Would you repair this Box rim ?

I recently removed a tire from a rim and this is what I found. No wonder it wasn't holding air pressure.

Is it worth it to try to repair a rim in this condition ? I could sandblast it and MIG weld a strip of metal over the inner box section, or I could throw it in the scrap pile and get a new 9x28 loop rim locally for $85.

Also, It seems to me that Box rims are a bad design anyhow. More prone to rust out ?

How's the valve hole?
In one way this could make for a very good restoration as you can blast out the channel and really seal it up right around the bolt bosses. If there's lots of meat left in the rest of the rim, then getting a nice strip cut to tack in looks do-able. Your spot welds will burn off a bit of whatever you use to protect the inner channel.

I think that what rusted out the Hat rims was water getting in the bolt holes, so I sealed mine with silicone under the bolt head and used thin oiled leather washers, both behind the wheel center and under the flat washers. Silicone both sides would have probably been better still.

Keep water from pooling in the bottoms of the rims when parked or maybe sponge it out before you start rolling.

P.S.
It was good to see the inside view. You could totally rectify the engineering flaw in hat rims by brazing around each bolt channel edge so that water could never get in again. You could use any number of solutions here actually, especially if you are going to sandblast it super clean. (bondo, quick setting epoxy, etc.)

To me the beauty of this potential restoration is that the new strip for the channel can be cut so that it is a press fit because I see that it can be recessed till it bottoms out on the boltways. So in the end you have a nice level surface that doesn't need anything to soften the edges for the tube's sake.

I usually save everything that is original. But I would not save this rim! That amount of thick scale rust means the steel has become much thinner and is of questionable strength. A rear tractor tire has a measured air pressure of about 14 psi. Doesn't sound like much, but there is a lot of square inches and the pounds of force really add up. This could be dangerous.

And yes I have fixed some hat rims and used them, but never one that is this shot. Stay safe!

Paul in MN

More pictures would help. Even if its rusted through in a few spots its repairable. Dont scrap till you try to fix it. Send more photos. Short answer yes it is fixable. If you scrap it mine will go up in value.

(quoted from post at 12:57:43 10/28/14) More pictures would help. Even if its rusted through in a few spots its repairable. Dont scrap till you try to fix it. Send more photos. Short answer yes it is fixable. If you scrap it mine will go up in value.

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.B., guess I helped raise the value of your rims! I had a flat, and when the new tire was being installed, my old rim was badly rusted. Holes all the way through the rim to the inside of the tire. Some went a quarter way around the rim! I was told it was not fixable, so I scrapped it. Maybe I should have hung onto it? I'm slowly learning!

I have saved worse than that. But they were 32" rims and you cannot get new 32" rims for 9Ns.

I swapped out a pair to Harold a couple of years ago and he said they were repairable and they were worse than that. All I needed was a pair of rear rims that were structurally sound. I guess what you do depends on your tractor and your plans with it.

good tire?
If so, I'd probably grab that new rim.
But, I'd do my best to fix that old one when I had time.
There will always be a next time need.....

Your hammer will tell you better than we can.
Bang that rust off, and don't be gentle.
Metal still rings, fix it up.
Hammer keeps punching thru....junk it

Tough call if we cant see them. lots of
variables. So you might have saved yourself a
lot of time.

looks like a good winter project.

Is it worth it to try to repair a rim in this condition ?

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Wherebouts are you in TN? I want it if you gonna chunk it.

Thanks to all for the input.

The valve stem hole area is very thin and I think after sandblasting the entire rim may prove to be very thin. However, I think I won't scrap them yet. For being about 70 years old I guess they're not that bad.

Maybe you could line the rim with something called Gel Coat, I think. Fishboat owners I know said their smooth white fish holds were heavily lined with it. It would add strength.

Maybe since I said it a while ago while I was doing my rims and NNP just said it . . .
this has become one of those "that's what they say things".

That if I still rings like a gong, it's a keeper.

If the chipping hammer keeps going through
It's a weeper.