Opinions more

grandpa Love · Dec 28, 2020

Instead of answering each question I will
start over. Hood and gas tank were
surprisingly straight as were fenders.
Manifold looked good,was on the wall side
away from middle of building. 2 campers
in the barn burnt to a twisted frame.
Took final drives off to get brakes out.
Gear oil was burned up, crispy. Took pto
shaft out. Gear oil was burned up.
Pulled head. Block is full of rust. Front
rims are badly twisted but rears are not.
Front axle actually bent down in the
middle on the ride home. About 3-4
inches......yikes. Sounds like it's a big
gamble to try and use any parts. Still
did ok with weights , seat, brakes,
cultivators and fenders.

TractorTucker · Dec 28, 2020

I am thinking that all of the shafts are probably junk, I still think that the castings like the finals would be okay to use but I am not sure.

Dave41A · Dec 28, 2020

Shafts and gearing are (or were) likely a hardened alloy. Probably 4100 or 4300 series steel. They will soften with heat if taken above 700-800F: essentially over-tempered. Look for a blue/grey color (see link). The gears were probably originally case-hardened. They may have decarburized--the heat burns the carbon out and leaves the relatively soft iron/mild steel behind. The cast iron parts are probably OK unless they actually melted. Grey cast is used for fire grates, etc. due to its ability to withstand intense heat.

Or, you could be lucky and maybe everything survived. Try to see if the different parts will mark with a hacksaw or file to get a sense of how hard they are. Test somewhere that doesn't matter, of course. You might luck out & I hope you do. Dave
temper colors

Gary Mitchell · Dec 28, 2020

Bought one like that,,, never again. Even the rims that looked fine were really soft. gm

David G · Dec 28, 2020

It really comes down to the unit should have been scrapped from the start.

Get rid of it.

used red MN · Dec 29, 2020

I would be surprised if that seat does not bend out of shape. The photos I have seen of you seem like you are within the weight limit but many more biscuits and look out!! The first sentence was serious due to it being in the fire, then some devilment took over.

BarnyardEngineering · Dec 29, 2020

Regardless of indoors or outdoors if the metal gets hot enough it anneals and becomes soft.

A rule of thumb I've heard is if the tires burned, the fire got hot enough to anneal the steel. Tires catch fire at about 700F, and that's about where steel begins to anneal rather than temper.

With this whole "Forged in Fire" craze you'd think more people would be better educated on how heat effects metal.

Opinions more

grandpa Love

Well-known Member

TractorTucker

Member

Dave41A

Member

Gary Mitchell

Well-known Member

David G

Well-known Member

used red MN

Well-known Member

BarnyardEngineering

Well-known Member

Similar threads