Stick vs wire feed for field repairs in tight spots

I've been going back and forth on this for months. On a job last week inside a boiler stack I had maybe 18 inches of room and my 7018 rod kept snagging the walls while the foreman swore a wire feed would never hold up to the vibration. Which one do you guys lean on when you're jammed into a corner with no room to move?

2 comments

2 Comments

jade321mo ago

Used to think wire feed was the way to go for tight spots like that, but after getting stuck in a boiler stack myself last year, I switched. Ran out of room with my 7018 and grabbed a buddy's wire feed just to finish. That little machine held up fine, no issues with vibration or anything. Foreman might be wrong on this one, wire feed handles tight corners way better than a stick rod that keeps dragging on everything.

amy6921mo ago

Ran into the same problem on a ship's water tank last spring, wire feed saved my hide when I couldn't swing a rod around the corners. Once you get the hang of it in those cramped spots, there's no going back, is there?