best rod for building up track links

I a may be building up some track links that are at the wear limit. what is the best welding rod for this. I have 50# of 309L i scrounged. would that work?

I've seen alot of different stuff used over the years, and personally I wouldn't use stainless for the links. How any of it lasted past watching the customer doing it I couldn't say. Beyond that your best bet would be to check out some of the mfg's sites like Stoody, Cronatron, Lincoln, etc, etc and look for a suitable rod/filler based on the application. Even better would be to call their tech lines on Monday and pick their brains.

You need a rod like Stoody build up for building up rails, idlers, rollers, etc. You don't want a full hard facing rod and something like 7018 will mushroom. Build up rod is a medium hard deposit that doesn't mushroom. Other manufacturers will have comparable rods. Too hard of a deposit will just wear the opposite surface in no time.

Stick Weld has the right idea. If you were going to buy something a good build-up rod is what you would want. However since you have the 309 it would work well too. It is an austenitic stainless steel. The as welded deposit will be the same hardness as a 7018. But it has two advantages, it does not rust, and that is a cause for metal loss and two it work hardens. So the rolling of the rails accross the roller will harden the 309 deposit. Now the 309 would be a lot more expensive to buy than a build up rod, but if you have it and have no other use for it, it will do the job.

thanks guys. I was worried it would be too hard and wear away the flanges. I know the stainless is relly tough when you try to drill a hole in it. i have no other specific use for it, just whatever i would normally use 7018 for. if you are in the right place at the right time on nuke applications they throw rod away if it does not get used after 8 hours of opening the can. I think it is still good enough for me to use. what a waste.

You should consider what you're going to do with it. If it's a show tractor, don't bother. You're going to spend a week doing the welding, and you're only going to get back a fraction of your adjustment.The roller flanges might not be hitting the pin bosses anymore, but you've accomplished nothing in terms of pin/bushing wear, which might be worn to the point where the track begins to separate; an embarrassing event on Plow Day. A much more realistic way to get back track adjustment would be to weld in sprocket cups, and build up the front idler. This will tighten the track some, but the rails are still shot. For a large hardfacing project like this, I would't use stick at all. Get a portable wire feed like a Lincoln LN-25, and contact your welding supplies guy for a suitable wire. Conversely, if you use your tractor regularly you're not going to want those wasted rails on it anyway. Yet, the suggestions I cited will be a beneficial contribution to the undercarriage overhaul. One note: you have to decide what you want to do before you weld in the sprocket cups. The sprocket has to be worn enough to take the cups; you are increasing the pitch diameter, which is okay for old rails, but the new rails will climb up on the teeth IF the diameter is too great. The test is simple (but you have to have new rails), just insert 6 cups as the tractor is moved forward, and if the chain sits comfortably in the sprocket, weld the cups in for good. To stay on the safe side, perform this test on old rails too.

Back in my welding days, building- up skidder chains I used Stallite or Drawalloy it seemed to last quite long . I have also used 7018 and it works well and is much cheaper .

basically what is going on is this, i traded a dump truck for 2 old td6's in pieces, with track off 1 side of each and top decks and seats and fuel tanks off and steering clutches out on one. total basket cases. i have never had a dozer before but it looks handy, i could dress up my 1/4 mile long driveway in the spring and skid some firewood in the late winter, so it will just be for homeowner type use. I put one all back together and got it running and it works and the winch works and the undercarriage is shot. the other one is good but the rails are thin. so i am taking the roller and sprockets off of one and puting them on the other. don't want to throw any money at them till i see it they are reliable and if they are something i am going to use a lot. here is my thread with lots of pics on redpower http://www.redpowermagazine.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=68872
if you have any advice on what i am doing i am all ears since i am just making it up as i go along having never had a dozer before.

I think you're pretty safe using it for that
purpose. If you think you might like to try the
sprocket cup idea, Pigeon Products will send you 6
cups for free so you can make the test.

Use 7018 to build up, But not to thick & use a hard rod for the last pass.
If you build it up to much the hard pass will crack & chunks will fall out.