Back in business

Well, giving it some thought, piece was broke anyway, this has to be cast steel, was gray inside the break and I observed the sparks, distinct pattern and color.

Beveled the edges, also wire wheeled beyond that, then set the piece on the bench, tacked, it did not twist or distort, then I carefully did multiple passes, the root pass went in nice.

Back together, and on the 3150, 2 10-15 acre fields to roll tomorrow, 35 to go. New grade 8 bolts, tack welded the nuts, won't happen again, one bearing was a little beat up, though, it did not harm the axle, cleaned it up and re-greased, some of the roller bearings were rusted and seized too, hard to believe it did not fail or make noise, been like that awhile, but should make it the last 40 acres, then replace em all.

That should hold all right. Now you can come over and help me repair my disc tomorrow. I don't like to work on Sundays, but I have a discing job Monday, and need to get the thing repaired. I think the Bible says something like if your ox falls in a ditch on the Sabbath you can get it out. Stan

Good looking job! You certainly are multi-talented.

It looks good. It pays to take the time to do it right and prep it like you did. A couple of things you could do if you have another repair. In the first picture you left a notch at the end that could start a crack. Maybe you filled it in later? When you're about to finish your weld, go backwards for a second to fill the crater. Cracks can start at the crater. Even better is to start the weld at each end and overlap the craters in the middle. Cracks don't normally start in the middle and it's easier to start at an edge than finish a weld at the edge, especially if it is thinner or beveled like yours was. Probably was cast steel. Cast iron usually leaves a rougher looking bead. It should hold for 40 acres. Did you use 7018? Dave

Hi Billy,

That sure puts a damper on a days work.

If I was you I would 1/4" plate the top and bottom of the web shown in the first picture as this is a fracture from fatigue failure. Without the additional plate you will probably see anointer crack quickly form.

I would take a piece of 1/4" x 8"long x web width and skip weld the plate on either side opposite of the welds. Do not weld on the narrow part of the plate on either end, leave that open, as we want too transfer load weight further down the beam.

I would also look at the other end as I suspect you'll also find the same fatigue cracks on that end too.

T_Bone

T-bone, appreciate you're lookin in on this one, what happened was the bolt on the opposite arm came out, the arms hold the 2nd roller, so when that arm fell off, there was just one, so that axle with the packer wheels was only held one by one and it just opened up on the one side, like a lever and pried or snapped the piece in 1/2, and was as the previous post was. I tack welded the nuts on the bolts, so I can't get the arm off unless I cut it off with a torch in the field, be better to get that implement back to his shop, so I could do that, because I'm not as good with vertical or other positions besides flat.

I sprayed the repair with cold zinc galv spray, so I could monitor the area. Also, the other photos may be misleading, I did make several passes, I think 3, and the area where the double bead is, is kind of curved, so I did the root and next passes, then kind of fillet welded the area to get more surface area of weld, kind of tying it in like a "T" with the wide portion being on top, I alternated passes on either side of center and left as you see it.

What you are saying is to plate the area that would be the same as the web of an I-beam, not the area that would be like a beam flange, (photo where I vee'd/ beveled the edges)

I have to run this thing today, if she cracks, we will have to bring it back to the shop, but boy that material seemed to really take that 7018, no crack pop or spatter at all, went in real nice and you could tell there was no porosity. I did pre-heat a little when I welded it, but had no tool to measure the temp, supposed to be 400-450 F ?

Thanks to you and all who helped, I'm hoping I can finish these last fields for him and transport across and down the roads back to his shop, might be able to plate it then, or take the tractor path back to my place, as my machine is back there now.

Dave, I did fill in and make multi passes, till the the profile was convex ? on all areas, just kept flipping it to the flat while on the bench, it penetrated well, just not sure how well it's fused being cast steel, but I would think that 7018 weld would not fail by any means, not a heck of a lot of stress on this part in tension, more vibration, but even that is dampened by that bearing and trunion like arrangement on the axle ends, I think it should hold but I will check for cracks while running it.

Stan, I too do NOT like workin Sundays for obvious and other reasons, but today is a make up day for yesterday's repairs etc. Now I like your neck of the woods, been there many times in the past and if out that way, would be a pleasure to help, heck this gig a is a low paying one, but you have to like the work though, I did get some time to burn some electrodes yesterday, welded 5 shares on the 5 bottom to get some better points going into a dry packed in area that would not plow, all held too !

