Broken drawbar... chances a 'pro' welder can fix it

[ovrszd]

Yeah, we have talked this one to death.:shocked:

I'm proud of you James. You've refrained from a lengthy, wordy description of your position on this dying subject.

 

[k0ua]

I'm proud of you James. You've refrained from a lengthy, wordy description of your position on this dying subject.

I am trying to cut back...

 

[rankrank1]

Ok for welding that splitter no question you need to go big.

Way out here on the non-pro, occasional farm repairs end of the spectrum - and with the greatest priority 'cheap' - I think I've found what is sufficient for my occasional projects:

$50 230A 240V AC buzzbox, (Montgomery Wards), from about 1965. Essentially the same specs as a tombstone. Has maybe four components inside, there's nothing to break.

$125 (Craigslist) Century 135 Mig welder, 110V. For portability I use flux core only. The literature says its intended for autobody work. This is a big step up in the 110V category from HF's cheapest since it has infinitely variable voltage and DC. it welds nice.

So for under $200 I can make the tractor implement repairs that I occasionally need, plus go down in size to repairing a stress crack in the tractor seat. Everything I've welded over 10 years has stayed welded, that's good enough for my applications.

I saw that Millermatic 210 mentioned in a post above and thought 'maybe I should buy one'. Then I looked it up and saw how much gear in that quality category costs! If I earned my living with it I would buy that or equivalent, no question, but for now I'll stick with what meets my needs and spend the money on something else.

Well 15 pages and counting.....if the OP is still following....California's post which I quoted above I think it is one of the best posts in the entire thread and I agree with it 100%. Absolutely nothing will get you more bang for your buck towards "hobby" welding than this approach. Use a quality 115 volt wire feeder for all thin metal 1/8 thick and less (note: not all 115 volts units are worth owning but several are and they are affordable and portable). Use the a 240 volt stick welder buzzbox for anything thicker than 1/8 metal.

You can fix a lot of stuff with a low cost simple approach like this. Repair based work rarely requires fancy tools to get the job done. Throw in a simple 4.5 grinder with a few grinding wheels and cut off wheels and you in business for many repair based work projects. (along with practice of course).

This project screams using 7018AC stick on a simple AC only output 240 volt stick welder. I paid $60 for my Lincoln AC-225 used which I used for a decade then sold for $120. If you lucky enough to have AC/DC output buzzbox then regular 7018 could be used as well. I paid $100 for my Miller Thunderbolt AC225/DC150 Thunderbolt used. After selling the Lincoln for $120 I now have a mere $40 out of my pocket invested in the Thunderbolt. The Miller has DC which is nice sometimes, but the Lincoln welded every bit as well on the AC side and was made better in some ways. I have a Lincoln SP-135P wire feeder that I bought new and is 115 volt. It gets used on the thin metal. I also have an Everlast PA-300 stick welder that I bought right but I do not really need it.

 

[Dadnatron]

HEh... I just checked this thread, as OP.

Given I needed to get back into production, I purchased a new drawbar. I didn't want to end up breaking it again and be down for another day.

I saved it, and am about to purchase a welder, so I might try my hand at it with 7018. That bar was costly >$300 and it was hard to not go ahead and give it a try. But the time of being down was more costly, so I went new and it has been working well thus far.

 

[k0ua]

HEh... I just checked this thread, as OP.

Given I needed to get back into production, I purchased a new drawbar. I didn't want to end up breaking it again and be down for another day.

I saved it, and am about to purchase a welder, so I might try my hand at it with 7018. That bar was costly >$300 and it was hard to not go ahead and give it a try. But the time of being down was more costly, so I went new and it has been working well thus far.

If you decide you don't want to tackle it, send it to me.. I would be happy to weld it.

 

[jegarh]

I know that this is an old thread. But this morning mt tractor operator brought me the drawbar off of the big John Deere that had broken in the exact same place as the one poster by Dadnatron 3 years ago. This was a very helpful thread and I learned a bunch and remembered a lot more. Saturday Mario and I are going to grind some bevels and find some round stock to fill the hole and fire up the welder and put it back together with a fist full of 7018. the break went right through the hole right where the drawbar exited the "receiver" on the tractor. It snapped off clean. I think that that if the hole had not been in that exact spot nothing would have happened. I started welding when I was 16. My boss got an ancient Lincoln 4 cylinder welder and told me if you can get that thing to run , you have a job. I repaired everything from D6 Cats to wallowed out drawbars every summer for 3 years. I got handy with that welder. The biggest rod I ever used was 5/16". Hot work every summer in the oil patch made me appreciate college. Even so, welding is my favorite work if it is necessary to work.

 

[BukitCase]

OK, jegarh - NO FAIR I know you're new (welcome to TBN, BTW :thumbsup: ) but this ain't the way we roll here; the (unwritten, but understood) way we do it here is ya gotta start yer OWN thread, FIX yer problem (but don't tell anybody yet), let the membership run with it for AT LEAST a couple hundred posts (or THOUSANDS, in the case of rounded off drain plugs ) ...

Then, and ONLY then, 'fess up that you either fixed it or sold the tractor about 20 PAGES ago - this will usually NOT end the thread (some of us are more bored than others)

Seriously tho, if you're still using that old Lincoln congrats; the very first arc I ever struck (some time in 1973) was with a friend's SA200 - I never could get a plug-in welder to run that good til a couple years ago when I bought a stick/tig inverter from Mark @ Everlast.

Sounds like you may already know this, but if the offending hole is NECESSARY I'd re-drill after the repair is ground smooth, then do a GENTLE chamfer on both sides, just enough to relieve any point that might start a NEW crack - otherwise, re-drilling would likely just make sure you get to re-weld it AGAIN :laughing: ... Steve

 

[ksbrdmkr]

I always used stainless rod on drawbar fixes. Always stayed thgether.