EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

Me and two buddies are building a dog box to take to ag mechanics shows In Houston and San Antonio come spring. We got into the dogging thing together so we're making it together for our welding project. (http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/21/996bfc3134bcc34d59cd74c0e71c031f.jpg)(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/21/c9ea4ac7d9fdf73d98db42ea9d727cbf.jpg)(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/21/7f4034dbe9c0643869e247bbe5ebd485.jpg)(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/21/2f42b4a954dbadb2068f35ab276594d2.jpg)(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/21/c2a52300d987d6caa638225fb61589b5.jpg)(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/21/2d1cf9057f8d5c8ae5c0ef7e87417325.jpg) we started today. Got a little more done than what's in the last pic. Spent about 3 hours on it. Would be farther but it's got to be show quality so we're making sure it all looks right and everything is square and level whole 9 yards.

Looking good boys.  Keep up the good work!!  Keep us posted also.  I would like to know how it turns out and also how yall end up in the ag mechanics shows. 

I recently built a box myself and spent some time trying to find the best latch to fit my needs.  I came across these.  The small ones are built and designed for dog pens/boxes.  Not sure if you have a latch in mind but you may check into these.  The owner (George) is an ex Veterinarian and a super nice guy to work with.  He designed them himself. 

http://hoplok.com/productgallery.html

Latches was actually one of the couple things we haven't pegged out what we wanted to use. I'll have to check them out. I'll be sure to post daily progress. Any advice is more than welcome! Thanks ahead of time

Looking for some opinions... Being that we could find bed liner coating in say an olive drab color. What do Yall think of the idea of "rhino lining" the whole box, rather than painting? We came up with the idea with the hope that it might stay a little cooler than a gloss black paint job and add just a tad more durability to it. Also hide a 1/32 inch gap here or there since the ag mech judges are very scrutinizing. We're no professionals, just a couple kids who know how to run an ok bead. Please don't be scared to tell me it's a bad idea. You won't hurt my feelings

your wanting cooler for the dogs. why not coat it in white liner? regardless how shiny the black is, it still absorbs the sun rays which still makes it hot. the lighter the colors, the cooler it will stay, up to a point. if it can reflect heat instead absorbing heat, it will be a lot more cooler.

Yeah but my fear with that is its just gonna end up looking like my white frio cooler.

They get black streaks and gouges and there's really no way of keeping it clean

(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/22/cff86dc4c3c6e33d10e52a5735c4842b.jpg) (http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/22/1a62f83dfd887de080841f4ec7b69afe.jpg) (http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/22/2262708a2bb1c6834a0abd8338846e79.jpg) so far this morning

(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/22/7d7add59393a7aca683b632e3ceca4b0.jpg) hour and a half this morning got us to here so far

Man I tell you what. If this box wasn't gonna go to show. And all I had to worry about was functionality. It would be done in the next hour. But it's going to show and I've done had to recut about 15 ft worth of angle. Having fun with it though! Going through lots of Copenhagen!  (http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/22/0087a23cf2494d2827a82fadaa96320a.jpg)

Nice work. Everything I've welded gets "good enough", that looks like a nice build.

our heli is mostly white with a lil red and black non skid. even with oil from the heads, grease from the swashplates, gas path eng cleaner, black soot from the engines burping and the accidental over fueled engine that caught fire and blackened even the black non skid, not to mention the red and really bad on the white, we keep the acft clean, shine and presentable to the public, other helis at the fire base and especially the forestry service. it just takes a lil elbow grease and simple green diluted 50/50 with water. if you want it to look clean, it just takes effort. the build is looking excellent. i wish i had a place that was level and out of the rain to build my builds. yaw are doing a kickass job. keep it up, I'm sure the final product will be great and should get a good score. iv been in your shoes when i was in high school when we built a 4 door smoker/grill out of a 2000 gal propane tank. it took 2nd in beumont at lamar university for our welding tourney.

The last picture is the bottom half framed out. The top half will look the same just add storage boxes that hang off 1 foot each side. As for welds right now it's just tack welded. Besides the bottom I welded and grinded all that yesterday evening. We're still definitely leaning towards non skid coating and I think we will. But probably will just paint it first because we will use it for a little while before it goes to show and then non skid it right before show.  (http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/23/7da9a1f6b9fd3ab0c9112793457d322a.jpg) appreciate the kind words guys. I definitely think this is a "big" build for just being a dog box. It will be a pretty decent sized box that will hold more dogs than I'll ever hunt at one time.

One thing to keep in mind is that they have the paint now with different speckles in it that will add some texture and dress it up some. Also one thing to remember is that you are a welder or a grinder!  >:D

Way out west. My step dad is a welder by profession and you have no idea how much he tells me that. Only grinding welds where need be because plate metal has to sit flush. Not because my beads look horrific lol. I do decent welding mig and flux core. So I will leave welds be anywhere I can because the judges do like to see them because your right you can grind out a horrible weld and make it look ok and it probably will hold. But the idea is to be good at it.

(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/23/2b0689ca74c03342fb4e6e45a4f778bb.jpg) there's a decent pass on two pieces of channel. Mind you I probably don't have over 150 hours under a hood. Heck maybe not even 100.

I'm just givin ya a hard time. I have worked as a millwright since 77 and done a fair bit off welding. I have a durn Lincoln AC machine so I am not really gonna give too much of a bad time on anyones welding cause it's hard to make pretty on that dang buzzbox. My biggest challenge these days is the eyes, its tuff to weld as the eyes get old. Good luck with your project.

I could probably use a few more of them. Can never have to much humility.

