What welding repair costs here
The actual numbers Greenwood Equipment Welding charges, published. Ranges are real jobs, not teasers, and the right column tells you what moves a job inside its range.
| Job type | Typical range | What moves the price |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile welding (steel) | $115 to $145 per hour, 2 hour minimum | Access to the crack, position welding overhead or in a trench, prep time on dirty or greasy steel |
| Bucket repair (cracks, cutting edge, corner wear) | $450 to $1,400 | Crack length, whether the shell is torn through, cutting edge replacement vs weld repair |
| Hardfacing a bucket or blade | $550 to $1,600 | Surface area covered, pattern density, base metal condition |
| Line boring (pin bores, one position) | $650 to $1,200 | Bore diameter and depth, welding buildup needed before boring, one bore vs a matched pair |
| Line boring (full day, multiple positions) | $1,400 to $2,400 | Number of bores, machine setup between positions, bushing installation |
| Boom or frame crack repair | $600 to $1,900 | Crack location and length, gusset or fish plate fabrication, structural code requirements |
| Trailer repair (frame, ramps, hinges, tie downs) | $300 to $950 | Frame section vs hardware, DOT securement points, steel vs aluminum deck |
| Dock and warehouse steel (racking, dock plates, bollards) | $350 to $1,100 | Working height, night or weekend scheduling around operations, engineered racking repair kits |
| Nights, weekends, holidays | 1.5x standard rate | Quoted before we book the night, never after |
Every job also carries the $75 trip fee inside Johnson County and the Indy south side, and a 2 hour labor minimum. Farther out, mileage is quoted on the phone before we commit.
How a repair actually gets priced
- You describe the failure on the phone: machine, what cracked or wore, where it sits. Photos by text help a lot.
- We give you a range from this table and flag anything that could push it high, like trench access or suspected previous weld repairs.
- On site, the welder confirms the scope before starting. If gouging reveals the crack runs farther than it looked, you hear about it then, with a revised number, not on the invoice.
- Structural work follows the applicable code practice. Repairs on load bearing members follow the joint and preheat practices of AWS D1.1, the structural welding code for steel, which is what keeps a fixed boom fixed.
- You get an itemized invoice matching the range you were quoted.
Costs the table cannot show
Two outside factors matter on certain jobs. Repairs to truck and trailer frames have federal rules behind them: 49 CFR 393.201 restricts welded frame repairs on commercial vehicles to the manufacturer's guidance, so some frame cracks are a reinforcement job rather than a simple weld, and we price them that way. Inside warehouses, damaged storage racking carries employer obligations under OSHA 1910.176 for safe material storage, which is why we check rack repairs against the manufacturer load guidance and will tell you when replacement beats repair.
Pricing questions
Why do welders quote by the hour instead of by the job?
Because access and prep time vary more than the welding does. The same six inch crack can take ninety minutes at waist height or four hours upside down in a trench box. We quote a range from this table on the phone, then firm it up on site before the arc strikes.
What is the minimum charge for a mobile welding call?
Two hours of labor plus the $75 trip fee. At our published rates that puts the smallest call at about $305 to $365. Batching several small repairs into one visit is the best way to use the minimum.
Does line boring cost more than replacing the part?
Almost always less. A worn boom foot bore on a mid size excavator machined back to round runs $650 to $1,200 in one position. A replacement boom or a machine shop teardown, plus the lowboy haul both ways, starts at several times that.
What makes a repair land at the high end of a range?
Three things do most of it: hard access (height, trenches, confined spots), dirty or previously welded metal that must be gouged out first, and structural locations that need preheat, full penetration welds and reinforcement plates rather than a quick pass.
Do you charge extra for nights and weekends?
After hours work bills at 1.5 times the standard hourly rate, same trip fee. It is on the table above because you should know that number before a 2 am breakdown, not after.