CT Jay
Bronze Member
Guys...
I'm new to welding. Just made my first project. Built a toothbar for my SCUT (Kubota BX25).
The welds are probably the ugliest welds anyone would ever want to see....but the thing is solid, and for something that I'm going to ram into the ground, I'm not disappointed that it isn't a work of art.....and I did learn a lot.
My next step is to prime and paint it.....but first I want to straighten out the bar, which warped considerably as I was doing the welding. It's 3/8" mild steel.
I've searched the forum looking for info on straightening out warped steel, but mostly what I found was info on how to prevent it, and not how to correct for the mistakes and bad procedures that, as a newbie welder, I fell into.
Attached are a few pics.
Can anyone advise me how to straighten this thing out?
Despite the bow, it goes on the loader and fits perfectly...at least I got that part right....but instead of slipping on nice and easy, I have to smack it on with a heavy hammer until it's in place.....and to remove it, I have to lift and dump the bucket pretty vigorously until it falls off, more from the weight of the thing, I suppose, than from any loosening of the fit.
I tried heating the bottom underneath all the places where I welded the shanks on top....but I got nowhere other than getting the bar hot to the touch. I used a propane torch for quite a while, but I suspect it's not strong enough. I was thinking of using a map torch instead, for more heat, but I'm not sure if that would be enough, either.
I tried bending it by pushing the tractor's loader full weight onto the bar, with the bar perpendicular to the bucket and the ends of the bar up on bricks, and while my tractor isn't heavy, being only an SCUT, I still lifted the front wheels off the ground, hoping the bar would straighten from the weight, but all it did was flex and then return to prior state once I removed the weight.
Any thoughts? I figure there's a lot of tricks that you experienced pro welders might offer to a rank amateur like me....and I've since read up on how to prevent this next time, or at least try not to let it happen again!
Thanks!
I'm new to welding. Just made my first project. Built a toothbar for my SCUT (Kubota BX25).
The welds are probably the ugliest welds anyone would ever want to see....but the thing is solid, and for something that I'm going to ram into the ground, I'm not disappointed that it isn't a work of art.....and I did learn a lot.
My next step is to prime and paint it.....but first I want to straighten out the bar, which warped considerably as I was doing the welding. It's 3/8" mild steel.
I've searched the forum looking for info on straightening out warped steel, but mostly what I found was info on how to prevent it, and not how to correct for the mistakes and bad procedures that, as a newbie welder, I fell into.
Attached are a few pics.
Can anyone advise me how to straighten this thing out?
Despite the bow, it goes on the loader and fits perfectly...at least I got that part right....but instead of slipping on nice and easy, I have to smack it on with a heavy hammer until it's in place.....and to remove it, I have to lift and dump the bucket pretty vigorously until it falls off, more from the weight of the thing, I suppose, than from any loosening of the fit.
I tried heating the bottom underneath all the places where I welded the shanks on top....but I got nowhere other than getting the bar hot to the touch. I used a propane torch for quite a while, but I suspect it's not strong enough. I was thinking of using a map torch instead, for more heat, but I'm not sure if that would be enough, either.
I tried bending it by pushing the tractor's loader full weight onto the bar, with the bar perpendicular to the bucket and the ends of the bar up on bricks, and while my tractor isn't heavy, being only an SCUT, I still lifted the front wheels off the ground, hoping the bar would straighten from the weight, but all it did was flex and then return to prior state once I removed the weight.
Any thoughts? I figure there's a lot of tricks that you experienced pro welders might offer to a rank amateur like me....and I've since read up on how to prevent this next time, or at least try not to let it happen again!
Thanks!