welding draw bar together

So making a unit for my skidloader that requires me too cut two different 3point drawbars off and weld together to get
make one that spans about 40 inches with the 1" round ends on both ends..

So for you fabricators.. thinking of using 7018 rod... grinding the mating edges down to angle and filling in.. Sounds
simple enough.. help me out...Yes this bar when finished will be used like a draw bar on a tractor would be used for..

Hold the two bar components straight by clamping them to a channel or I beam for welding. Hammer (with a pointed chipping hammer) each pass of weld to assure stress relief and remove all slag. After welding I would heat with a rose bud tip, and quench in oil. Jim.

Not likely to hold well if at all unless you add a couple fish plates to it. I would if I where doing it grind the V half way on both sides weld it up then lay a piece or 2 of steel on both sides of it and weld them in place. I would weld them on front/back of the bar.
I would also not cut it dead center but I would splice it on one end or the other since most thing you hook up you hook to the center of the bar so the stress point would not be right where the weld is

Imagine welding the ends of two pieces of 2" square stock together without doing any beveling. The two pieces would be welded around the perimeter of the joint only to the depth of penetration of the weld. Let's say, hypothetically, that the depth of penetration is 1/4". That would mean that the unwelded area of the joint was 1-1/2" X 1-1/2" or 56.25%. The more you bevel the ends before welding, the greater the amount of welded area. You can check the depth of penetration of the rod and heat setting you plan to use by doing a butt weld of two pieces of flat stock, cutting them apart somewhere across the weld (the end is not representative), and measuring it, or simply eyeballing it. Or you can bevel the ends of your drawbars down almost to points so you will be sure that you get 100% fusion.

When I was learning stick welding, I once welded a splitting wedge to the end of a length of 1-1/4" square stock to make a root chopper and pry bar. I beveled the end of the square stock a small amount, welded it to the flat end of the splitting wedge, and built up the weld quite a bit at the shoulder. It worked fine as a root chopper, but when I was using it as a pry bar one time, the weld broke and dumped me on my back. I learned a lesson from that. I ground off the weld, beveled the square bar almost to a point and welded it again. It's held up to the hardest use I could give it for more than ten years now.

Stan

Depends on what duty it will see and the consequences of it failing? Those bars as sold by the farm fleet stores are not made of anything special. Were I to do that job from two existing bars I would also make the joint off center by just cutting enough of one of the bars to square it up and get rid of the pin. Then grind the long sides down to a knife edge and bring the short edge in a bit too. Run a root pass with 6010 or 6011 and finish up with 7018. As long as the weld is higher than the original bar there should be no need for additional plates. That being said given the choice I would not join two short bars but order a piece of hot rolled bar the needed length and add the pins and needed holes.

Just use JB Weld. Paul Harvey said you could fix the drawbar of a farm tractor with JB Weld.

A journalist of his stature wouldn't BS anyone, would they?

You are on the right track with 7018. Grind it out completely and slightly flatten the beveled edges. Hold about 1/16 apart and make an open root pass with 6010. I would tack weld the drawbar to a piece of angle or channel so it does not warp while you are welding it, c clamp will work also. Ellis

You have it about right. If I was doing it I would grind it to a point from both sides, weld a pass or two on one side, then grind the backside til I saw no crack. Then weld alternate sides til done. 7018 rod would be my choice. If possible I would do the splice to one side of center since the middle is the highest stress area. The further to the side you can go the less stress the weld will carry.

Not sure if this will help but here's one I made from some scrap stuff.

Kirk
3pt hitch

Ditto

My brother welded a 1 1/2" round shaft on our combine. Right in the bearing. He did as above only he heated it red hot when done and beat it for about 10 minutes. Then heated it on opposite side to get it perfectly straight. Combine gone but bet shaft is still good. I have a pulling tractor with two different rods welded together.

7018 is what I have used! Remember the 7018 will be stronger that the bar your welding so you will want 7018 solid from the center out. I have shortened all of the drawbars on my pulling tractors. Pulled for over ten years and never had one break. The picture below is one I made with a bar of hot roll and the ends off an original C drawbar. I welded this one on the tractor. I only beveled the top sides to a Vee. I clamped in place with a piece of 1/8" bar stock on the bottom both sides. I cut the hot roll bar 1/4" short and placed a 1/8" welding rod in the space on both ends of the bar. I welded to the bottom of the space into the 1/8" with a single hot bead. I then made how ever many weaving passes to have the weld well over the 1/2" thickness of the hot roll bar. After it cooled I then ground it flush on top and removed the drawbar and ground the bottom flush. I drilled the holes before I welded it. I shortened a B drawbar much the same way to shorten it with four cuts to keep the curve close to the same as the original.

Be cautious when welding unknown steel. Drawbars may be made of anything from 1018 mild steel to 5160 chrome alloy steel. Any steel with more than 0.3% carbon will require special welding procedures, usually consisting of preheat and postheat. 7018 low hydrogen electrodes are usually compatible with medium carbon alloys, as long as proper weld procedures are followed. That being said, an experienced weldor or machinist can usually make a pretty good educated guess as to the material by a combination of spark testing with a grinder, and filing the material with a good sharp file. As other posters have noted, good joint design is important, with 100% penetration being best. unc