tractor xmission cover repair

[Soundguy]

I have a buddy with a (1210 I believe .. might be a 1320). He loaned it out to a friend who backed into something, knocking a quarter sized hole in the right rear of the tractor, somewhere in the vacinity of the axle, kinda to the right of the pto. I went over this weekend to help him do some farm maintenance, and I notice dthat he had this big wad of gas tank repair putty on the back of the tractor... he explained the problem, and said that it holds oil for about 2 weeks, then he adds more.

Is this cast iron? Couldn't it be welded up by a good machinist or someone decent with a welder?

His repair , in my opinion, is a last ditch, 'got to get it to the shop' kinda thing.. he just wants to use it that way.

I've talked him into getting it welded, if that is a good way to repair it.

The area is about 8" away from a bearing and seal on the rear axle, and around 7" from the pto.

thanks

Sugestions.

Soundguy

 

[buppy69]

It definitely can be welded if he has the chunk that came out of it.

Eugene

 

[Ozarker]

Where is the piece that got knocked out? Still in the case waiting to get into the gears? Cast can be welded but few are talented enough to do it without causing additional cracking.

Here is my opinion. If he is going to remove the housing to retrieve the broken piece, he should just go ahead and get a new/used housing and forget about welding it. If he goes to all that labor only to have it crack later from a bad weld, he will not be a happy camper.

Since the repair putty seems to do a reasonable temporary repair, the damaged area is apparently under no operational stress. If he gets lucky and the broken piece can be removed by draining the housing, or if he is going to trust that the piece will just stay at the bottom and not damage the gears, he can probably get by with a cold patch process such as JB Weld or similar. Cut a piece of metal to fit over the hole, clean the area of paint and just use the JB to clue the patch in place.

I believe that since it is a hole instead of a crack, a weld shop would probably just do the same thing but use a hot glue process, brazing, to put a patch over the hole.

 

[chim]

I have a Ford 1210, and if it is what I think you are talking about, it's aluminum or an alloy. Have a close look at it for unpainted areas for rust (cast iron) or no (aluminum).

Repairing aluminum, pot metal and alloy can be done with filler material from the site below. I bought some and it works. So far, I did a pot metal latch part and built up an area on a pistol trigger so it could be reshaped to fit my big paw. The mateial is harder than woodpecker's teeth, and stays on..........chim

 

[Soundguy]

I'll take a look at it this weekend. I'm going over there with my 1920 to bushhog his pasture.

I didn't witness the accident, but from what I'm told, it happened a few years ago, and the piece fell out at the time of accident. I hadn't thought about it being aluminum.

The casting in question is the whole rear of the tractor, axel housing and all. Did they make em outta aluminum? If so, I guess alumalloy rods could be used...
My friend no longer has the piece that fell out, so I can't examine the material. I'll scrape some paint off the remaining housing and check.

I hadn't thought of brazing it either... Will that stick to cast?

The area is stable, and is under no stress... it just retains (mostly) the xmission oil for the rear end/pto/3pt, etc.

So the consensus is that welding it will probably only cause more problems unless it is done by Yoda, etc.. but that some sort of braze or epoxy patch is a viable alternative.

Soundguy

 

[Kodiak]

I saw a very off the wall repair to an older Ford 3000. They somehow knocked a hole in the case close to the PTO shaft seal. Their solution was to cut the hole just oversize with a holesaw. They inserted an exspanding pipe plug, the type with the wing bolt in the center. I was told that it hadn't leaked in eight years.

 

[chim]

The neat thing about that filler material is you can close a hole by just working your way around it. It builds fairly easily..........chim

 

[mrcaptainbob]

I was thinking that maybe there might be some stress cracks around the edge of the hole that might travel. BUt then you said that it happed a couple of years ago. Hmm...Time would've shown up any problems like that. I agree with the J-B weld fix. Clean it well from any oil and it should work just fine. Welding cast iron can be done by most competent welders. I had a cracked axle housing that was welded up three years ago. The worst thing is having to do all the dismantling. I wish it were as simple as hole. Sure would've saved a lot of frustration.

 

[Soundguy]

Could also serve as a fill/drain or 'auxilary' hole.

soundguy

<font color=blue>
'saw a very off the wall repair to an older Ford 3000. They somehow knocked a hole in the case close to the PTO shaft seal. Their solution was to cut the hole just oversize with a holesaw. They inserted an exspanding pipe plug, the type with the wing bolt in the center. I was told that it hadn't leaked in eight years."

 

[normde2001]

I patched a similar hole in a motorcycle primary chaincase using a body filler several years ago called "Allmetal", found at automotive paint stores. It works with a cream hardener and can be built up to any thickness by layering. It has the consistency of aluminum and held oil for 5 years til I sold the bike. Makes an invisible patch. I also recommend 'JB Kwik".