Ram arm weld repair - comments welcome

William Fissell · Sep 28, 2014

Hi,

I ground down the crack in my ram arm and heated
it to 500 or so in my oven (I have a hot oven,
apaprently). Filled the house with smoke as the
grease on it burned off.

All I use successfully is 6013 rod as I don;t have
an oven to store 7018. I chose 85 amps DC+. Laid
a bead, but got lost towards the end. Cleaned it
off and laid 2 more, then dunked it in sand to
cool off slowly. Also included pic of my $150
craigslist welding setup.

rankrank1 · Sep 28, 2014

Looks like pretty good welding to me. That said, I can not tell if that piece you welded is cast steel or cast iron? Did you spark test it?

If cast steel then it might just work. If cast iron, then I doubt it holds but only one way to find out.

I ldo like 6013 rod for some things, but not sure 6013 would have been my first choice for this repair, but I admit it does look good.

Good idea on the preheat, but I think I would use a gas grill instead so as to keep all that nasty smoke outside the house. Saves wifey get mad at yah too.

Michaels Dad · Sep 28, 2014

Steal on the "tombstone", I gave $125 for my AC version several years ago. The big plus was there were 25' extensions on the leads and 50' on the power cord.
Could have put the 7018 in the oven at the same time, would have dried it out if there were any moisture. Since your not doing any code work damp (not soaking wet) would have worked.

RodinNS · Sep 28, 2014

Weld looks nice... but I'll say this whether you want to hear it or not...
I'd worry a LOT LESS about the rod oven than I would about a 6013 bead on a baler connecting rod. If you can't burn 7018AC rods effectively, at least get yourself a box of 1/8" 6011's and use that. You're just not going to get enough penetration from a 6013 to do you any good... and I fear that thing will go bang on you sometime down the road and probably cause a lot more damage than you're bargaining for right now.
7014 is also another fairly useful, versatile AC rod that will work for you.
Problem with 6013 is that it's low penetration (won't dig) and low tensile strength. You can have the prettiest weld in the world and it will snap in half. Those things are good for artisanal work, body work on clean metal, etc... not heavy loading like that connecting rod will see.

Rod

William Fissell · Sep 28, 2014

I think you've got a good point abut the 6013. However, that part is not ever in tension, O/W would have gone with a higher tensile strength rod. I cannot imaging how it got cracked. We'll see what heppens.

I thought about just putting the rod in the oven at the same time. Probably would have wokred.

William Fissell · Sep 28, 2014

BTW thats not a baler rod- that a ram arm off an 841 hydraulic lift. I probably would not have tried welding a connecting rod for the reasons you said.

RodinNS · Sep 28, 2014

It's not in tension in the sense that it's not directly pulling on the rod... but that's not to say the welds are never in tension. The way I see it... it cracked once already. There was a reason for that. I'd not want to repair it with a lower strength rod.
This business of needing 7018 in a rod oven all of the time is a bunch of crap. Mabey if you were doing certification work on pipe or something... but I think you'll find the weld strength differences between 7018 that was in an oven and 7018 out of a dry box are negligible.

Rod

Billy NY · Sep 28, 2014

If I recall correctly, Forney made a 7018 AC electrode that I had good luck with off an old miller AC welder my farmer friend had. I had been bringing my newer NT 251 trailblazer over to work with as I was using 7018 on DC, but one day I had no time and told him to see if they had an AC 7018 electrode, he picked up some and I was able to make good use off it, I have one of those Lincolns, hardly used it in a long time, would think it would work well once you dialed in the setting that works best.

7018 is definitely strong and tolerates novice welders like myself LOL ! Ive actually done well with over the years, keep learning more as time goes on.

Dean · Sep 28, 2014

Looks great to me but I'm no welder.

As I said in your earlier thread, the crack is in compression rather than tension. I do not expect that your grandkids will have any trouble with it.

Have you test fitted it on the rock shaft yet?

Dean

Dean · Sep 28, 2014

Now is the time to install new rock shaft bushings since you have the rock shaft out.

Turn the rock shaft ene-for-end as well so that the shaft will wear on the unworn side.

Dean

Ultradog MN · Sep 28, 2014

I agree Rod.
Rod ovens are for the certified stuff. Most of us aren't that good and it makes little difference if they were super dry or laying on a damp floor. If you really gotta have it good, grab half a pound and throw them in the oven in the kitchen at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
As for 7018 or 6011 or 6013. Well I'm not going to quibble over 10K psi tensile strength either.
Not if you are running it on an AC welder.
Yes 7018 has more push but you need DC to effectively get it.
William, I think it looks good and if it was steel - either forged or cast - and not cast iron, it ought to hold just fine.

William Fissell · Sep 28, 2014

its cast steel and I welded it DC. I have 7018 rods and next time I'll cook some dry and use em.

thanks for all the help!

Dean,

yup the bushings were worn enough that the rockshaft slid right out. I can wait a few more dayus for replacements.

vt joe · Sep 29, 2014

you might experiment with 7014 which is for AC welding

souNdguy · Sep 29, 2014

I doubt the 60k vs 70k will be an issue.

I too would have used 6011 vs 6013, just for penetration..

William Fissell · Sep 29, 2014

Since I have a DC buzz box, is there a reason why folks are steering me to AC rods? I thought DCEP would give me better penetration than AC

RodinNS · Sep 29, 2014

In my first post I missed the fact that you have a DC tombstone. I just saw the red tombstone and assumed it was AC only.. By all means you could use a standard 7018. That said, the other rods mentioned are all quite versatile regardless if you burn them on AC or DC.

Rod

William Fissell · Sep 29, 2014

thanks.

I can grind down my welds and redo with 7018 rods that I baked off in my oven. Would you recommend doing so?

Bill

souNdguy · Sep 29, 2014

I think the biggest issue is the 6013 rod... having DC i'd have hit it with 6010 or 6011 AC.

William Fissell · Sep 29, 2014

I don;t want to do this again so I'll grind it down and use a different rod. longest part will be the heating and the cooling.

Ultradog MN · Sep 29, 2014

In my first post I also missed the DC.
Just saw the Red tombstone and assumed...
In the future I would just start using 7018 but I wouldn't grind that out and redo it. I'll lay my money on it being just fine.
Someone else mentioned 7014 but that rod is not an all position rod. Basically it's just a flat, drag rod. Fine for some things but not nearly as versatile as others.

souNdguy · Sep 29, 2014

being cast steel, it's really not an issue. if it was cast iron.. then I'd suggest a different rod again, and preheat and slow cool.

RodinNS · Sep 29, 2014

Personally... I just don't trust a 6013 for anything... so yeah, I'd probably grind it out and at least cap the weld with 7018.

Rod

RodinNS · Sep 29, 2014

I think you're referring to a 7024...
Don't forget the numbering system. '70' is tensile strength, '1' is position, in this case being 'all position' (2 is horizontal only) and the '4' is the flux characteristic... in this case, IIRC, high iron flux, fast set. Before I had a DC cracker box I used to use the 7014 all the time, especially for overhead work. Their only problem is that they don't have any great penetration either.

Rod

Ultradog MN · Sep 30, 2014

You are correct. It's been 30 years since I ran that 7014. I remember using it flat on real thin metal. Just lay it on the seam and drag it across. It did a nice job and made a near perfect looking bead.

Ram arm weld repair - comments welcome

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