Good job young man not enough young men out there that's willing to put in hard work to achieve something. I am happy to see y'all hard at work on a project. When I was in high school I took welding and made a eagle on a tree stump took it to the state show and won first place. I was proud of that for many yrs. so do the best that you can becuze winning is a state of mind and looks like your headed in that direction good luck on the project


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(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/24/1c3e78b2721ed2f2a56cf06e11548f0a.jpg) progress is slowing down. Only due to the fact that we're were planning on this taking a little longer than it looks like it's going to. So we're measuring 12 times cutting once lol. Here's a pic of my buddy starting to weld everything for good. Until this morning everything was mostly just tacked in. Now it ain't coming apart. I could lift the frame over my head and throw it about all of the 2 feet I could muster and It'd be fine. I'm excited to see our end result. Thanks for the kind words judge. I don't mind work, I think the kids who mommy and daddy give everything are gonna have a real crappy life. I work for everything I have and what I don't have I work for. Needed a dog box so I'm footing the bill and making one. Not to mention it's nice being able to have it exactly the way I want it.

Lookin sharp fellers. Im with u on doin stuff myself u get what u want thata way.  Im guna build me a new box before long. Keep up the good work.

(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/25/5311555676f2d46d9f64bf399e574862.jpg) Dawson double checking my level and measurement. Cmon bud I got this!

(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/28/581ccc679ade89c33cb1081663e29119.jpg) (http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/28/43534110fe33e0f2fef15643702c1906.jpg)  little stitch welding.... Man oh man this thing is bigger than I thought it would be. At the beginning I thought we were going to be on the small side. 160 foot of 1x1x1/8 angle so far

Any updates?

(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10/06/783d60409550a20231c62dad42c3c39e.jpg) Finished framing it out. 3 boxes on bottom 3 on top(middle up top won't have a door just a floor and roof. Catch dog will sit here. Has to be this way to be legal to have in bed of truck driving. Gotta be able to see out some of the rear window) with a storage box on either side up too that will sit flush with outside of bed. Doors and dividers will be expanded and storage boxes and top of box will be diamond plate. Some stuff came up and I won't be around to much to help finish out the box. So I'll try to remember to get pics from my friend. Waiting on some money I got coming to go get rest of metal ($230 worth) gonna end up with about $400 in this thing when it's all said and done. But it will be pretty nice and sharp looking

(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10/16/3beeb4ca9a80e131b0b6d1f04b113828.jpg) slowly but surely

Looking really nice

Gonna be somewhere around 200 lb. when its all said and done. Heavy enough to stay put but light enough for 2 people to move it with a little persuasion. And thanks. I really think I'm gonna be happy with it when it's finished. I think my mutts might appreciate it as well!

Anyone have any ideas on hinges? I plan on using weldable hinges but anyone have a website I could look at... Everything I'm finding looks real heavy duty

Depending on how heavy duty you want your hinges I would use cold rolled steel inside a sleeve of standard wall pipe. Just use whatever size you you think is heavy enough. I've build some on my hog cage out of 1/2 in pipe with a 90 on each end and a piece of one inch sleeved over.

X2
we use piano hinge on our helis in certain areas where wt. vs. strength are a factor. that hinge pin is as hard as a whores heart, hard to drill and dents vise teeth and anvil edges. since its just a dog box, acft grade piano hinge and pins will work fine, but you can't weld it, u gotta shoot rivets instead. solids are better, but since your going into tubing, countersink blinds be required. if u got acft grade rivets, the chance of replacing them are very low unles the rivet puller SUCKS, but most standard off the shelf pullers will pull fine for what you'll need it for. if you choose to go with acft grade hinges made from hardened aluminum, primer both materials first and let them dry. dissimilar metals i.e. steel to aluminum will cause sever corrosion, especially when left to the elements, so a good primer coating it key to ANY dissimilar metal attachment

May look into adding some support underneath the top boxes, xpanded metal will sag over time, or collapse

(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10/22/81326a82945725dbeaf1bb3eafe74f28.jpg) yay. Me need more metal... (The excitement to spend even more money is definitely unbearable)

I guess it's not that bad really. Only $300 into it so far. Should still come out around $450. Need to go pick up diamond plate I already paid for. Need another sheet of expanded and then gotta figure out exactly what I'm gonna do hinge and latch wise. Then decide if I want to paint or rhino line it.

(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/11/04/6c9c651cc0efd464ab63aebecf61324c.jpg) (http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/11/04/d656f7c3026394b206b4d02aa45e98ac.jpg) idk how we haven't finished it yet

Have you considered using powder coating? It isn't cheap but it last virtually forever. Even hard use by dogs and hunters.

I've considered a lot, but this broke boy is tired of spending money

Needs paint. And the latches are just temporary because we need to have the box for tomorrow but it's done (http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/11/13/577e7bcd56689d72cb7ae810eec3022e.jpg)

I like it. Does the front end loader thats needed to load it come with the package?  Just kidding man. It looks real good. I bet it's heavy though.  Better than anything I could build for sure !!

Haha were still working out the kinks with the front end loader! Seriously though it does probably weighs a solid 280-300 lbs. but 2 of us managed to get it in and I figure could get it out with some encouragement

If I'm gonna self critique I hate the fact that the bottom left door has such a big gap. Idk why that happened but it did(my buddies made the finishing touches on this project with out my help). The weight, well yeah we could have Gone lighter but it would have been even more expensive. I think the latches look tacky right now but it works for now and they're only temporary. But also I think it came out a lot better than I thought it would and with some paint it oughta look pretty slick I think!

Haha..I heard that. It does look good. That's a fact. And that weight aint so bad with 2 good backs. Paint it and it'll last forever. 

We're debating on rhino lining it. I appreciate the compliment

I think I'd go that route to.