Best Welding Center in a Farm Shop

The placement of all major tools, metal racks, and parts storage readily supports work on the shop’s 5×7-foot welding table. That table is positioned for efficient flow of materials and support of larger fabrication chores that take place in the work bay located behind the Langels’ shop door. “We do a great deal of repairs as well as fabrication, ranging from livestock panels to grain-handling gear,” says Doug Langel, who farms with sons Jeremy and Ryan, and wife Jackie.

The centerpiece of the welding center is the welding table Doug salvaged from a manufacturing plant. “It is extra heavy duty, with a 1¼-inch-thick plate top and 4-inch tube steel legs,” he points out.

A key component of the convenience the welding center offers is a jib hoist Doug installed when the shop was built. That crane swings over the welding table out into the shop and even outdoors, since it’s located next to the shop’s main door (see above).

The crane’s vertical tube is 12 inches in diameter and set 4 feet deep in the ground, where it is surrounded by 3 yards of concrete. A slightly larger diameter tube was slid over the main stack and acts as the pivot point. “There are no bearings. Instead, I installed two grease zerks and keep it lubricated that way. The jib consists of a 20-foot-long 4×10-inch I-beam,” Doug says. The crane offers the Langels an easy way to position large pieces of sheet metal on the table or to swing out over the shop to pluck out a repair item from a vehicle or trailer.

Also supporting the welding table is a set of roller beds located on either side of a band saw (see photo at right). Angle iron, tube steel, or strap metal held on a wall rack can be taken from that rack and carried to the nearby roller table feeding the saw. Cut pieces can then be ferried to the welding table.

Also located near the welding table is a metal lathe and a metal worker. “That metal worker was one of the best investments I’ve made – second only to the welding table in usefulness,” Doug says. “I don’t know how I got along without it before. It is so much faster than a drill press for punching holes or making repetitive cuts.”