A grain trailer with a split drawbar stays where it stopped, and the nearest socket may be two fields off. Our mobile welding van reaches the farms round Dereham with a generator aboard, so the repair is done in the yard, the barn or the gateway.
Dereham, about 16 miles west of our Norwich workshop along the A47.
On site welding in mid Norfolk
Most things that break on a mid Norfolk farm are too big to load and too urgent to leave.
Dereham sits in the middle of arable Norfolk, ringed by farms, grain stores and agricultural engineers. Mobile welding in Dereham is largely about keeping that kit at work. Out from Norwich comes a fully qualified welder with MMA and MIG sets for heavy, dirty steel outdoors, TIG for stainless, and a rack of plate, flat bar and box section.
A cultivator frame cracked on a flint, a bale trailer with a rotten bed bearer, a loader bracket torn off its headstock, a grain store door that refuses to run: these are yard jobs, not workshop jobs. Units on Rashes Green and Yaxham Road get the same service. Estimating is free and the price is settled before a rod is struck. Tight budget? Tell us. And if new steel is called for, we make it.
Structural steelwork in Dereham
What we weld near Dereham
Name the machine or trailer, where it has come to rest and what you need it for next. At harvest or drilling a lost day matters, and we plan with that in mind as far as we can.
Split drawbars and hitch eyes, cracked cultivator and drill frames, worn bucket edges, bent tine carriers, bale spike brackets and tipping trailer hinges. The crack is veed out, welded through, then plated or gusseted so it does not open again beside the repair.
Grain walling posts, door frames and tracks, conveyor and elevator supports, catwalks and ladders. Stock yard gates, feed barriers and crush frames bent by cattle or by the telehandler are mended too.
For engineering and trade units on the Rashes Green and Yaxham Road estates we weld brackets, racks, guards and yard gates. At a house in Mattishall, Shipdham or the town itself, it tends to be steel gates, railings and trailers. Stainless gets TIG. Aluminium, ask.
How a farm job works
Walk round the break with your phone. One picture close in, one of the whole machine and one of the ground it is standing on. Text or email them with the make, if you know it, and the village nearest to you, and we can work out what rods, wire and steel to load.
Dereham is a short hop on the A47, so travel is a modest slice of the figure. The rest is labour and steel. A crack that looks small can run on under dirt and paint, so we say what we expect to find and what it means if it is worse. No price list exists. Your estimate is free and the sum is agreed before the welder starts.
Farm note: straw, chaff, grain dust and diesel all burn. Please pull the machine onto clean concrete or bare ground before we arrive.
Before you call us
Say what the machine is and which part has failed. Most farm kit is mild steel, but wear parts, tines and some drawbar eyes are hardened or cast. That changes how they are welded, and some are better replaced. A picture of any markings helps.
Then where it is. Farm name, postcode and which yard or field, whether a van can get there in the wet, and whether the machine is loaded, jacked up or still hitched. Empty the trailer if you can. Warn us if a straw stack, fuel tank or working grain store is close.
Around Dereham
Heading west out of Norwich on the A47, Dereham comes up after about 16 miles. From the town the lanes fan out to Shipdham and Yaxham on the south side, Mattishall back towards the east, and North Elmham up to the north.
Swaffham lies further down the same road and is covered as well, along with the country in between. The same van works the rest of Norfolk and over into Suffolk. When a breakdown in the middle of harvest cannot wait for a booked slot, 07495 409006 is answered day and night.
Steel fabrication in DerehamDereham welding questions
Yes, that is normal for us. A generator on the van drives the welding plant and the grinders, so a field gateway or a barn without electricity is no obstacle. We only need ground firm enough to bring the van close, or the machine towed to the nearest hard track.
Yes. Shipdham, Mattishall, Yaxham, North Elmham and out towards Swaffham are all reached off the A47. With Dereham only about 16 miles from our workshop, the mileage in an estimate stays low for anywhere round the town.
Sometimes. Cast iron housings and hardened wear parts do not behave like mild steel, and some will not hold a weld. Send a picture and any part number. We will say if welding is sensible, if plating round it is wiser, or if you should buy the part.
Our call out runs 24/7, and a harvest breakdown is just what it is for. Ring, do not email. We will tell you when a welder can reach you, and whether a make-safe weld will keep you going until the field is finished and a fuller repair can be done.
Yes, ideally while the store is empty and swept, because grain dust and sparks are a bad mix. Walling posts, door tracks, ladders, catwalks and conveyor supports can be repaired, or made new to match.
Swift Fabrication Services
Ring 07495 409006, or text pictures from the yard showing the machine and the break, plus your nearest village, for a free estimate.
