Welding is a complex job and welding machines tend to be expensive and bulky. What’s more, work environments where welding takes place tend to be filled with power tools, heavy gear, and determined people performing serious tasks.
That’s a recipe for damaging equipment. All this means that welding machines need to be protected, and that’s what welding skids are for.
A good welding skid will protect your welding machine from the rigors of a working environment, most especially from the shock of being moved around roughly.
But a good welding skid will be designed to not only to protect your machine from being moved, dropped, and bumped into accidentally. It will also protect it from dirty surfaces, spills, and more. But that’s still not all.
A good skid will also give you room to store and carry other supplies and gear.
Most of all, the best welding skid will be custom built to accommodate your needs, your habits, and the job at hand. That means the best welding skid for your needs is going to be one of a kind.
To that end, we wanted to show you the staggering variety of welding skids that exist. Whether you want to buy one off the shelf, build, or design your own, you’ll see you have tons of options.
In This Article
15 Welding Skid Layouts
Perhaps the most compelling thing about a good welding skid is the fact that there is plenty of room for customization. You can add handles, wheels, tow cables, cages, hangers, compartments, and much more. You may select a portable frame, a tough frame, or a compromise between the two. You could buy or build a skid meant to slide into your truck bed or a cart that you roll around the workshop. You could even make a welding skid with removable wheels that can be used almost anywhere.
But most importantly, your welding skid needs to protect your welder. Now, let’s look at some compelling welding skid designs and layouts.
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The Wallflower
This simple design has everything you need, and little else. It features a no-nonsense skid base and a spot for tools, hoses, cords, and everything else you need.
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Toolboy
Every working man likes to have all of his tools in one convenient location as near to him as possible. If that sounds like a pipe dream, you probably haven’t seen this winning skid design.
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Boxtop
Give yourself an additional surface to work on top of while providing your welder with unbeatable protection from drops, water, and more. Plus, everything you need is right inside.
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Cables
This straight to the point design gives you all the simplicity and functionality of The Wallflower with more spools, bigger spools, and some grating to reinforce the skid.
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The Tractor
This inspired design takes after the famous farm tractors that made American agriculture great. They hold some serious welding machines with more than enough room for the essentials.
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The Farmhand
Taking a cue from the last design, this skid from AlumReel gets all your cables and cords off to one side, leaving a smaller welding machine unobstructed.
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The Skate
This is a simple design built to accommodate a wide range of medium welder machine designs. It’s light, durable, and has plenty of accessories and more in a compact layout.
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The Rail
This skid features ball bearing enhanced rollers to create a rail that let you slide your welder in and out of your truck bed, This is the perfect welder skid for working outdoors at various sites.
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Toolboy Mobile
Get all of the storage space offered by other advanced designs in a layout that fits easily in the back of your truck. Best of all, this skid presents all of your wrenches and screwdrivers to you.
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Mr. Clean
This welder skid is simplicity itself. It’s clean and easy to use. But best of all, it protects your welder from every side with an open cage that does not make contact with the welder so that what hurts the cage does not hurt the welder.
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Truck ‘Em
This is the ultimate truck bed welding skid. It has everything, it is everything, and it even mimics a truck bed itself to better fit inside. It also is the first skid to feature a vice, which is sure to come in handy.
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The Everything Skid
Okay, we stand corrected. This is the ultimate truck bed welding skid. It has everything the last entry has with an added closable shelf that stands over the side of a truck bed for super easy access.
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Front & Center
This welder skid gives you direct access to all of the absolute essentials the moment you lower the tailgate. Your cords and cables, the hardest things to manage, are right there ready to be arranged.
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The Forklift Rig
You have probably seen tables, carts, and skids with wheels to move around the shop easily. But if you have a forklift at your disposal, this is the handiest design imaginable.
In reality, this is just a sample of the many popular and functional welding skid designs and products out there for you to choose from. If you’re like us, you could wile away a whole Saturday afternoon checking them all out. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Additional Sources & Resources
-“Welding Skid Handbook.” Industrial Welding Corporation, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.
-Baker, Kent C., ed. “Welding Automation: Equipment, Methods and Applications.” CRC Press, 2006.
-Beaulieu, Normand A. “Introduction to Pipeline Engineering.” CRC Press, 1998.
-Dossat, Troy J. “Principles of Refrigeration.” Prentice Hall, 2002.
-Gastineau, Norman E., and Richard Mauer. “Process Piping: The Complete Guide to Asme B31 Code for Process Piping.” Gulf Professional Publishing, 2009.
-Huffman, J.Paul. “Welding: Principles and Applications.” Cengage Learning, 2010.
-Kumar, Rakesh, ed. Handbook of Pipeline Engineering. CRC Press, 2007.
-McCartney, Laurence E., and Eugene L. Voegele. “Engineering Formulas for Metalcutting.” Industrial Press Inc., 2002.
-Sedev, Todor D., Dimitar P. Baev, and Krassimir Nenkov. “Advanced Methods for Design of Experiments in Welding and Related Processes.” Springer Science & Business Media, 2010.
-Thompson, Robert O., and Roy Buntrock. “Pipeline Rules of Thumb Handbook: Quick and Accurate Solutions to Your Everyday Pipeline Problems.” Gulf Publishing Company, 2011.
-Weman, Klas. “Welding Processes Handbook.” CRC Press, 2003.
Our team of writers are welders and welding enthusiasts who are excited to share specific information related to welding for everyone from the welding novice to those who have years of experience. Shoot us a note with feedback or topics you'd like to see covered!
