Welding tiller tines

[DeNiro]

I have a grey market PTO tiller and new tines are very difficult to find. I did manage to locate some and they would need to be flown in from Japan and even if they were local the pricing makes them prohibitive. There are over 40 of them at $15/ piece.
While inquiring about I had several folks recommend that I merely weld new flat steel to the tines to repair them.
I assume that the tines are heat treated steel, but I am not sure. If so I am not sure a weld would hold long while tilling my hard clay ground.
Does anyone have experience with this idea????????

 

[Transit]

If you are up to welding, you could resurface the tines with hard facing rod or mig.

 

[Kays Supply]

Don't put any of the Indian or Chinese tines on it. They will snap like a twig on untilled clay. The OEMs are well worth the price if you can manage it. You will be amazed at how much better it tills with new tines.

 

[MFRED]

They won't hold long at all. If they did manage to hold on, the mild steel that was welded on would last a very short time. Probably about as long as it took to fit & weld all the pieces on.

 

[Egon]

Have you tried using the bolt spacing on the tines to find some that will fit.

Our local farm supply store has done that for my tiller which is manufactured in Canada.

 

[gwdixon]

Did the welding of pieces of mild steel to the worn out tines.

Hardfaced them with Stoody 1 tungsten rod (read expensive). It has worked quite well in a rocky/clay soil.

They do need to be touched up every couple of years. If the mild steel is ever exposed it will just melt away like butter in a couple of tilling sessions.

 

[skipmarcy]

I just bought a used 5' Kubota tiller this past fall (italian made) and had the same sticker shock on new tines for it - right at $16 each and it has 36 of them. I got my local farmer's co-op to look into it and they got replacements for me at $7 each from somewhere in Calif. New tines make a tremendous difference - I've replaced them a couple times on my old Craftsman rear tine tiller that I've had for over 20 years.

 

[Dargo]

Being a 'do it yourself' millwright of sorts, many things had to be created. It's a fine line between case hardening steel and making it brittle. Still, it's rather simple to harden relatively thin (like tiller tines) steel with used motor oil. I've done it many times. You do have to be careful not to splash hot oil on yourself or anyone else. Still, we managed to make a new tail for a D11 ripper and harden it enough to last several months this way.

Being lazy and not wanting to type out exactly how, you can Google it yourself if you want. Here is a very brief explanation from a Google link How to Harden & Temper Mild Steel | eHow.com

Generally a MIG will give you a weld equal to a 70 series rod. You can either MIG your new piece on or use the tried and true 7018 rod then harden. Good luck and be careful.

 

[DeNiro]

Thanks for all the quick replies and good thoughts. I did contact the people in California and even sent them tracings of the tines, but they could only offer tines that were questionable fit and possible damage due to the lack of a complete tine to match. I think a custom made tine would be even more expensive. Every alternative sounds expensive.
The probablity is that I will trade this tiller for one that can be maintained much more economically.

 

[Arkaybee]

Did you contact Clean Cutter Tiller Blades in San Bernardino, CA?
If you tell them the type of tiller you have they may have it in their HUGE line of tiller blades. HTH.
Arkaybee

 

[2manyrocks]

I could use some help with this same problem. Two of the tines broke on my Troy Bilt tiller that's maybe 4 years old. I mig welded them together and they snapped right off at the same spot only after a few minutes of tilling.

What's the process to weld these things or am I just wasting my time?

 

[Transit]

That is a tough question to answer. What kind of steel? How are you wilding, wire, heat, prep, and pre and post heat? What mig? Most important, your welding skills?

 

[Kays Supply]

Have you tried Hoye or Fredricks for tines? They are the best source for grey parts.

 

[Dargo]

I could use some help with this same problem. Two of the tines broke on my Troy Bilt tiller that's maybe 4 years old. I mig welded them together and they snapped right off at the same spot only after a few minutes of tilling.

What's the process to weld these things or am I just wasting my time?

