Welding question.

I've got sickle bars by IHC and NH that are at least 35 yrs old and have had some heavy use through the years and we've never wore out the skid shoes.

We've got some of the hardest clay ground here you can imagine, but they have been used on sandy and about all mixtures in between.

I've got sickle bars by IHC and NH that are at least 35 yrs old and have had some heavy use through the years and we've never wore out the skid shoes.

We've got some of the hardest clay ground here you can imagine.

In a nutshell, hardfacing is put down as cold as possible to avoid dilution of the weld metal with the base metal. The industry standard is 3 passes to overcome this when using a product such as chrome carbide.

The exception to this is a material that gets it's hardness from WC. (tungsten carbide) Tungsten cannot be welded to and therefore must be entrapped in a matrix. (This is analogous to an oil and chipped roadway where the chips are held in place by a matrix of tar.) WC material is limited to 1 pass to avoid the sinking of the WC particles into the matrix. The absolute best material for abrasion only type applications is WC. It is the last choice for combinations of impact and abrasion.

The best combination of material and process for resistance to abrasion is the WC applied with a torch. You have the hardest material applied with the most minimal dilution. The "Hot Process Torch"!

Another good approach to an application like yours is to go down to the nearest highway maintenance shed and get a piece of their old discarded snow plow inserts or grader blade and weld it in place with something like my #2200.

Using a proper facing pattern is key as well. If you create a checkerboard pattern, this will allow dirt and material to build up in the squares of the pattern and you will realize some better life. You have a little dirt on dirt action rather than metal on dirt wear.
Steve

• U.S. Alloys/Weld Tech