What glue should I use to repair my New Holland hood?

[Complete Turf Care]

Why New Holland thought that plastic was the right material to use for the body parts on the TC series tractors will always be a mystery to me but, they did. I guess I should have put a grill guard on mine before using it to load the dump truck but, I didn't and the hood made contact with the truck a few times and came apart. I'm not really sure what my best adhesive option is going to be to get this thing back together, it looks like whatever they used originally created a solvent weld because chunks of the mated piece came out where it broke apart. I'm thinking maybe hit the bonding surfaces with some 40 grit sandpaper to rough it up and use an epoxy but, I don't know if there might be a better option so, I'm asking first. I've got to wait a week or so for the right side headlight bracket to get here anyway so I've got time to do this right instead of twice.

So, what would you use?

I have a New Holland TC 45 tractor and the fenders are known to crack on these models. We glued them back together and they are holding for now, but if the glue doesn't hold, I will try the method in this video. This might work for your situation.

ATV Plastic Repair for Mortals - YouTube

 

[Complete Turf Care]

Why New Holland thought that plastic was the right material to use for the body parts on the TC series tractors will always be a mystery to me but, they did. I guess I should have put a grill guard on mine before using it to load the dump truck but, I didn't and the hood made contact with the truck a few times and came apart. I'm not really sure what my best adhesive option is going to be to get this thing back together, it looks like whatever they used originally created a solvent weld because chunks of the mated piece came out where it broke apart. I'm thinking maybe hit the bonding surfaces with some 40 grit sandpaper to rough it up and use an epoxy but, I don't know if there might be a better option so, I'm asking first. I've got to wait a week or so for the right side headlight bracket to get here anyway so I've got time to do this right instead of twice.

So, what would you use?

I have a New Holland TC 45 tractor and the fenders are known to crack on these models. We glued them back together and they are holding for now, but if the glue doesn't hold, I will try the method in this video. This might work for your situation.

ATV Plastic Repair for Mortals - YouTube

 

[STx]

So I'm starting the repair attempt today, you can better see what I'm dealing with in these photos. The black lip on either side of the top is completely covered by the side once it's put together so, the color of the repair material is unimportant. It's this overlap.that rules out welding it though, the I could weld where the overlap ends but, I think it's stronger if I can bond along the entirety of the mayed surfaces.

So, step one is to wash everything down with soap and water, which I've just finished, and let it dry. Next, I'm going to chip out any of the okd adhesive that is loose a d then wipe the mating parts down with acetone. I'll then apply the JB Weld and clamp it together, probably starting with the front grill to the sides since it has the smallest area and will make a good test. If it holds, I'll glue the rest of it, rivet along the seam with back g washers and lastly fill my scratches and gouges and touch everything up with some NH blue, since I happen to have a couple of cans on hand.

I'll update withy progress, it'll probably be a 2 day job. I'm still waiting on some brackets that got lost in all the damage to show up so it'll probably be a week before it's back on the tractor. Those are on me though, this started back in December when I was building g the pad for my shop and I just now started looking at fixing it. Too much to do getting the shop up to take the time before now.

I have also already had to weld my fenders, I cracked them up pretty bad when I got wedged into a tight spot trying to mow in the woods for a guy. I pushed it harder than I should have and ended up damaging a hydraulic line on that job in addition to the fender damage. Cost me a lite o er $1500 to repair everything I screwed up for a job I billed $300 for and never got paid on. Live and learn, I suppose...lol

 

[STx]

Today's progress. The JB Weld seems to bond well, it's an epoxy. We'll see how it holds up, the rivets will help, I think. Belt and suspenders.

 

[countrybumpkin]

Looks good, I don't think you'll have any issues with it, having both the adhesive and rivets. I repaired a riding mower hood that broke in half , made of of similar material, used rivets and a epoxy has held for 5 years of hard use.

 

[ruffdog]

3M makes a body panel adhesive. Many products were made for bonding panels like the Corvette rear fenders.
3M Panel Bonding Adhesive 8116

 

[sixdogs]

I cracked my wife's small Gorilla dump wagon and used JB Weld to glue it back together. Squeaky clean and clamped and so far, so good. I didn't expect it to work, and still don't because the glue barely sticks to the plastic. It's been a week out, however and things are still stuck so maybe.

The 3M body panel glue ruffdog mentioned above is something I forgot about. I have seen that product used to glue some car body panels and what I saw glued isn't ever coming apart. That stuff seemed to become a part of the plastic and is really stuck together. For plan B, I would look into that.

Also worth mention is that JD has a lot of plastic body panels and whatever they have would likely be worth a look. Good luck.

 

[STx]

I got it all put together and back on, turns out I did have the bracket that I thought I'd lost. I was going to paint the rivets but, my wife commented that she liked the way they look and I agree so, they'll stay unpainted for now.

The grill guard arrived today and it's solid but, I can't put it on with the loader as there isn't enough room. I will either need to cut the mounting bracket off the guard so I can bolt it directly to the frame or cut the ears off the front and the back out of the guard bracket so I can slide it over the front and mount it to the side frame members. I think I'm going to do the latter, it will be tough to get an angle grinder or a torch into the guard far enough to cut the bracket off flush. I probably should have just built my own instead of buying one.

 

[RickB]

If your NH loader is a factory match for your NH tractor and you were sold the correct NH grill guard, it should bolt up and work.

 

[STx]

It is a NH loader but an aftermarket grill guard. The NH guard was too expensive. I'll make it fit, I saved enough for it to be worth the effort.