jon f mn
Well-known Member
Started by cutting the top, side, and bottom so it could be pulled straight. I used the plasma for this. You can see that I cut a large hole in the bottom. This was so I could plate the inside. This is for 2 reasons, first so the plating would be hidden. Second because the cracks were right at the point where the side braces conected. To plate the outside properly I would have had to cut all that loose which would have been much messier and harder to do.
Next I pulled it straight with the come-a-long again.
Next was welding a plate to the top of the tube. I used 1/4" flat which was thicker that the 3/16" tube. It is unnecessary to use anything thicker than the original material, but the 3/16" flat I had was much wider so I went with the heavier. Getting the welder nozzle in there to weld was quite a challenge, I had to stay just a little too far away for proper welding but it worked ok if you don't have to look at the welds. Again I didn't weld across the ends of the ends of the plate.
Next a plate for the cut side and bottom. Again I forgot to take pics of this part but I put a plate on the side and welded the top and bottom but not the ends. Then I cut a plate to fit the bottom inside and welded that all the way around since it was the edge of the hole. Then I cut down the piece of tube I removed and welded that back in for filler. Then plated over the Bottom. This one I cut about 5" longer than the hole and cut the ends to a flattened point. When ever you weld across a tube or beam you should always try to avoid a straight weld. A point is much better at avoiding cracking.
Some final pics of the finished repair.
Next I pulled it straight with the come-a-long again.
Next was welding a plate to the top of the tube. I used 1/4" flat which was thicker that the 3/16" tube. It is unnecessary to use anything thicker than the original material, but the 3/16" flat I had was much wider so I went with the heavier. Getting the welder nozzle in there to weld was quite a challenge, I had to stay just a little too far away for proper welding but it worked ok if you don't have to look at the welds. Again I didn't weld across the ends of the ends of the plate.
Next a plate for the cut side and bottom. Again I forgot to take pics of this part but I put a plate on the side and welded the top and bottom but not the ends. Then I cut a plate to fit the bottom inside and welded that all the way around since it was the edge of the hole. Then I cut down the piece of tube I removed and welded that back in for filler. Then plated over the Bottom. This one I cut about 5" longer than the hole and cut the ends to a flattened point. When ever you weld across a tube or beam you should always try to avoid a straight weld. A point is much better at avoiding cracking.
Some final pics of the finished repair.