Hi again Nibbana 
I think you are absolutely right!
If you look carefully on the left photo, you might notice a little dark patch on the left hand side of the crack. That spot was a little bit rusty, which might indicate that it had been there for a while, and that the troubles probably started there. As more of the left hand side started to fail, things probably happened pretty fast, quickly spreading to the right hand side, with an end result as shown.
I like to think that I look after my tractor and my implements pretty well, and try my best to take good care of them. I therefore still find it difficult to forgive myself for not seeing this at an earlier stage. It should be no excuse on my part, but the fact that most of the handlebar assembly is hidden out of view by a plastic cover, does make it difficult. Now that I’m aware of the problem, I will remove this cover more often, and do a thorough inspektion. Had I seen the first little crack on the left hand side much earlier, it would have been easy to repair and at the same time make the weldings a bit stronger
Being used to work in a proper shop, my neighbor wanted me to bring him only the broken parts that he had to weld of course, so he could work with them on his bench. Removing the handlebar assembly is quite a job I assume, because all the cables (11 in total!) have to be disconnected. In the end we made a few metal hooks holding the cables, and then tore them to the side and out of harms way with straps. His concern was of course that he might damage the many plastic bits and the cables, with the heat while welding. We covered all plastic and cables with wet rags, and only left enough metal exposed for him to work with the angle grinder and the welding machine. - It almost looked like the surgery room of a hospital as he started working
The working conditions that my neighbor had were certainly not optimal, and he wasn’t able to work to his normal high standards, but I’m very pleased with the result, and with the fact that I didn’t have to tear apart the whole tractor.
This is the left hand side after welding and painting:
Best regards
Jens
I think you are absolutely right!
If you look carefully on the left photo, you might notice a little dark patch on the left hand side of the crack. That spot was a little bit rusty, which might indicate that it had been there for a while, and that the troubles probably started there. As more of the left hand side started to fail, things probably happened pretty fast, quickly spreading to the right hand side, with an end result as shown.
I like to think that I look after my tractor and my implements pretty well, and try my best to take good care of them. I therefore still find it difficult to forgive myself for not seeing this at an earlier stage. It should be no excuse on my part, but the fact that most of the handlebar assembly is hidden out of view by a plastic cover, does make it difficult. Now that I’m aware of the problem, I will remove this cover more often, and do a thorough inspektion. Had I seen the first little crack on the left hand side much earlier, it would have been easy to repair and at the same time make the weldings a bit stronger
Being used to work in a proper shop, my neighbor wanted me to bring him only the broken parts that he had to weld of course, so he could work with them on his bench. Removing the handlebar assembly is quite a job I assume, because all the cables (11 in total!) have to be disconnected. In the end we made a few metal hooks holding the cables, and then tore them to the side and out of harms way with straps. His concern was of course that he might damage the many plastic bits and the cables, with the heat while welding. We covered all plastic and cables with wet rags, and only left enough metal exposed for him to work with the angle grinder and the welding machine. - It almost looked like the surgery room of a hospital as he started working
The working conditions that my neighbor had were certainly not optimal, and he wasn’t able to work to his normal high standards, but I’m very pleased with the result, and with the fact that I didn’t have to tear apart the whole tractor.
This is the left hand side after welding and painting:
Best regards
Jens