Not tough at all. Just a different process. Rather than me typing them out, look on some welding sites. I already explained how to harden mild steel. For the weld, it's a must to pre-heat the area to be welded and then make sure it very, very slowly cools. Personally, I bury my work in a big bucket of sand. It holds heat very well. Heat it, weld it, torch it a bit to equalize the heat and then bury in sand for the night. That's the "reader's digest" version.

 

[2manyrocks]

How do you suggest I preheat? I only have a propane torch like you use for sweating copper pipe. I can preheat small objects until they are cherry red, but I'm not so sure it will work with something as large as a tiller tine.

 

[Dargo]

How do you suggest I preheat? I only have a propane torch like you use for sweating copper pipe. I can preheat small objects until they are cherry red, but I'm not so sure it will work with something as large as a tiller tine.

That's plenty hot. I'm nowhere close to my manual (yeah, I cheat even after all these years ), but I think all you need is something like 700 degrees or so. Just make sure it's all heated evenly before and after the weld. Then bury in sand if you can. You can bury in other things or wrap in several layers of fireproof blanketing, but I don't have that available and sand is cheaper. Not knowing what parent material you have, a good guess of a rod would be a 7018. It's a low hydrogen electrode that's good for most steel and even cast steel. Just make sure what you're welding is very clean, bevel the edges, and tack both sides before you lay in the main weld. If not, it will definitely curl on you. If your parent material is really thick, you may want to use a 6010 for a root pass and then finish with a 7018. Personally, if done right, I doubt you'll break a good weld from a 7018 rod which, BTW is about what you get out of most MIG wire.

If you're going to stick it, here is a good little chart that tells you how to read the rods. http://welding.w4zt.com/stickrods.html Here's another chart that tells a bit more about application and characteristics http://welding.w4zt.com/stick.html You'll see there what I was talking about when I mentioned possibly using a 6010 for a root pass then finish with a 7018. Unless it's over 3/8" thick, I wouldn't really bother with a root pass with a 6010. Technically, that's wrong, but nobody's broken my technically incorrect setup. Good luck! I have no idea of your skill level. If you're a pro, I don't mean to insult you. If you have very little experience, don't worry about much because a little 4 1/2" angle grinder can be your best buddy. Good luck and be careful!

 

[2manyrocks]

I've got plenty of sand. If I can still find the pieces of the tines in the shed, I'll give it a shot with the stick welder instead of the mig.

thanks very much.

 

[Transit]

How do you suggest I preheat? I only have a propane torch like you use for sweating copper pipe. I can preheat small objects until they are cherry red, but I'm not so sure it will work with something as large as a tiller tine.

350-500 is a good number.

 

[chriswheeler]

Pre heat is good and necessary. First bevle the edges some, I realize that the tines are about 1/8' thick, but do both sides, and clean the tines in the area of the weld. Time to weld though, don't use 7018, use 10018, this rod welds alloy steel better. Tines are most likely made from 1050 plow steel and won't hold nearly as well with 7018 as they will with 10018. Rod size = 3/32". Should use a welder that will do DC. After welding cool slowly, grind the weld and look for cracks. 10018 rod for alloy steel is available from most welding supplys. Note here that the best weld on 1050 steel is not nearly as strong as welds made to mild steel. (1020 ) Even after all of this, hit a rock, might break right off again.
Chris

 

[2manyrocks]

Well, I couldn't find the broken tines in the shed. I may have thrown them out thinking I couldn't repair them. They had broken at the place where they bolt to the tiller housing, and I remember making the effort to bevel and make a clean weld so they would bolt back in place, but I didn't preheat or put them in sand to gradually cool them. Then they snapped like peanut brittle when I started using them.

If I can't find them, I may have to buy a couple of replacement tines after all. This is a smaller tiller I use for cultivation once the garden is growing.

Now I have another tiller (Troy Bilt Horse) that still has the original tines on it that are worn. A set of replacements is about $100, I think. Is it worthwhile to try to weld on more steel and retemper them or just buy the replacements? I'm a bit concerned that the replacements may not have the quality of steel of the original tines. Should I use 10018? I have a Lincoln AC/DC tombstone welder.