Dan Fredrickson
New member
Ruffstuff and KOH, 2013
Again this February we will be back in Johnson Valley with a full crew ready for anything and everything at the Free Ruffstuff Specialties Open Pit!
Lincoln Electric will be with us again in full-force with nine machines plus a 4x4 Torchmate Table to fix, weld, or make on the spot whatever it takes to keep everyone rolling. Remember, we have no restrictions about who gets fixed; racers come first if it comes to priority, but nobody will be ignored! Lincoln Welding has made a big commitment to the Off-road community and will be with us at four Ultra4 events and five other major events in 2013 where we will provide this free service.
This will be our third year with the Open Pit format at KOH and our involvement has grown every year. Last year we repaired 198 different vehicles, this year we have added capabilities and doubled our size. We will be on the entrance end of the main street this year, but will have eight bays rather than three!
We will again have three full service welding trucks, each outfitted with a Lincoln 300amp 10.5KW MIG welder and Lincoln LN25 wire feeder. The trucks will also have canned air, a torch, jacks, and hand tools so while the races are not running we will be mobile and can come to you anywhere. Each truck will be equipped with at least 1 skilled welder/fabricator at all times.
Our main pits will now be in two to four bay tents and will be equipped with two Lincoln 250amp TIG’s, two Lincoln 250amp MIG’s, two Lincoln Tomahawk Plasma cutters, a Torchmate 4x4 Plasma table, chop saws, tubing benders, 6 steel work tables, vices, jacks, jack stands, tubing, sheet stock… You get the idea, we bring the complete shop.
One of the cool things about what we do (especially if you are a welder) is that we allow you to try all the latest and greatest equipment from Lincoln Electric. We know that most of you are welders, sometimes amazingly good and sometimes not so good, but all can benefit from the experience of running a brand new machine. We all know what its like to only have 20 year old equipment, but the new stuff is amazing... If you are looking at plasma machines, there is no better time to check out the Torchmate 4x4 Table in use, and while the pressure is on to get it done right now!
Another big deal will be the full return of Chris and FOA with Shock Tuning. FOA was with us last year, but it was so soon after their factory had burned down that they were pretty challenged. This year they are ready to go in a big way! FOA was the co-founding company of the Open Pit and it would be wrong to be there without them.
All of our co-sponsors from last year will be with us again too, great companies like: Rugged Radios, Harris Welding, Team Tube, and Powertank. These are some of the companies that have seen this as a good idea and have never held back when they could help and we couldn’t do it without them. They are all worthy of your support!
Lastly, I should mention that we will have our display tent in the middle of all this, and if the weather is bad, we will always have something hot going and if it’s warm we will have something cold for you! At least stop by and get a free Tshirt while they last and a coozie when you need one…
