egged out cast front bolster to-35

hi, all,

is the front bolster cast iron or cast steel? I can grind on it i guess but the hive mind might know better than my eyeballing the sparks.

the axle pin was unsurprisingly worn but the bolster is pretty egged too. if its cast steel ill probably weld in a sleeve bushing. if its cast iron im a ill less certain. when I disassembled it there were several sleeves and bushings all kermunged on each other.

thanks

I had similar doubts with UK made TE20s and FE35s , it seems that it is cast iron in their case however it is not your average cast .
I spoke with a retired engineer that worked at the Ferguson Banner Lane works in Coventry he settled the argument once and for all as far as I was concerned . Though as far as welding goes the best repairs to front axle pivots I have seen have always had bushes fitted .

He states
''The major castings including the front axle are made from Spheroidal Graphite Iron, or Nodular Iron, which is sometimes also called Malleable Cast Iron, is an upgraded form of cast iron, with greater impact strength and, as I remember, was used for more heavily loaded components, such as lift covers and front axle support castings.''
He goes on to explain ,

The difference between ordinary cast iron and SG iron, is that in plain cast iron, the carbon is not absorbed by the iron, the carbon staying separated, as tiny flakes, hence its dustiness when machined.

SG iron is quite different, in that its structure now absorbs the carbon and the whole structure becomes homogenised together. Under micro viewing, the grains are now literally tiny balls, fused together, hence the 'Spheroidal' bit in the title. I can remember our metallurgy lecturer telling us that when this form of iron was first produced, it was thought to be scrap - hence the saying 'making a balls of it...'

How metals grinds is a whole different ball game, partly due to the metal and partly due to the type of grinding wheel being used. Some will produce vast showers of sparks whilst others very little. For some reason the harder steels seem to produce the least sparks of all - High Speed Steel (HSS) as used to make cutting tools and broaches, after it has been hardened produces a small number of dull red 'blobs' of spark, whereas mild steel produces a firework display.

I would guess that SG iron would react more like a mildish steel, due to its modified structure.