Broken Disc

[lakngulf]

I have a Howse 66" Disc whose frame has broken. I have tried to present a drawing of the frame below. It has broken where the center channel iron meets the angle iron at the back. It could probably be easily welded, but I do not have ready access to that.

I finished what I was doing as the break did not affect the discing, but I know I need to fix it. Has anyone tried to fix such a break by bolting a piece of metal to both sections? My thought is that I could bend a piece of metal to an "L" , drill holes in each section, and bolt it on. Will that be strong enough?

Forget the dots. I had to put them to make the center piece stay in the center. And my apologies on the expertise of the drawing.
_______________________
_______ front___________
................| |
................| |
................| |
................| |
................| |
................| | <----broken here
_______________________
_________back__________

 

[MMagis]

In my experience, it’s best, and usually easiest, to just buy a new piece of steel and replace it.

 

[moeh1]

You want to figure out why it broke in the first place. Was something loose or is the unit underengineered there? If the latter, you'd want to beef it up when you repair (with some diagonal bracing farther forward or a triangular plate welded to both pieces or something like that. There has to be someone nearby with a welder and some experience. Thats what I'd be looking for. Maybe even a local high school shop class if they exist anymore...
Marty

 

[kebo]

That's actually a common stress point for many different brands of disc harrow's. We have a Leinbach at my hunt club that broke in the exact same place. We re-welded the original weld, then welded a piece of flat bar stock onto it to strengthen it. I had some before/after pic's but can't find them on my pc at the moment. I think I actually posted them in another thread, but too lazy to look for it! So far, the repair job has not broken again.

I don't think that bolting it in place will hold it very long. Apparently there is a lot of vertical flexation in the frame at that point, both when the disc is tilling and when the disc is raised for transport. Also, the rear gangs are usually set wider apart and when an outer disc hits a high spot, that tends to twist the frame putting more stress on that weld point. But, you can always try your idea and see if it works!

 

[bjr]

Get a hold of welding shop. They usually have portable welders to to come out and fix your piece right in place. bjr

 

[Farmwithjunk]

When a 3-point mounted disc is in the ground, the "drag" (draft) created against the front gangs will make the entire disc want to rotate around the lower link pins, putting the top link in compression. That can put a strain on parts of the frame that you'd never expect to break.

Where MOST mounted disc's get broke is bouncing them while carried in a transport position. (ie, 3-point lift raised) This can be compounded by adding extra weights that are often needed to make a "too light weight" disc do it's job. ....... OR .....making turns, even subtle, slight turns, while the disc is in the ground.

For whatever it's worth, take a good look at just about ANY disc, from drag types, to wheel transport models, and all the way to 3-point mounted models. If it's led a life on a (real) farm, or any other high use situation, it'll most likely have a few cracks or else a few welds....Just the nature of the job. They take a thrashing at times.

 

[lakngulf]

Thanks for the suggestions and thoughts. I am just glad you were able to interpret my crude drawing.

 

[cowski]

weld it maybe add a brace.