gonna be a long winter
Hope the move is pretty much over and went well.
Just getting started
On my trailer we built slide in shelves on the back side of the trailer to store the ramps. Lock them in with a padlock. Very convenient . Also, I think you could have cut slots in the trailer to receive the ramp flange and accomplished the same thing without having to mount and unmount your brackets .
Not enough room back there for integrated ramp storage and slots would create a catch point and would allow the tube to be filled with debris
Those don't work too well in a Minnesota winter. Snow and slush build up and freeze the ramps in place. The salt spray rusts the lock.
Well done Matt
Thanks!
Is it possible that the ramps could move to far apart? Thanks for sharing.
Nice job on the Harry's ad.
Good Show , where did you buy them ramps? Looking for one lost my other one. Thanks
Drilling two holes per side on the trailer and welding two round stock bars to those angles and bending them in a particular way like on a peg board would make installation of the angles a breeze... or bolting those round stock to the aluminum ramps somehow and eliminating those angles altogether .
Hey Matt glad to see your getting some practice in with the welder again
Also An idea that might help you out is instead of bolting and unboltting the brackets on/off whenever needed why not just cut a small groove where you put the bolt holes on each side then the ramps can just hook right into the groove and I don't think that a 1/2 × however wide the ramps are would hinder you much when using the trailer for logs...... just idea though keep up the good work and thanks for another great video as always
There are attachments for a plasma torch that have wheels on them that can make it easier than the standoffs to move the torch smoothly.
Try to do plasma cutting at waist height as you have more free movement to do the cutting. As for your welding you should do more push forward welding apposed to drag welding, but drag welding can be good on thinner material.
You would find that if you change the mounting bolts to pins you will save a heap of time converting over. Gravity will keep the brackets in place.
You could have cut slots in the tube, but then again, that would compromise the tube and allow debris to get in.
Or so I've heard. 😁
Hahahahahahaha
Good comment on comfort zone. Love your channel .
Hard to tell from the video, but it looked like you needed more air pressure on the plasm cutter? Could be why it didn't cut as well as it should have. What was the recommended pressure from Lincoln?
Matt. Another nice video. Time to buy a real tractor - so you can unload at the farm & save trips & hassle. I suggest that 3hp/acre is a proper goal. 60+ hp with a front end loader. Forks on a tractor are glorious for handling lumber. Shoot for 2500-3000 lb capacity. Tractor will be an essential tool for land management & arboretum creation. Enjoy!
FYI
In Florida if Your trailer weighs less than 2,000 pounds You only need that ticket from a certified scale an the cash to pay for the Tags, NO TITLE
2,000 pounds and above It has to be inspected and get a VIN number for It
Another is welding one small line at the bottom which will be a refill and then finish the upper surface. This way you may not have to do it by parts but in single flow on three or four wedding lines. Regards
Matt Love your channel.
Do you have an air dryer for your air compressor?
How many CFM is your air compressor?
I've found that if you dial the amperage in on some scrap of that thickness steel the plasma will cut with very little dross.
Have you tried the new metal cutting saws that have come on the market for clean cutting steel .
Did you think about cutting slits into the trailer so the ramps can slip in ? Not sure if the geometry would work
Would create a catch point and would allow the tube to be filled with debris
Thought the coffee mug was a goner....
So did I ..! Angles deceive !
Same! Then I realised that it was sitting on the fender.
3:51 Fabrication rule #1 - Everything is a hammer.
Matt,
Get some Permatex Anti-seize and put a couple of dabs on the bolts 1x per year.. you don't want those to get stuck on your or the threads to rust up when not in use.
It's like Frank's Red Hot sauce, you put that sh*t on everything (threaded)
Nice work.
Nice work!
Have you thought about making mounting brackets on the inside of the fenders to carry the ramps ? That way you get to keep the inside of your truck bed free to carry more things.
Hasn’t been an issue yet. If needed, I can also secure the ramps by running the binder chains for the machine through the ramps
@@mcremona That will also work.
I did this same thing but kept tripping on and or bumping into the brackets so I put them on the end of the trailer not the top. Luca
Surprisingly satisfying video.
I am 73 so if I sound a bit overwhelming then I apologize. I agree with you Matthew as its yours and your working towards a goal an I might add, only time stands in your way. You are quite accomplished and very malicious at the things you create and need not back away from that welder thats yours too by the way and get some learn time in when you can. I am a old time mechanic/welder and yours do look just fine from fifty feet or my place of five thousand miles away... that said, they are just fine. Just keep poking those videos out and we will try and bump up that gratuity marker.
Thanks!
Could you have cut some slots in the rear of the trailer to accept the ramps? You may want to give some thought to installing some angle iron under the trailer to store your ramps so they will always be handy.
Not enough room back there for integrated ramp storage and slots would create a catch point and would allow the tube to be filled with debris
Luck for you, you are better with a razor than a cutting torch. Still better than me with both...I went full beard.
hahaha thanks!!
Am I the only one that didn’t realize the coffee was on the wheel well and thought he was about to run it over? “Noooooooooo!”
Nope, I thought the same too! :)
That extra guy at 8:09 must really help out sometimes
Nice work Mat just one note about cutting with plasma...it was a bit rough and uneven at the edges but strenght wise it's more than ok! perhaps using a metal cutting saw in this case would have made the job neater. Anyways greetings from Malta ;-)
Same thing happened to me, with the impact tap.
Hey Matt, sounds like things are chugging along just fine down there. Had the sound up for this video , my wife recognizes your voice, says you sound like Ray Romano. LOL.
Nice, as usual
Wait! At 8:10 is that a twin or is trickery afoot.
Good video. Enjoy your slabbing videos. Where did you get your mill?
He built the mill look on his site for log mill build
@@ypop417 I didn’t think that I had seen any of the manufacturers with a band saw mill throat quite that large.
@@ypop417 Thanks I found it. He has gone to a lot of trouble in building this mill.
Suggestion to use Wingbolts with butterfly wings for easy removal - just a thought
Crank the front jack up that will change the angle on the back , reducing the amount of teeter
Hi matt watching your video of trailer one thing that you were doing wrong when welding if you are right handed you travel left so you can see the joint from the arc but practice makes perfect
Cheers
Hummmm... so now you have to shave....!
Freezing 🥶 weather...! Not nice... when is like that I like to be indoors... at the bench...!
Thanks for the video!
P.S.- try Portuguese red wine... then say something...!
Thxs
I am going to have to give harry's a try.
Matthew, Adam Savage recently posted a clip of his receiving his new work bench. You might like to see your timber in his man-cave, and his reaction to the timber and the bench!
Do you attribute your welding/cutting experience to the Lincoln equipment?
It’s all I’ve used so yes?
Thanks for sharing
Plasma for curves. Evolution multi material track saw for straight cuts. =D Nice vid as always. =D
Why won't those two plates you added on interfere with logs you're dragging on or off of the trailer?
They will interfere. Thats why he made them removable. He just hasn't done any log hauling recently so he's left them on.
Nice job
use c motion back and forth instead of circular when mig welding
You’re either a good welder or a good grinder - sometimes it works out.
What’s all that white stuff at 9:28?
Hey Matt , nicely done! ✅👍👍👍🤗🤗🤗👋👋👋Regards Bob Lee
I use Harry's already great shave
When you started building the trailer, I thought you were making it a tilt bed because of how far back the hitch frame went. It might have made it easier to load logs or the track loader.