Weld profile looks ok I think, but the photos are misleading, I really filled in that area beyond the break, that one bead not primed, looks like theres a gap, but theres not one, sometimes the edge of my welds have that gap on the sides, so I have to turn up the heat a little and fuse it together, not sure what you call that, but it happened on one of the shares I welded on, 2nd 3rd passes took care of it, this cast steel piece did seem to weld easily.

Cast steel welds really nice. It's usually used for more complex shapes that would be hard to fabricate from structural steel pieces. The swing assembly on my backhoe is cast steel for this reason. Shouldn't need much preheat unless it's a thick section. Weld it just like mild steel with 7018 and you should be good to go. Dave

Looks good.I dont think plating it will be necessary and here is why-you welded it,it didnt crack,welded area is probably stronger than cast its holding,it broke because a bolt came out on the other side and levered it to break.
Actually you welded it quite a lot more than necessary.7018 is not deep penetrating rod,but it does penetrate good enough to hold.What may have worked better for you would have been to run a pass of 6011 first to penetrate completely through,then grind out the slag and weld with 7018.I have welded stuff like that before with 7018 and usually didnt have any trouble with it.The only other thing I would suggest is that you grind the weld down flush.By having it built up like you do,you make it certain that it will break next to your weld if it does.Grinding it down makes the whole thing a little more flexible,and while it might crack next to your weld if it does,it lowers the chance of it.Some things you want to plate,other things you dont.If this was steel,like a truck frame,plates would be fine.Cast like it is,the best thing is just enough fixing to hold it together,which is stronger than what its made of anyway.I seem to have less trouble with welds that I grind down on stuff like that.I could be wrong,just my opinion.You prepared it just the way you should have,did a good job of welding,and it should be fine.

I guess I don't understand. The first picture shows a half circle that is prepared for welding. The next two pictures show a piece that is welded but they are straight not a half circle. So how can anyone determine whether you did it right or not?

Some good points on this work, appreciate that, I think I recall the root pass with 6011, but 7018 laid right in, no porosity and good penetration, chipped and wire brushed all slag, before subsequent passes. I am by no means a pro at welding, just so much to learn and know, this was new territory for me and being under the gun, with rain coming, losing a day for repairs, we made up for that today, just under the wire to get the 50 acres of oats done at the end of today, 2/3's of a 12 acre field to roll, and another 4 acres to finish planting and roll. Will be done tomorrow and that repair held up for 20+ acres, most with lots of rocks. No signs of fatigue or cracks.

I would have to post a photo of the whole piece, one side is like C-channel, that was the flange or leg part of it, but was still a thick piece, and that is the side with the weld, and cold galv zinc spray, it broke in 2, so I welded it all the way around, that is just the top side

Well, it held up fine, got caught up on the cultipacking, 12 hours on a 3150 JD, open station, dust mask on and eyes full of grit pulling this Brillion double roller, think I'm about 10 acres away from being done on oats, though he say's he's got another 10 set up for oats, he's real happy about finishing up 50 acres tomorrow before the rain, thanks all for looking in on this repair, he was real pleased with it, and it saved us a big headache in the midst of planting, really need that 2nd roller in this soil.

You can still get 100% penetration using 7018. If not grind out the other side before welding. Leaving a slight build up of the weld gives extra reinforcement. Too much can cause a notch effect but if it's welded properly, it won't crack just because the weld isn't ground flat. Dave

Yeah, I beveled all sides of the break, but just enough, too much, I would have burned through the joint, welded one side, chipped, brushed, then the other, well I tacked er first so it would not distort. The joint filled in perfectly. The area with the 2 beads of weld, is kind of a slight concave, valley or what you want to call it, so I made 1 pass each side of center to give it more strength, the piece is thick, but not under a lot of stress, just bounces with the 2nd roller, so when I see any thing that will make it hit hard, rock etc. I just slow down, also to prevent breaking those wheels, they get holes punched in them by the darned rocks, they too seem to weld up, as one wheel had some birdcrap blops of weld on it, done by someone else not so proficient in welding, well heck I'm no pro, but am thankful this thing held up to get the job done for my friend, a long time farmer, always getting set back by downtime, help, etc. kind of a bonus if you can weld good enough to make repairs, hard to find any talented help these days.


I can understand the dynamics with metallurgy and how things can react, you really need to know what you are doing sometimes, or welded repairs can and will fail, good to hear all the suggestions and comments, always something to learn.