Deere mower deck is hard to drill!

Hi, to anyone:
I have a Deere 46 inch mower deck probably from a 300 series lawn/garden tractor. I want to repair a crack at the edge of the stamped steel housing. I am not a welder, so I am trying to attach a small steel strap across the crack by drilling and bolting. The deck seems hard to drill, and I would hate to break several small bits making a few 1/4 inch holes. Any advice for drilling with a corded hand drill; what kind of bits, and so on. All advice appreciated.

Dennis M. in W. Tenn.
 
I have repaired many of those decks, and have never noticed they were particularly tough to drill.

I would use cobalt bits, start with a smaller one, perhaps 5/32", then go to the 1/4" hole you need.
 

I have also drilled several decks without any problem.
Since you're not going to weld the crack you should consider drilling a 1/8" hole at the very ends of the crack to help prevent the crack from growing.
 
Not to bust on you. Take the deck to a component welder. They will
fill it correctly with the correct rod / wire and you can grind the
weld down a little. Redid the 54 inch deck on my Husqvarna. It is 10
gauge metal I think. Very heavy. Four years latter it is still
perfect. The price shouldn't be that bad for a correct repair.
 
Hi, Russ and others:
I got it done ok. I picked through my junk and found a few good looking bits, (meaning cutting edge still sharp) drilled smaller hole first, then the 1/4 inch I wanted to end up with. A few times I actually used a Harbor Freight gold colored bit that has steps from small to large size all in one piece. Anyway, the holes are drilled, the reinforcement pieces are bolted on, and all seems good.
As I tell the wife: nothing broke, I did not get hurt, so all is well!

Dennis M. in W. Tenn.
 
Hi, I had a deck on a Craftsman 42 in crack right at
the discharge. I showed the repair people and they
sent a new deck N/C from sears. Ed Will Oliver BC
 
Based on your comments, appears you need to consider
buying better quality drill bits, and learn to sharpen them.
Metal cutting tools need to be of good quality steel to hold an
edge, and knowing what a sharp bit looks like, and how to
maintain that edge, are key factors to successfully drilling
metals.
 

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