OK Folks, please take a look at the pictures below:







This is a trailer hitch receiver tube that I am going to weld onto the front of my car trailer, facing backward, in the area between the hitch and the bed (near where the jack is). It will be used to mount my 4,000 lb winch when needed, allowing me to dismount the winch when not needed by simply pulling a pin and unplugging the power cable. All of the material is 1/4" mild steel, and I have cleaned off the mill scale and other crud. So, if it was YOU welding these joints, what would your setup be? I can lay the piece flat, so puddle control will not be an issue. My plan is to use 1/8" thoriated, 7lpm, #6 or 7 cup, and 1/8" er70s6 filler. Max pedal amps set at 220, and a little preflow.

This will need to have the strength to hold while pulling with the 4,000 lb winch and probably a pulley setup, which doubles pulling power. If I find that the winch lacks the power that I need, I already have a line on a 9,000 lb winch that I will use in the same setup, preferably without any modification. Once I have these welds finished,I will use 2" x 1/4" flat stock to put endcaps on the plates for added rigidity, and, because I can't fit the trailer in the shop, I will have to stick weld the finished assembly to the trailer outside. For that, I plan on using 1/8" 7018, based on the little bit of stick welding that I've done with my 250EX, I have no doubt that it will be up to the task.

So the question remains, if it was YOU, how would you approach this?